Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page xv
xvii place at the time of the Holy Prophet(sa) through to the barbarity of the Crusades, echoes of which were found in recent times during the Gulf War of 1991. He also explores the role played by Western Orientalists who, giving an air of sincerity, always managed to sow the seeds of hatred against Islam and its founder in their writings. This history of ani- mosity against Islam has been fuelled by some Muslims themselves. Dazzled by the material progress of the West, some ‘intellectual Muslims’ began to acquiesce to its view of Islam and share a distaste for it. Salman Rushdie is a product of this genre. The author has been examined in detail and an effort has been made to study all his writings. He has been noted to have a preoccupation if not a fetish for writing lewdly about sex and such passages invariably feature in his writings, including those for children. Rushdie is also noted to be vain and conceited and some- one who has been hankering after publicity. It was the prospect of be- ing able to court such publicity that prompted him, at least in part, to write such a controversial novel. The book he eventually wrote attempted to assassinate the character of the Holy Prophet(sa) and other revered personalities in the history of Islam. But assassins seldom act alone and here, Ahmedi reveals compelling evidence, circumstantial if nothing else, that other agencies must have been at play. How, he argues, could an author who himself has claimed not to have any interest in Islam, write abusive passages against its personalities and do so in such a way as to inflict the maximum injury to those who revere them? Why, he adds, was such a large sum paid to the author well before its printing and why did the publishers consistently refuse to refrain from going ahead with the publication despite advance warnings from some of its most promi- nent advisors? These questions and others can only be resolved if one concludes that Rushdie was put up to this and mischief was the ultimate purpose. Such mischief may assuage one’s feelings of hatred for Islam but it does little for race relations. Its impact has been considerable