Rushdie Haunted by his unholy Ghosts — Page 51
Rushdie: Haunted By His Unholy Ghosts 51 haviour with women alone made it quite impossible that he should have been a prophet. DE AT H OF T H E PROP H E T Dealing with the subject of the death of the Holy Prophet(sa), varying and incredible accounts had been concocted. As deaths of the saints were thought specially significant by their biographers, and in medieval tradition the death of Muhammad(sa), the antithesis of the saint, was considered a subject of theological importance, it was often shown as having been atrociously horrible, sometimes simply as just having been of a normal human being, with no signs of God’s special mercy. Some of these falsifications are too painful to divulge and to inflict them on any reader in any sort of detail would be sacrilege. Those wishing to read at length the different stories concocted by the Christian writers relating to the manner of the death of the Holy Prophet(sa) should read the relevant section in Dr. Daniel’s book. (pp. 102-107). Dr. Daniel’s hypocrisy is evident when he admits to the cred- ibility of some of the stories. The main aim to portray an ignomini- ous death of the Holy Prophet(sa) was to taint him with unsaintly qualities. As Dr. Daniel writes : ‘As a good death marks the saint, so the Prophet was allotted an appropriate, and usually an appropriately horrible, one. This was inevitably so, in order to seal his unsanctity. ’ (p. 106-107). SE L F - I N DU LGE NC E The attacks on Islam continue with reference to its alleged self- indulgence. This topic finds a peculiar interest to the point of fetish- ism with the Western reader, both of yester-year and of the present. Even Dr. Daniel states that where morals of sex were concerned: