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Iranian mullah says death fatwa against Salman Rushdie “is as fresh as ever for Muslims”

Feb 17, 2014 8:42 am By Robert Spencer

rushdie_01As he increased the bounty on Rushdie’s head, Hassan Sanei said: “Surely if the sentence of the Imam had been carried out, the later insults in the form of caricatures, articles and the making of movies would not have occurred” — in other words, if Muslims had murdered Salman Rushdie, other Infidels would be too afraid to say anything negative about Islam, and the global jihad would be able to advance unimpeded, without anyone daring to question its root causes in Islamic teaching.

The thing is, Sanei need not have bothered to do anything. The Western media is already eagerly becoming Sharia-compliant. Few newspapers dared to reprint the notorious Muhammad cartoons, which were published in the first place as a free speech test case. Western media took the test, and failed. Mainstream media reporters such as Christiane Amanpour, Bob Smietana, Niraj Warikoo, Kari Huus, Lisa Wangsness, Anne Barnard and many, many others routinely vilify the defenders of the freedom of speech as “bigots” and “Islamophobes,” while repeatedly giving jihadists and Islamic supremacists laudatory and fawning coverage. The Iranian mullahs have won without having to dirty their hands with Salman Rushdie’s blood.

“Iranian mullah revives death fatwa against Salman Rushdie over Satanic Verses 25 years after it was issued,” by Mia De Graaf for the Daily Mail, February 16:

The Iranian clergy has revived Salman Rushdie’s death fatwa 25 years after it was issued over his ‘blasphemous’ Satanic Verses.

On February 14, 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called on all Muslims to murder the award-winning author and anyone involved in the publication of his work.

This Friday, senior cleric Ahmad Khatami reminded worshippers at the Tehran Friday prayer that the ‘historical fatwa’ is ‘as fresh as ever’.

He added that even if Rushdie repents, it will not affect the sentence.

The religious ruling forced the award-winning writer into hiding, and Britain’s ties with the Islamic republic were severely damaged just a few years after collaborating on a UN resolution between Iraq and Iran.

Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator, was stabbed to death in the face at work, a Norwegian publisher shot and an Italian publisher knifed.

Thousands took to the streets to burn copies of the book and thirty-seven people were massacred in Sivas, Turkey, in a 1993 attack intended to target Aziz Nesin, the book’s Turkish translator.

More than two decades later, Rushdie has emerged from hiding and is regularly seen at public events.

People of all ages and nationalities took to the streets with placards calling for his assassination

However, this week cleric Khatami implored followers not to abandon their attacks.

He said: ‘The important thing is that this fatwa is as fresh as ever for Muslims. Faithful Muslims are looking for an opportunity to implement Imam’s fatwa.

‘Our enemies thought that with the acceptance of the resolution, Imam had retreated from his principles.

‘Then this incident happened. It showed the world that the revered Imam had not retreated one bit.’

The Satanic Verses, Rushdie’s fourth novel, propelled the Indian-born writer into a storm of controversy that forced him into hiding for the best part of a decade.

The title refers to the so-called ‘satanic verses’, a group of alleged Qur’anic verses that allow intercessory prayers to be made to three Pagan Meccan goddesses.

The book’s publication in 1988 sparked a wave of protest and condemnation from Muslims who accused it of blasphemy and mocking their faith. The following year, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwā, or religious ruling, calling for Rushdie’s death.

The British government gave the writer round-the-clock police protection.

Rushdie has received notices every year since the publication reminding him of the religious ruling.

In 2012, Hassan Sanei, the head of the state-funded 15 Khordad, raised the bounty on Rushdie’s head by $500,000 to $3.3million ($2million).

He said Islamaphobic literature and films would not have been made if it weren’t for the Satanic Verses.

‘Surely if the sentence of the Imam had been carried out, the later insults in the form of caricatures, articles and the making of movies would not have occurred,’ he said in a statement.

‘I am adding another $500,000 to the reward for killing Salman Rushdie and anyone who carries out this sentence will receive the whole amount immediately.’

Also in 2012, Rushdie became the subject of a computer game in Iran called The Stressful Life Of Salman Rushdie And Implementation Of His Verdict.

The programme is intended to teach the younger generation about the ‘highly important’ fatwa.

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Filed Under: blasphemy, free speech, Iran, Jihadist intimidation and thuggery, journalistic bias, Useful idiots Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. Shaun McGee says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 8:53 am

    The first cut is the deepest. I have to wonder if (with his re-emergence last year to the public stage) Cat Stephens…… sorry, Yusuf Islam, is still in favour of this and would be willing to get hands on with Salman?

