Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 100
100 C H A P T E R T H I R T E E N : R US H DI E ’ S T R E A TM E N T OF T H E S A T A N IC V E R S E S Rushdie has obviously made continued reference to the ‘satanic verses’ throughout his infamous book and although he has tried to treat the subject as frivolously and as facetiously as possible, it cannot hide the venom and the contempt behind it all. Note also the way that Rushdie has used the concocted stories of some of the Western writers on this subject and tried to dress it in the guise of fiction : ‘Nearing him, she halted, and recited in her terrible voice of sulphur and hellfire: ‘Have you heard of Lat, and Manat, and Uzza, the Third, the Other? They are the Exalted Birds’. . . But Khalid interrupted her, saying, ‘Uzza, those are the Devil’s verses, and you the Devil’s daughter, a creature not to be worshipped, but denied. ’ So he drew his sword and cut her down. ’ (p. 373). Rushdie’s continual transition in the book from the past to the present and vice-versa has been to leave the reader in confusion and doubt. By using the modern-day foul language and relating the ills of modern-day society, he insinuates that at the time of the Holy Prophet(sa) also there must have been weaknesses on the part of not only his Companions but on the part of the Holy Prophet(sa) himself. For example, in the writing down of the Holy Qur’an by the scribes, Rushdie clearly hints at the assumption that Muhammad(sa) sometimes used to overlook some of the minor mistakes of the scribes. Writing about Salman Farsi, Rushdie writes : ‘. . . when he sat at the Prophet’s feet, writing down rules rules, rules, he began, surreptitiously, to change things. ‘Little things at first. If Mahound recited a verse in which God was described as ‘all-hearing, all knowing’, I would write, ‘all- knowing, all-wise’. Here’s the point: Mahound did not notice