Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 103
Rushdie: Haunted By His Unholy Ghosts 103 relate to his cousin that a man claiming to be a prophet had arrived there, he was certain that his hopes had been realised. Such was the impact of this news that his body began to tremble and he almost fell out of the tree. That evening he slipped away from his slave master and went to Quba. There he found the Prophet(sa) sitting with his Companions. Salman approached him and offered him some food specifying that he gave it as alms. The Prophet(sa) told the others to partake of the food but did not eat any himself. Though he had been convinced of the truth of the Prophet as soon as he had laid his eyes on him, this abstinence of the Holy Prophet(sa) convinced him even more. His second meeting with the Prophet(sa) took place at the fu- neral of As’ad. Salman described this meeting years later to his son Abbas: ‘I went to the Messenger of God when he was in Baqi al Ghrqad (Cemetery at the south east end of Medina) whither he had followed the bier of one of his Companions. ’ {While the Prophet was sitting there with some of his companions after the burial} ‘I greeted him and then circled round behind him in the hope that I might be able to look upon the Seal. And he knew what I desired, so he grasped his cloak and threw it off his back, and I beheld the Seal of the Prophecy even as my Master described it unto me. I stooped over it and kissed it and wept. Then the Messenger of God bade me come round and I went and sat in front of him and told him my story and he was glad that his companions should hear it. Then I entered Islam. ’ (Extracts from Mohammad by Martin Lings). Salman Farsi’s noble character is evident in his mannerisms and his perception of the truth, but even such pious personalities did not deter Rushdie in his slander. In fact what is apparent in Rushdie’s writings is his complete disregard for the sentiments of all Muslims, irrespective of their particular sect. His superficial veil of fiction, which he uses to hide his ulterior motives, is transparent