  2. exsgtbrown says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 9:34 am

    ‘Surely if the sentence of the Imam had been carried out, the later insults in the form of caricatures, articles and the making of movies would not have occurred,’ he said in a statement.

    of course the assassination could spurred more Islamic terror awareness not less..Muslim activities are becoming well documented and the world is becoming more alarmed…special attention should be given to Muslim attempts to stifle free speech…Muslims just hate a well informed public and books such as Rushdies Satanic Verses are sounding the alarm…and the Muslims know it…

  3. john spielman says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 9:52 am

    well , Mohammed WAS INDEED A DEMON POSSESED MASS MURDERER, THIEF, LIAR,MISOGYNIST, AND PEDOPHILE! Nothing can change these historical facts and the qu’ran and hadiths of Mohammed attest to them. So muslims either accept them or renounce your religion of death darkness and hell, and turn to the light of Christ and live!

    • Charli Main says

      Feb 17, 2014 at 10:53 am

      Islam was invented by Satan to spread death and destruction through the World and Mohammed of Islam was the tool He used to do His work.
      The Koran is a sick, vile, hate filled book preaching the exact opposite of the love, peace and friendship preached in the Christian Bible.
      Mohammed of Islam is one of the most evil men that has ever lived. The most perfect disciple that Satan has ever found to do His evil work.

      • sidney penny says

        Feb 18, 2014 at 7:07 am

        Hate filled? What about the other things like inciting violence, insulting other religions, promoting religious enmity, disturbing public tranquility, promoting on ground of religion feelings of enmity

        Start a petition ,take it to Court and have it banned.

        http://voiceofdharma.org/books/tcqp/pref1.htm

        http://voiceofdharma.org/books/tcqp/chi1.htm

        http://voiceofdharma.org/books/tcqp/chii4.htm

        What does the book do?

        It incites violence, disturbs public tranquility, promotes, on ground of religion, feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different religious communities and insults other religions or religious beliefs of other communities in India.

        4 See the many examples given in chapter 4
        5 The book promotes religious enmity, hatred and ill-will between different religious communities in India.see the many examples given in chapter 5
        6 The book insults other religions or religious beliefs of other communities in India.see the many examples given in chapter 6

        The Koran abounds with sayings which incite violence, insult the religious beliefs of other communities and even exhort the Muslims to kill and murder non-Muslims.

  4. miriam rove says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 10:02 am

    what a bunch of idiots..m

  5. Christian A. Beltram says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 10:47 am

    The self-censorship by the world’s media will continue to increase as long as nothing is done by the world’s governments to stop Islam’s global spread. I hope that the world’s governments and media wake up to the danger that we are in before a world war errups between the Islamic nations and the non-Islamic nations.

  6. pdxnag says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 11:14 am

    A government based on tyranny (like Sharia) requires that terror be refreshed for every generation and for every peer group. Piety is no defense. Someone must be made an example of to others. The same principal holds for the routine killing of some uppity woman by a family member (in some “cultures”), as an example of terror for other woman to mind their masters, or else.

    Terror-lite in the West follows the same principal, even if sometimes it might only involve financial ruin in court. Someone must fall, with regularity.

    The reason for the existence of the US First Amendment is because of the inherent natural impulse of any government to creep toward such tyranny. Islam just excels at terror, and not much else. Much like the impossible to apply standard for obscenity about whether it is “utterly without socially redeeming value[.]”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California

    Is there “socially redeeming value” to complete submission to some earthly thug by earthly means?

    Isn’t the abundance of Islamic beheading videos available on the Internet sufficient to instill terror already? (Maybe it just fuels — or evidences — an insatiable blood lust?)

  7. Wellington says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 11:24 am

    Islam reveals itself again for the totalitarian ideology that it is, the Western media in the aggregate are a pack of craven, stupid cowards and the First Amendment to the American Constitution remains a constant ally of liberty and truth (though it won’t remain such if we get enough Obamas and Holders in the government long term).

  8. Defcon 4 says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 11:55 am

    “Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator, ” murdered at work for merely translating the Satanic Verses. They weren’t even his words yet he was still murdered. I wonder if anyone was caught and charged w/the crime. I have to believe that the murder of the translators of the Satanic Verses wasn’t pulled off by lone, islam0fascist wolves either.
    I also read that a hotel that Salman Rushdie was staying at was bombed — but he wasn’t there when the bomb went off.

  9. Buraq says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    Why doesn’t Salman take a walk around a few movie producers’ offices and try to get ‘Satanic Verses’ made into a film? Clowns like this Hassan Insane would give it free publicity with torrents of threats and insults.
    And Salman would end up richer and even more famous than he is now!

    Every clown has a silver lining .. or something!

  10. mortimer says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    Aid and cooperation with all Muslim countries must be linked to progress in human rights. Period.

  11. London Jim says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    Great idea, Buraq. I’m in contact with a few film makers who do off-the-wall stuff, and although I’m not a trained actor, I’m suicidal enough to bluff the part and deal with the consequences.

