Cat Stevens' comments about Salman Rushdie

Last updated

Following Ayatollah Khomeini's 14 February 1989 death fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, after the publication of Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses , British musician Yusuf Islam (previously and better known by his stage name Cat Stevens), made statements endorsing the killing of Rushdie, generating sharp criticism from commentators in the West.

Contents

In response, Yusuf Islam said that some of his comments were "stupid and offensive jokes" made in "bad taste," [1] while others were merely giving his interpretation of Islamic law but not advocating any action. [2] [3] Islam also said that later in the same programme he promised to accept the judgment of a British court if it found Rushdie innocent of any crime, blasphemy or otherwise. [1]

Statements

Kingston Polytechnic

On 21 February 1989, Yusuf Islam addressed students at Kingston Polytechnic (now Kingston University) in London about his conversion to Islam and was asked about the controversy in the Muslim world and the fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie's execution. He replied, "He must be killed. The Qur'an makes it clear – if someone defames the prophet, then he must die." [4]

Newspapers quickly denounced what was seen as Yusuf Islam's support for the killing of Rushdie and the next day, he released a statement saying that he was not personally encouraging anybody to be a vigilante, [2] and that he was only stating that blasphemy is a capital offence according to the Qur'an.

Hypotheticals

Two months later, Islam appeared on an Australian television programme, ABC's Geoffrey Robertson's Hypotheticals , [5] an occasional broadcast featuring a panel of notable guests to explore a hypothetical situation with moral, ethical or political dilemmas. In the episode "A Satanic Scenario", Islam had an exchange about the issue with the moderator and King's Counsel Geoffrey Robertson. [6] [7] Islam would later clarify the exchanges as "stupid and offensive jokes" made "in bad taste", but "part of a well-known British national trait ... dry humour on my part." [1]

Robertson: You don't think that this man deserves to die?
Y. Islam: Who, Salman Rushdie?
Robertson: Yes.
Y. Islam: Yes, yes.
Robertson: And do you have a duty to be his executioner?
Y. Islam: Uh, no, not necessarily, unless we were in an Islamic state and I was ordered by a judge or by the authority to carry out such an act – perhaps, yes.
[Some minutes later, Robertson on the subject of a protest where an effigy of the author is to be burned]
Robertson: Would you be part of that protest, Yusuf Islam, would you go to a demonstration where you knew that an effigy was going to be burned?
Y. Islam: I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing.

The New York Times also reports this statement from the programme: [If Rushdie turned up at my doorstep looking for help] I might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like. I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is. [8]

Later Islam stated the following about his above mentioned comments: [1]

I foolishly made light of certain provocative questions. When asked what I'd do if Salman Rushdie entered a restaurant in which I was eating, I said, "I would probably call up Ayatollah Khomeini"; and, rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of the author, I jokingly said I would have preferred that it'd be the "real thing".

The content of the broadcast was reported in The New York Times on 23 May 1989, a week before the show's intended broadcast. He and other Muslim participants "objected to cuts" that "omitted the Muslim justification for punishment of blasphemy." [8]

According to Islam, his last comments on the innocence of Rushdie were not a joke:

Providentially, they kept in one important response to a final question posed directly to me by Geoffrey Robertson QC. At the end of the debate he asked me to imagine if Salman Rushdie was taken to court in Britain and the Jury found him 'not guilty' of any crime – blasphemy or otherwise – and dismissed the case, what I would do. I clearly stated that I would have to accept the decision and fully abide by the law! And that was no joke. [1]

Rolling Stone interview

In a 2000 Rolling Stone magazine interview:

I'm very sad that this seems to be the No. 1 question people want to discuss. I had nothing to do with the issue other than what the media created. I was innocently drawn into the whole controversy. So, after many years, I'm glad at least now that I have been given the opportunity to explain to the public and fans my side of the story in my own words. At a lecture, back in 1989, I was asked a question about blasphemy according to Islamic Law, I simply repeated the legal view according to my limited knowledge of the Scriptural texts, based directly on historical commentaries of the Qur'an. The next day the newspaper headlines read, "Cat Says, Kill Rushdie." I was abhorred, but what could I do? I was a new Muslim. If you ask a Bible student to quote the legal punishment of a person who commits blasphemy in the Bible, he would be dishonest if he didn't mention Leviticus 24:16. [3]

