Cat Stevens' comments about Salman Rushdie Some commentators have concluded that the character "Bilal X" in Rushdie's book is a caricature of Yusuf Islam. The fictional character Bilal X, a successful African-American former pop singer who has converted to Islam, is portrayed by Rushdie as the "favoured lieutenant" of "the Imam", a character based on the Shia Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Bilal X's "well-nourished, highly trained" voice serves as "a weapon of the West turned against its makers." Cat Stevens' comments about Salman Rushdie Following Ayatollah Khomeini's 14 February 1989 death fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, after the publication of Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses", Yusuf Islam,
Political thought and legacy of Ruhollah Khomeini Lebanese Shi'a Islamic group Hezbollah—and which continues to apply economic sanctions against Iran. Popular feeling during the hostage-taking was so high in the United States that some Iranians complained that they felt the need to hide their Iranian identity for fear of physical attack even at universities. Some books by and on Ayatollah Khomeini: Pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini: Critics of Ayatollah Khomeini: Biography of Ayatollah Khomeini Political thought and legacy of Ruhollah Khomeini Khomeinism is the founding ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Impact of the religious and political ideas of that leader of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, Grand