  12. Salah says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 2:53 pm

    The story of the Satanic Verses in short:

    Muhammad admittedly received a message from Satan and delivered it to the people…as if it were from God. Then he and his followers bowed down in honor of receiving this satanic revelation.
    Instead of rejecting him, Allah’s response was:
    “Don’t worry about it Muhammad. All prophets proclaim Satanic messages from time to time.”!!!

    http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2011/10/muhammad-and-satan_24.html

    • mortimer says

      Feb 17, 2014 at 2:56 pm

      How many Satanic verses did Mohammed deliver? One? Two? Ten, maybe? One hundred? Six thousand? Half of them? All of them?

  13. mortimer says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 2:54 pm

    EXTREME…anyone? Is this fatwa against the life of Rushdie ‘extreme’?

    Or is theocratic murderous vigilantism NORMATIVE Islam, rather than ‘extreme’?

    Hmm…

  14. Jay Boo says

    Feb 17, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    On February 14, 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a death fatwa
    —————-

    Less than 4 months later Khomeini himself was dead
    His punishment for the blasphemy for playing God
    The victim of a bad karma fatwa

  15. gravenimage says

    Feb 18, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    Iranian mullah says death fatwa against Salman Rushdie “is as fresh as ever for Muslims”
    ……………………………..

    Yes—even though a lot of Westerners appear to believe that it has been revoked. Muslim threats never really go away. Any pious Muslim at any time could decide to “please Allah” by murdering Salman Rushdie.

    More:

    As he increased the bounty on Rushdie’s head, Hassan Sanei said: “Surely if the sentence of the Imam had been carried out, the later insults in the form of caricatures, articles and the making of movies would not have occurred” — in other words, if Muslims had murdered Salman Rushdie, other Infidels would be too afraid to say anything negative about Islam, and the global jihad would be able to advance unimpeded, without anyone daring to question its root causes in Islamic teaching.
    ……………………………..

    *Exactly*. Such a homicidal Fatwa is not just meant to punish Rushdie, but to serve to crush all questioning of Islam through fear.

    That is the purpose of related Shari’ah “blasphemy” laws, as well.

    More:

    The thing is, Sanei need not have bothered to do anything. The Western media is already eagerly becoming Sharia-compliant. Few newspapers dared to reprint the notorious Muhammad cartoons, which were published in the first place as a free speech test case. Western media took the test, and failed…
    ……………………………..

    True. This is not just utterly despicable—it is also suicidal, since such cringing dhimmitude only serves to embolden Islam.

    More:

    On February 14, 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called on all Muslims to murder the award-winning author and anyone involved in the publication of his work…

    Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese translator, was stabbed to death in the face at work, a Norwegian publisher shot and an Italian publisher knifed.

    Thousands took to the streets to burn copies of the book and thirty-seven people were massacred in Sivas, Turkey, in a 1993 attack intended to target Aziz Nesin, the book’s Turkish translator.
    ……………………………..

    People often forget that the Fatwa was not just against Rushdie himself. Most Westerners regard this as a failed Fatwa, and are unaware of Rushdie’s colleagues being attacked and in one case murdered, as well as the massacre in Turkey. I don’t know what this is not better known.

    More:

    This Friday, senior cleric Ahmad Khatami reminded worshippers at the Tehran Friday prayer that the ‘historical fatwa’ is ‘as fresh as ever’.
    ……………………………..

    Is this reminder another instance of Iran’s increased belligerence following the recent Western appeasement over its nuclear program? I wouldn’t be surprised.

    More:

    More than two decades later, Rushdie has emerged from hiding and is regularly seen at public events.
    ……………………………..

    I don’t blame him for wanting to come out of hiding, but I have always wondered if this was wise, given Muslim savagery.

    More:

    The book’s publication in 1988 sparked a wave of protest and condemnation from Muslims who accused it of blasphemy and mocking their faith. The following year, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwā, or religious ruling, calling for Rushdie’s death.
    ……………………………..

    For many Westerners—including myself—this was their first experience with the brutality of Islamic censorship. It would be years more before I understood that under Shari’ah no criticism of Islam is allowed.

    More:

    He said Islamaphobic literature and films would not have been made if it weren’t for the Satanic Verses.
    ……………………………..

    Interesting use of the fake term “Islamophobic” here, where the clear reference is to Islamic aggression.

    More:

    ‘Surely if the sentence of the Imam had been carried out, the later insults in the form of caricatures, articles and the making of movies would not have occurred,’ he said in a statement.
    ……………………………..

    This is intended to silence any criticism or even questioning of Islam. In the case of the Satanic Verses themselves, it is intended to even silence the mention of anything embarrassing to Islam.

  16. Mohammed Waza Asswad says

    Feb 20, 2014 at 8:22 pm

    The thing is – no muslim would know what Mohamhead looked like even if they fell over him. It’s all based on their imagination

  17. Champ says

    Feb 20, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    “Mohammed Waza Asswad”

    LOL!! ..looove the moniker 🙂

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