Satanic Verses of Allah. This entire matter was a mere footnote to the back-and-forth of religious debate, and was rekindled only when Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel, "The Satanic Verses", made headline news. The novel contains some fictionalized allusions to Islamic history, which provoked both controversy and outrage. Muslims around the world protested the book's publishing, and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa sentencing Rushdie to death, saying that the book blasphemed Muhammad and his wives. Since William Muir, the historicity of this episode has been largely accepted by orientalists. Some orientalists, however, argued against the historic authenticity of these verses on various
Haroun and the Sea of Stories Haroun and the Sea of Stories Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a 1990 children's book by Salman Rushdie. It was Rushdie's fifth novel after "The Satanic Verses". It is a phantasmagorical story that begins in a city so old and ruinous that it has forgotten its name. "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" is an allegory for several problems existing in society today, especially in the Indian subcontinent. It looks at these problems from the viewpoint of the young protagonist Haroun. Rushdie dedicated this book to his son, from whom he was separated for some time. Many elements