More Rushdie Ruckus

The embattled author of "The Satanic Verses" published a piece in today's London Times calling for a reform movement in Islam.

I'm all for it, of course, but then I'm not a Muslim, much less a Muslim traditionalist (I don't say fundamentalist - that's a whole different ball of wax).

Look at it this way - Salman Rushdie seems to say that Islam needs to stop thinking of its sacred text as the perfect, unalterable Word of God and start thinking of it as a historical document. That kind of thinking has already taken root in Judaism and Christianity, and Rushdie evidently believes that the same attitude in Islam will bring Muslims the benefits of civilization and free them of stultifying and too often murderous tendencies.

So far, so good. I assume, however, that if one is a believing Muslim, the very idea is blasphemous.

Orthodox Jews believe that Torah was actually written by God (and, as a Jew, I'm not at all sure they're wrong). Christians believe that the Gospels and Epistles were written under the direct inspiration of God. Really devout Christians find the suggestion that the New Testament be viewed as a historical document outrageous, and really devout Jews react with similar horror to the suggestion that the Torah is the work of men.

What Rushdie suggests makes perfect sense from outside the Muslim belief system. From inside the belief system - that is, from the point of view of the people he's addressing - why should anyone hear what he has to say at all, let alone with patience?

I get my dander up when someone suggests that belief in the divine origin of Torah is superstitious nonsense, and I'm not all that devout a Jew. Now here comes Salman Rushdie with the suggestion that Muslims, for purely practical reasons and in cold blood, think of their sacred writings as historical documents.

I'd say "easier said than done," but when you consider what fundamentalism has led to, the phrase qualifies as the understatement of the eon.


Benshlomo says, Hey Salman, your old hideout is waiting for you.