Customer Reviews

Distorted Imagination: Lessons from the Rushdie Affair

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It has been awhile since the Satanic Verses affair exploded onto mainstream media. To many who lived through the period, it provided the first maddening look at Islam and its apparent medieval approach and mindset. But thanks to Sardar, I now better appreciate the Muslims' response to the whole event. Though I do not agree with the approach taken, the it is important for non-Muslims to understand the impetus behind Muslims violent reaction to the book. Firstly, the book is defamatory. Considering it was clearly about Islam and touches on events presumed by Muslims as historical, to Muslims it was a calculated insult. Noting Rushdie's previous books, as well as behaviour/words post-Satanic Verses, he does show a marked antagonism towards Islam. Though, there has been other books explaining the event. Sardar's book appears to be the most cogent because he analyses the issue from a macro-perspective, taking into account the historical circumstances colouring the event. However, as most apologists, he defends what is defensible but let the indefensible slide without remarks. These type of selective arguments had been one of the most mystifying aspects of Islamic intellectual discourse as it continues to choose the easier path of dispensing the obvious with hard facts and logical deduction but opting for convoluted logic to prop the indefensible. Progress will only be made if Muslims begin to agree that there are inconsistencies and infallibilities in Islam as with any other religion. That admission will help it strenghten the ummah to better face the realities of the modern world enmeshed with its own set of contradictions.