Cat Stevens' comments about Salman Rushdie 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, previously known as Cat Stevens, made statements that were interpreted as endorsing the killing of Rushdie. His statements generated criticism from commentators in the West. In response, Yusuf Islam said that some of his comments were "stupid and offensive jokes" made in "bad taste," while others were merely giving his interpretation of Islamic law but not advocating any action. Yusuf Islam also said that later in the same programme he promised
Al Goldstein nation. "We didn't bribe the right people or something," he said. In 1989, Goldstein ran a full page ad in "Screw" offering $1 million for the assassination of the Ayatollah Khomeini, in response to Khomeini's fatwa against novelist Salman Rushdie for allegedly blaspheming Islam. In his book "XXX-Communicated: A Rebel Without a Shul", Luke Ford wrote about a conversation with Goldstein, in which Ford asked Goldstein why Jews were dramatically overrepresented in the porn industry. He answered, "The only reason that Jews are in pornography is that we think that Christ sucks. Catholicism sucks. We don't believe in authoritarianism." Ford