The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West The Rushdie Affair: The Novel, the Ayatollah, and the West is a book written by historian Daniel Pipes, published in 1990. It focuses on events surrounding "The Satanic Verses". The afterword was written by Koenraad Elst. The first part of the book describes "The Satanic Verses" and Ayatollah Khomeini's edict, explaining why Rushdie's book became a controversy . The second part describes responses to the text and criticizes censorship of the book in some countries. Edward Mortimer, in "The New York Times", called the book "an extremely well-written and clear
Knighthood of Salman Rushdie to Norway's request for a cancellation of the death "fatwa". Boroujerdi stated that the "Late Imam Khomeini's decree on Salman Rushdie is eternal and irrevocable. Honoring religious sanctities is necessary and all societies must respect this. All countries have a red line in their policies. For instance, in spite of freedom of speech a university professor and a political figure loses his job because of denying the Holocaust in Europe, insulting Muhammad has caused the late Imam to issue the decree which is irreversible." Addressing the talks with Norway over human rights, he went on to say that reports of