By Anthony L Hall
Alas, Muslim fanatics have issued another fatwa against author Salman Rushdie. But this time Rushdie did not even do (or write) anything to incite their religious bloodlust. Instead, these zealous and narcissistic executioners of Islamic hegemony are braying for his head simply because the British government announced last weekend that Queen Elizabeth II will bestow a knighthood upon him; an honor which they have somehow determined is intended as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad:
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Anthony L. Hall is a descendant
of the Turks & Caicos Islands,
international lawyer and political
consultant - headquartered in
Washington DC - who publishes
his own weblog, The iPINIONS
Journal, at http://ipjn.com
offering commentaries on
current events from a
Caribbean perspective
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“The action by the British Queen in knighting Salman Rushdie, the apostate, is an unwise one….If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Muhammad, his act is justified.” [Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Ijaz-ul-Haq]
“Salman Rushdie has turned into a hated corpse which cannot be resurrected by any action.” [Iran’s First Deputy Speaker Mohammad Reza Bahonar]
Of course, Rushdie first incurred this kind of foreboding notoriety in 1989 when Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini ordered his execution (on Valentine’s Day no less) for writing The Satanic Verses, which he condemned, ostensibly, because of Rushdie’s “blasphemous” characterization of the Prophet Muhammad. (Although the Ayatollah was probably more pissed off by Rushdie’s unflattering allusions to him.) And it did not matter that this book is a fantastical and farcical depiction of a cosmic battle between good and evil, in which Rushdie proselytizes his Islamic heresies, and ridicules all religions, in mystical and otherworldly prose.
At any rate, the Ayatollah’s fatwa forced Rushdie into hiding – complete with a 24/7 cordon of bodyguards courtesy of Scotland Yard. But he was effectively resurrected in 1998 after a politically-evolved Iranian government granted Britain’s request for his clemency, which prompted Rushdie to proclaim in typically-ethereal flourish that:
“I already feel the shreds of the fatwa flying away as if they were dust.”
Nevertheless, I doubt this reissued fatwa will again cause him to take flight and cower in fright. Nor do I think the British government will again be so terrorized as to accessorize the glitterati lifestyle to which he has become so accustomed in recent years with another cordon of bodyguards.
After all, even though they may chant suicidal commitment to this fatwa, Muhammad’s willing executioners are too busy killing fellow Muslims in places like Iraq and Palestine to turn their sights on Rushdie. Indeed, he can take some comfort from the fact that similar fatwas were issued recently against Danish cartoonists (for drawing blasphemous caricatures of Muhammad), former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for exposing the misogynistic tenets of Islam in her film Submission), and even the Pope (for insinuating in a homily that Muhammad’s teachings have wrought little more than jihadist violence). Yet all of these condemned blasphemers are all still alive and, by all accounts, well.
That said, I feel obliged to reiterate my solidarity with Rushdie. In fact, my own published writings make it patently clear that I endorse his irreverent and wholly-justified disdain for the many venal and misanthropic things Muslims do in the name of Allah. Although the irony seems completely lost on them that their diabolical threats make all too real Rushdie’s literary allusions to the devil disguising himself as God….
By the same token, however, I feel constrained to reveal my dismay over the pedestrian reverence Rushdie showed in accepting the fatuous and anachronistic honor of being knighted by the Queen.
“I am thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour, and am very grateful that my work has been recognised in this way.” [Salman Rushdie]
After all, it would be intellectually disingenuous, if not hypocritical, for him to deny that the Queen bestowing such honors makes a mockery of democracy almost to the extent that the Ayatollah issuing fatwas makes a mockery of Islam. And it only adds a patina of unseemliness to this royal farce that “commoners” are more likely to make it onto the Queen’s Honors List these days by bribing politicians than by “rendering honourable service to the crown”….
"The British monarch lives under this illusion that Britain is still a 19th Century superpower and that bestowing titles is something still deemed important.” [Iran's Foreign Ministry Director for Europe, Ebrahim Rahimpour.]
Hear, hear! (Hate the messenger…if you must, not the message)
NOTE: Conference on the Caribbean…in DC
Over the past few weeks I have received many e-mails from people throughout the Caribbean enquiring about my plans to participate in or comment on this week’s Conference on the Caribbean in…DC (and I hope the geopolitical irony here is not lost on you). But, as the Editor of this publication can attest, after being invited to participate, I soon realized that the agenda for this conference was being geared more towards adding a Caribbean quotient to the hot air that passes for legislative action in Washington than towards addressing issues that affect our region in a pragmatic and comprehensive manner.
Even more discouraging and disheartening, however, was the singular purpose with which regional ambassadors to DC were jockeying amongst themselves to ensure that their head of state would be guaranteed the dubious honor of shooting the breeze for a few minutes with (lame-duck) US President George W Bush….
Nevertheless, I hope the well-intentioned attendees derive some benefit from this week’s conference. Although I fear the only benefit will be their belated realization that these conferences amount to little more than talking-shop opportunities for political and academic elites.
Meanwhile, it is an indication of the fecklessness of leaders of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) that they are taking credit for the US government’s decision to extend the deadline (by six months to 31 January 2008) for when Americans returning from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean will be required to present passports at immigration control. After all, everyone in America knows that this deadline was extended only because of (typical) bureaucratic incompetence at the US State Department. In fact, passport processors there were drowning in such a deep backlog of applications that this extension was mandated as a life raft for them…not us!
To reinforce the point, however, it should be noted that this extension pertains only to Americans traveling by land and sea, which benefits Mexicans and cruise liners more than CARICOM countries; whereas, those traveling by air must have passports in hand by this September 30.
Of course, CARICOM leaders had vowed to prevail upon Bush to extend this deadline, which would benefit regional tourism tremendously. But the fact that this issue was not even raised during their pow wow with him on Wednesday betrays the hollowness of their vows. (A fact, incidentally, that is confirmed by the conspicuous absence of any reference to this hot topic in the boilerplate joint communiqué that was issued following their meeting)
Related Articles:
Pardon me Sir, but how much did you pay for your knighthood
Muslims condemn the Pope to death
Dramatizing the fecklessness of CARICOM
Bush-CARICOM Joint communiqué re: Conference on the Caribbean |