Appearance on the BBC's Desert Island Discs

In October 2020, Islam appeared on the BBC's Desert Island Discs and said:

I was certainly not prepared or equipped to deal with shark-toothed journalists and the whole way in which the media spins stories. I was cleverly framed, I would say, by certain questions, where I couldn’t for instance rewrite the 10 Commandments. You can’t expect me to do that. At the same time I never actually ever supported the fatwa. I even wrote a whole press statement which, very early on, which the press ignored – completely ignored. They went for the one which was written by the journalist who originally wrote the story. And so I had to live through that. [9]

Personal website

On his personal spiritual website he wrote:

I never called for the death of Salman Rushdie; nor backed the Fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini—and still don’t. The book itself destroyed the harmony between peoples and created an unnecessary international crisis. When asked about my opinion regarding blasphemy, I could not tell a lie and confirmed that – like both the Torah and the Gospel – the Qur'an considers it, without repentance, as a capital offense. The Bible is full of similar harsh laws if you're looking for them. However, the application of such Biblical and Qur'anic injunctions is not to be outside of due process of law, in a place or land where such law is accepted and applied by the society as a whole... [10]

Response to Rushdie's 2022 stabbing

Yusuf Islam BBC2 Folk Awards.jpg
Yusuf / Cat Stevens Twitter
@YusufCatStevens

Saddened and shocked to learn about the horrific act on @SalmanRushdie my wish is for us all to live in peace. May God grant him and every one else who has suffered from the manic pandemic of violence in this world, a full recovery. Peace

August 12, 2022 [11]

In August 2022, Rushdie was stabbed multiple times and suffered serious injury during a public appearance. In response, Stevens released a statement on his social media accounts condemning the attack and wishing Rushdie a full recovery.

Criticism and backlash

Islam's comments caused a backlash at the time. The pop group 10,000 Maniacs deleted the Cat Stevens song "Peace Train", which they had recorded for their 1987 In My Tribe album, from subsequent pressings of the album as a protest against Islam's remarks. [3] Several US stations stopped playing Cat Stevens records. [12] Radio talk show host Tom Leykis of KFI-AM in Los Angeles called for a mass burning of Cat Stevens' records, later changed to a mass steamrolling. Islam claimed that he had earlier unsuccessfully asked his record company to stop production of his Cat Stevens records but they had refused on economic grounds. [13]

Commenting on the controversy regarding the United States government's 2004 refusal to allow Islam to enter the country, Middle East scholar Juan Cole criticised him, saying that he "never forgave him [Stevens] for advocating the execution of Salman Rushdie," and claiming he had "later explained this position away by saying that he did not endorse vigilante action against Rushdie, but would rather want the verdict to be carried out by a proper court." [14]

Rushdie himself, in a 2007 letter to the editor of The Daily Telegraph , complained of what he believed was Islam's attempts to "rewrite his past," and called his claims of innocence "rubbish." [15] In November 2010, in an interview on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight on CBC Television Rushdie was asked about Islam's appearance at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C. the previous month. He said, "I thought it was a mistake to have invited him and I actually called up Jon Stewart and we had a couple of conversations and I think, you know, by the end of it I think he's pretty clear that it was probably a misstep. Because he's not a good guy. It may be that he once sang 'Peace Train'... but he hasn't been Cat Stevens for a long time, you know. He's a different guy now." [16]

At a 2012 fundraiser, Stewart recalled that phone conversation with Rushdie, who expressed disappointment that a performer was used "who wanted to kill me." Stewart said he was unaware of Islam's 1989 comments at the time. "So I'm like, I'm sure he doesn't believe that people should be put to death for apostasy," Stewart recalled. "I said, 'look, I'm sorry you're upset, but I'm sure the guy isn't really like that. Let me talk to him." Islam said the whole thing was a "misunderstanding", but added "although why do you have to insult the Prophet?" Stewart continued "We get into a whole conversation, and it becomes very clear to me that he is straddling two worlds in a very difficult way, and it broke my heart a little bit. I wish I had known that, I wouldn't have done [the routine], I don't think, because that to me is a deal breaker. Death for free speech is a deal breaker." [17] [18]

In the 23 April 2014, episode of The Daily Show , Stewart stated unequivocally that inviting Islam was a "mistake" and that he "should have looked into it more." [19]

