Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 106
106 Mohamed Arshad Ahmedi ‘How many wives? Twelve, and one old lady, long dead. How many whores behind the Curtain? Twelve again;. . . . . . . When the news got around Jahilia that the whores of the Curtain had each assumed the identity of one of Mahound’s wives, the clandestine excitement of the city’s males was intense;. . . . So, in the Prophet’s absence, the men of Jahilia flocked to the Curtain, which experienced a three hundred per cent increase in business. . . . . The fifteen-year-old whore ‘Ayesha’ was the most popular with the paying public, just as her namesake was with Mahound. ’ (pp. 380/381). Rushdie also mocks the idea that Muhammad(sa) would go into trances when he wanted revelations to be sent to suit his needs; for ex- ample, in the case of polygamy Rushdie treats the subject lecherously : ‘He told Baal about a quarrel between Mahound and Ayesha,. . . ‘That girl couldn’t stomach it that her husband wanted so many other women,’ he said. ‘He talked about necessity, political alliances and so on, but she wasn’t fooled. Who can blame her? Finally he went into - what else? - one of his trances, and out he came with a message from the archangel. Gibreel had recited verses giving him full divine support. God’s own permission to f. . . as many women as he liked. So there: what could poor Ayesha say against the verses of God? You know what she did say? This: ‘Your God certainly jumps to it when you need him to fix things up for you. ’ (p. 386). Rushdie picks on another incident concerning the Holy Prophet(sa) and Ayesha in the next paragraph to continue his per- verted account in casting doubt using defamatory language. This incident was the one in which some scandal-mongers tried to taint the noble character of Ayesha, and it took a revelation from God to put the matter straight and exonerate Ayesha completely. Rushdie has, as usual, treated the subject without any sensitivity and has used it to ridicule and to deride: ‘Lemme tell you instead. Hottest story in town. Whoo-whoo!’. . . The two young people had been alone in the desert for