Sunday, April 7, 2013

The Satanic Verses

Almost 25 years after it was published and about 3 months since I started reading it, I have finished Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. Here are the answers to the main questions I had about the book:

1. What's it about?

It's about two successful Indian men, an actor called Gibreel Farishta and a voice over specialist called Saladin Chamcha. They both survive the explosion of a jumbo jet by terrorists over the English Channel. Gibreel gradually becomes deluded that he is his namesake the archangel and Saladin actually turns into a goat-like incarnation of the devil. Gibreel dreams the history of Islam from its inception in the city of Jahilia (built of sand) at some unspecified point in the past to the return of the Imam (based on Ayatollah Khomenei) from exile to ensure the triumph of the Islamic revolution. Along the way there are bucket loads of insight into the life of an ex-pat Indian in London, language, marriage and many other accessible topics.

2. What are the Satanic Verses?

At first, the people of Jahilia worshipped 360 Gods of whom the Goddess Al-lat was the most revered. Mahound (Rushdie's version of the prophet Muhammed) and his small number of followers are committed to the idea that there is only one God (Al-lah). The most powerful man in Jahilia, the Grandee Abu Simbel, feels threatened by Mahound and offers him a deal: admit the worthiness of just 3 of the 360 Gods and I will not only tolerate, but recognise you. Mahound climbs Mount Cone to speak to his archangel (Gibreel Farishta feels it's him in the dreams).  On the mountain he is told to admit the 3 Gods and on returning to the city conveys the message to an assembled crowd in verse. Later, he retracts the message as the work of the Devil (satanic verses) and he and his followers are forced to flee the city.   

3. Why did the Ayatollah and his fans throw their toys out of the pram?

The answer to this one is not clear cut, but after some Googling, this is my take:

     There is a brothel in Jahilia where the poet Baal hides out after Mahound has returned and imposed an Islamic regime on the city. At some point the prostitutes get the idea of naming themselves after each one of Mahound's many chaste wives to excite their customers and increase profits. This was taken by some as suggesting that the prophet's wives were whores.
     Satanic Verses is a phrase derived from an Arabic one which means something rather different. Its use was construed as implying that the verses in the Koran were the work of the devil. 
    Mahound is a derogatory word for Muhammed used by the English during the crusades.
    In the novel the story of Abraham is told briefly, but in a way that shows him as a cold-hearted man who left his wife (Hagar) and unborn child (Ishmael) in the desert to die and which expresses surprise that the site of this act is worshipped not because of the miracle that Hagar found a source of water there and survived, but because Abraham had graced it with his presence.
    The scribe who writes down the words of Allah supposedly coming directly from him through the mouth of Mahound unchanged is suspicious and so makes some small changes. These are not picked up by Mahound causing the scribe to lose his faith and suggesting that Islam was born of self interest. 
    Finally, and this seems like the kicker to me, the Ayatollah Khomenei character in the novel is portrayed in a less than flattering light with him ending the section lying in the palace forecourt with his mouth open swallowing people whole as they enter.

4. Was there any justification for the Fatwa?

It's easy to understand why Muslims were offended by the book and hard to imagine that Rushdie didn't intend this to some degree. However, even the most extreme versions of Islamic law don't allow for sentencing a person to death without a trial or at least the right to speak in their defence first. And Rushdie wasn't even living in a country subject to Islamic law. The Ayatollah actually encouraged Muslims who knew someone who was close enough to Rushdie to kill him to pay them to do so.

The last word? The Ayatollah was under pressure after making a too little too late truce with Iraq and the publication of The Satanic Verses gifted him an opportunity to distract attention and reinvigorate his supporters. It wasn't an easy read, but was worth the effort, there's a lot more to it than the controversy and I have more respect for, and interest in the author than I did three months ago.