Soon after Stewart made those comments, The Atlantic reviewed the "long war" between Rushdie and Islam in brief, including reference to Stanford literary blogger Cynthia Haven's chronicle of "the entire thing, including a bizarre and apparently ongoing side-conflict involving YouTube videos and copyright complaints" and more response by Rushdie to the Islam appearance. [20]

Alleged resemblance to character in the novel

Some commentators have concluded that the character "Bilal X" in Rushdie's book is a caricature of Yusuf Islam. [21] 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." [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruhollah Khomeini</span> Supreme Leader of Iran from 1979 to 1989

Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian Islamic revolutionary, politician, and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the Iranian Revolution, which overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and ended the Iranian monarchy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salman Rushdie</span> Indian-born British-American novelist (born 1947)

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, typically set on the Indian subcontinent. Rushdie's second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was deemed to be "the best novel of all winners" on two occasions, marking the 25th and the 40th anniversary of the prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cat Stevens</span> British musician (born 1948)

Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion streams. His musical style consists of folk, rock, pop, and, later in his career, Islamic music. Following two decades in which he performed only music which met strict religious standards, he returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ata'ollah Mohajerani</span> Iranian politician

Sayyid Ata'ollah Mohajerani is an Iranian journalist, author, and reformist politician. Mohajerani served as Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran under President Mohammad Khatami from 1997 until 2000 when he was fired from office for alleged "permissiveness". He is living as a UK citizen.

<i>The Satanic Verses</i> 1988 novel by Salman Rushdie

The Satanic Verses is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters. The title refers to the Satanic Verses, a group of Quranic verses about three pagan Meccan goddesses: Allāt, Al-Uzza, and Manāt. The part of the story that deals with the satanic verses was based on accounts from the historians al-Waqidi and al-Tabari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Fazel Lankarani</span> Iranian Grand Ayatollah (1931-2007)

Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani was an Iranian Twelver Shia Marja'. He was student of Grand Ayatollah Borujerdi. He was a child of a Persian mother and an Azerbaijani father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace Train</span> 1971 single by Cat Stevens

"Peace Train" is a 1971 song by Cat Stevens, taken from his album Teaser and the Firecat. The song climbed to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the week of November 6, 1971, becoming Stevens' first US Top 10 hit. The song also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart. It is also featured on The Very Best of Cat Stevens compilation album. He re-recorded the song for the charity War Child in 2003.

Sir Iqbal Abdul Karim Mussa Sacranie, OBE served as Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) until June 2006. He arrived in the UK in 1969. He was the founding Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, and served four further years as Secretary General from 2002 to 2004 and 2004 to 2006. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1999, and was knighted by the Queen in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hitoshi Igarashi</span> Japanese writer and translator (1947–1991)

Hitoshi Igarashi was a Japanese scholar of Arabic and Persian literature and history and the Japanese translator of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. He was murdered in the wake of fatwas issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran – who, by the time of Igarashi's murder, had died – calling for the death of the book's author and "those involved in its publication." His murder remains unsolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Nygaard</span> Norwegian publisher

William Nygaard is the retired head of the Norwegian publishing company Aschehoug. He was also chairman of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. He has two children.

Marianne Wiggins is an American author. According to The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English, Wiggins writes with "a bold intelligence and an ear for hidden comedy." She has won a Whiting Award, an National Endowment for the Arts award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2004 for her novel Evidence of Things Unseen.

WSFL-FM is a classic rock radio station located in New Bern, North Carolina that broadcasts to the entire eastern region of North Carolina. It has been around for several decades and is considered a fixture in the local community.

Iran is a constitutional, Islamic theocracy. Its official religion is the doctrine of the Twelver Jaafari School. Iran's law against blasphemy derives from Sharia. Blasphemers are usually charged with "spreading corruption on earth", or mofsed-e-filarz, which can also be applied to criminal or political crimes. The law against blasphemy complements laws against criticizing the Islamic regime, insulting Islam, and publishing materials that deviate from Islamic standards.

