Do you remember author Salman Rushdie? He caused quite a stir in the Islamic world when he released his novel “The Satanic Verses” in 1988. Many Muslims found it to be insulting to Islam and the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa (a religious edict) calling for his death. The Iranian government said they did not condone the fatwa, but could not withdraw it either. Fearing for his safety, the British novelist went into hiding.
Rushdie was one of the most well known novelists of the time when he went into hiding. His thirteen popular novels are mostly a mixture of history and magical realism. “Midnight’s Children” won the 1981 Booker Prize and it also won the Booker of Bookers award in 1993. This honor was bestowed upon the book as the best novel in the 25-year history of the Booker awards. It was only within the last decade that Rushdie resurfaced in public, although he still receives occasional threats.
Now, the Queen of England has knighted him. The knighthood was a part of her official birthday honors last Saturday. In addition to knighting Rushdie, the Queen also knighted one of the country’s most famous cricket players, Ian Botham. Named Commanders in the Order of the British Empire (CBE) were CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, human rights activist Shami Chakrabarti, Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis, and comedian Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage). Named Companion to the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) were former KGB agent/British intelligence agent Oleg Gordievsky, singer Joe Cocker, actor Peter Sallis (from Wallace and Gromit), fashion designers Joseph Corre and Serena Rees, and soccer player Teddy Sheringham. Those who receive knighthood are to be addressed as “Sir” or “Dame” while the other honorees have no title but can put the abbreviations at the end of their names.
Needless to say, Iran issued a statement saying they condemn the Queen’s decision to grant knighthood to Rushdie, saying that the award shows there are anti-Islamic feelings by ranking British officials.