Takfir Salman Rushdie provides an example of "takfir" that featured prominently in Western media. Rushdie went into hiding after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989, officially declaring him a "kafir" who should be executed for his book "The Satanic Verses", which is perceived to contain passages that draw into question the basis of Islam. Similar cases have occurred in Egypt: for example, Nasr Abu Zayd was accused of apostasy following his work on Islamic sources, describing the Qur'an as a historical document. During the Algerian Civil War of 1991-2002 the Islamist insurgent group the GIA (Armed Islamic Group of Algeria)
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie has reached us and we are in the process of preparing for you a precise response". Concerning the recording the British Foreign Office stated "The Government has already made clear that Rushdie's honour was not intended as an insult to Islam or the Prophet Muhammad." Prime Minister Gordon Brown replied to the threat saying "Nothing can justify either threats to the United Kingdom or any form of terrorist activity and it must be the right of the United Kingdom to make its own decisions on all these issues." Knighthood of Salman Rushdie In mid-June 2007 Salman Rushdie, the British Indian