Salman Rushdie Book Sales Surge in Aftermath of Assassination Attempt

Salman Rushdie attends the 68th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner in New York on Nov. 15, 2017. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Sales of Salman Rushdie’s controversial 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses” have surged in the days after the Indian-born writer was attacked and stabbed multiple times in New York state on Aug. 12.

Readers have been purchasing the novel in solidarity with the badly injured author, even as the Iranian regime, which called for his assassination, doubles down on incendiary remarks at his expense.

The 34-year-old novel peaked at the second place spot on Amazon for fiction paperbacks in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

The attack follows a decades-long controversy over “The Satanic Verses”, which takes its name from an incident in which the prophet Mohammad supposedly mistook the word of Satan as divine revelation, prompting him to add now-redacted verses to the Quran.

While the historicity of these verses is disputed by pious Muslims, they serve as the basis for a series of dream sequences in Rushdie’s novel, which ruffle feathers not only with its allusion to the titular verses but also by the mention of the prophet’s pre-pubescent wife Aisha.

1989 Fatwa

As a result of the novel and its alleged blasphemy, the Iranian cleric and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa on Rushdie in 1989, calling upon pious Muslims to assassinate the writer who was also an outspoken critic of Islamic extremism.

Rushdie subsequently lived in hiding for several years, and though he escaped the 1990s physically unscathed, there were multiple assassination attempts on individuals associated with the translation and publication of the novel, including a successful attempt on the life of Japanese translator Hitoshi Iragashi.

A Turkish Muslim woman holds a picture of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Khomeini during a protest in front of Beyazit Mosque after a Friday prayer in Istanbul on Aug. 26, 2011. Mustafa OzerAFP/Getty Images

Though the Islamic Republic of Iran issued a statement of reconciliation with the author in 1998, the regime has largely stood by the terms of the fatwa, insisting that it is technically irrevocable, as a fatwa can only be lifted by its original issuer—and since Khomeini died in 1989, there is no way that the fatwa may be lifted.

Dr. Yass Alizadeh, an Iranian-born scholar at New York University’s department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, believes that the new boost in sales of “The Satanic Verses”, emphasizes how elements within the Tehran regime have signaled approval of the assassination attempt, implicitly or explicitly endorsing the attack on the now 75-year-old novelist.

“It is important to mention that the Iranian government officials and elites have not shied away from expressing their approval of the [attempted] assassination,” Alizadeh told The Epoch Times.

“Right after Rushdie’s [attempted] assassination, Mohammad Marandi, the previous chair of North American Studies at Tehran University, and an advisor to the Iranian nuclear negotiations team and an American citizen himself, tweeted that he ‘won’t be shedding tears for a writer who sprouts endless hatred & contempt for Muslims and Islam. A pawn of empire who poses as a Postcolonial novelist.’”

Despite the gloating of government officials in the Islamic Republic, Alizadeh believes that there exists widespread support for Rushdie and other critics of religious dogmatism among the people of Iran and elsewhere, even though the novel is officially banned within the Islamic Republic.

“Following the assassination attempt on Rushdie, Iranians whose access to social media platforms is prohibited by their government, used Twitter and Clubhouse to express their support for the author whose books are forbidden in Iran,” Alizadeh said, noting that the incident follows shortly after an assassination attempt on Iranian expat and regime critic Masih Alinejad, who lives in exile in New York.

Book Sales Increase Unsurprising

In a certain sense, it is unsurprising and unremarkable that the attack should occasion a bump in sales of the novel at the heart of the controversy. An adage attributed to P.T. Barnum claims that “all publicity is good publicity,” and the attack has certainly had the effect of bringing a decades-old novel back into the public consciousness. With the name of the book featuring prominently in news headlines once again, it makes sense.

However, the murmurings of approval of Rushdie throughout parts of the Muslim world may suggest that the units of “The Satanic Verses” sold recently represent a gesture of solidarity with the embattled novelist.

“This purchase was in support [of] Freedom of Thought and Speech. No one has the right to take the life of anyone because they do not like what they say or write,” writes Amazon reviewer “nuyorican” in one of many customer reviews supporting the author’s right to speak without fear of violence.

The author’s medical condition has apparently improved since the attack, and Rushdie was reportedly taken off a ventilator several days after the incident. Though the author appears on the road to recovery, the assault is a reminder of the many people who wish harm upon him for his art and a sobering reminder of the dangers which face outspoken intellectuals.