Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 92
92 Mohamed Arshad Ahmedi book he continually refers to the restrictive nature of the Islamic law compared to the free-for-all Western society of which he is a proud member. There is absolutely nothing fictitious about which religion he is ridiculing, but in fact it is in direct keeping with the anti-Islamic theme that is clearly apparent, not only in this book, but in all his books. Any ordinary Muslim would have been incensed by the con- tents discussed so far in this book, but if this was not enough, Salman Rushdie had saved the deadliest poison for the Holy Prophet of Islam(sa). He has used the name ‘Mahound’ to describe Muhammad(sa). This was in accordance with the medieval prop- aganda through the Crusades, which had built up a conception of Muhammad(sa) as ‘the great enemy’ to Christendom who was transformed into Mahound, the prince of darkness. In ‘Midnight’s Children’ he clearly states, The prophet Muhammed (also known as. . . Mahound) (p. 161). It has been painful enough to labour through the novel and to try to keep a sound frame of mind at the calumnious nature and vindictive language aimed at the nobler than noble character of the Holy Prophet(sa); and I would certainly not like to impose it upon anyone; even so, were I to give examples it would necessitate quot- ing almost the entire book. A lot has already been written on this subject by numerous Muslim scholars; suffice it to say that this book is littered with ob- scenities against Prophet Muhammad(sa). Though the attacks on his noble character resemble those of earlier orientalists, Rushdie has stooped the lowest by using the foulest and most vindictive language imaginable. And to bestow literary awards on the author for this sort of work is like twisting the knife that is already deeply entrenched in the back of Muslims.