Salman Rushdie, a British-American author and longtime critic of Islam, has lost sight in one eye and movement in one hand as a result of a violent attack against him in western New York two months ago.
“[His wounds] were profound, but he’s [also] lost the sight of one eye,” Wylie said. “He had three serious wounds in his neck. One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut. And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso. So, it was a brutal attack.”
A former Muslim, Rushdie became a controversial figure when he published “The Satanic Verses,” a novel inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and deemed blasphemous by many Muslims across the world. In 1989, just months after the book’s publication, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious order, calling on Muslims to kill Rushdie, along with anyone involved in the spread of his work, for blasphemy.
In the decades following the order, Tehran and organizations affiliated with the Islamic Republic have raised the bounty on Rushdie’s head to more than $3 million, forcing the author into hiding under the protection of the British government. Meanwhile, bookstores that sold “The Satanic Verses” were fire-bombed in Western countries. A Japanese translator of the book died in a 1991 knife assault. An Italian translator and a Norwegian publisher managed to survive murder attempts.
When asked about the latest attack, Wylie said this was the most dangerous scenario that Rushdie could have faced.
“I think the attack was probably something that Salman and I have discussed in the past, which was that the principal danger that he faced so many years after the fatwa was imposed is from a random person coming out of nowhere and attacking [him],” said Wylie, who serves high-profile clients such as horror-fiction writer Stephen King and President Donald Trump.
“So, you can’t protect against that because it’s totally unexpected and illogical. It was like John [Lennon’s murder].”
Rushdie’s assailant has since been identified by state police as 24-year-old New Jersey man Hadi Matar. A native-born American of Lebanese descent, Matar reportedly lauded Iran’s Islamic regime and Shiite extremist groups on his social media accounts.
Matar also reportedly carried a fake driver’s license with the name “Hassan Mughniyah,” a pseudonym combining the names of Lebanon’s notorious terrorists Hassan Nasrallah and Imad Mughniyah. The former remains the leader of the Hezbollah terrorist group, while the latter was killed in 2008 in a joint operation of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad.
In August, a grand jury indicted Matar for attempted murder and assault. He has pleaded not guilty.
The attack against Rushdie also prompted the Biden administration to condemn the Iranian regime, which was celebrating the attempted murder.
“Iranian state institutions have incited violence against Rushdie for generations, and state-affiliated media recently gloated about the attempt on his life,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “This is despicable.”