<i>Satanic Verses</i> controversy Reaction to Salman Rushdies 1988 novel

The Satanic Verses controversy, also known as the Rushdie Affair, was a controversy sparked by the 1988 publication of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. It centered on the novel's references to the Satanic Verses, and came to include a larger debate about censorship and religious violence. It included numerous killings, attempted killings, and bombings by perpetrators who supported Islam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salman Rushdie knighthood controversy</span>

In mid-June 2007, Salman Rushdie, the British-Indian novelist and author of the novel The Satanic Verses, was created a Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II. Soon after the news of the knighthood was released protests against the honour were held in Malaysia and in Pakistan where effigies of the writer were publicly burnt. On 19 June 2007, governments in both Pakistan and Iran summoned their British ambassadors to officially protest against the award. While many groups and individuals have renewed the call to execute Rushdie, the author "is not commenting on the latest threats to his life. It is understood he is anxious not to inflame the situation". When asked by the Associated Press if his silence was at the request of the British government, Rushdie replied by e-mail stating "The British authorities have not asked me to do or not do anything. I have simply chosen to remain out of this storm for the moment. And nobody is turning anything down." The media noted in July 2007 that Rushdie "has not been seen in public since the 16 June announcement of his knighthood." However, he was photographed receiving his knighthood formally the next year at a ceremony which, breaking with tradition, was not announced in advance of his attendance.

<i>Roadsinger</i> 2009 studio album by Yusuf

Roadsinger is the thirteenth studio album by Yusuf. Roadsinger is Yusuf's second mainstream release since his return to music. The album made its debut on the US Billboard 200 at position No. 41 and on the UK Albums Chart at No. 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariwan Halabjaee</span> Iraqi writer and human rights activist (born 1963)

Mariwan Halabjaee or Mariwan Halabjayi is an Iraqi Kurdish writer, public speaker, and human rights activist. He is the author of sixteen books and producer of over ninety documentaries, covering topics on theology, psychology, and human rights. He is the author of the book Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam. The book gained international fame when published in 2005, and has since been reprinted eleven times and translated into Arabic, Persian, and Pashto for millions of readers. It is about how Islam and Sharia are allegedly used to oppress Muslim women. "I wanted to prove how oppressed women are in Islam and that they have no rights," said Halabjaee. Halabjaee asserted the book was, "based on Islamic sources such as the Holy Quran, Muslim and Bukhari books and many more." Due to his controversial work, he is often referred to as "the Salman Rushdie of Iraqi Kurdistan".

<i>Joseph Anton: A Memoir</i> Autobiographical book by Salman Rushdie

Joseph Anton: A Memoir is an autobiographical book by the British Indian writer Salman Rushdie, first published in September 2012 by Random House. Rushdie recounts his time in hiding from ongoing threats to his life.

Abdullah bin Muhammad al-Ahdal, a native of Saudi Arabia, was the great Imam of Belgium. He died in 1989 in Brussels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stabbing of Salman Rushdie</span> 2022 attack in Chautauqua, New York, US

On August 12, 2022, novelist Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, United States. A 24-year-old suspect, Hadi Matar, was arrested directly and charged the following day with assault and attempted murder. Rushdie was gravely wounded and hospitalized. Interviewer Henry Reese was also injured by the attacker.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Chinese Whiskers Archived 4 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine by Yusuf Islam
  2. 1 2 The May 2006 BBC interview with Alan Yentob displays a newspaper clipping reportedly from that time, which quotes from his statement.
  3. 1 2 3 interview by Andrew Dansby (14 June 2000). "Cat Stevens Breaks His Silence". Rolling Stone magazine. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  4. ↑ Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 February 1989, p.5A, "Iran: West to blame Islam for forthcoming terrorism".
  5. ↑ "Geoffrey Robertson's Hypotheticals". ABC Commercial. 9 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Excerpt of episode at archive.org
  7. ↑ Hypotheticals (A Satanic Scenario), clip description at itnsource.com, who owns Granada TV licenses today.
  8. 1 2 Whitney, Craig R. (23 May 1989). "Cat Stevens Gives Support To Call for Death of Rushdie". The New York Times . p. C18. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  9. ↑ "Yusuf/Cat Stevens 'cleverly framed' to look like he backed Rushdie fatwa". The Irish News. 27 September 2020.
  10. ↑ Stated in an FAQ under the point "Did Cat Stevens Say, 'Kill Rushdie!'?" Archived 4 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ @YusufCatStevens (12 August 2022). "Saddened and shocked to learn about the horrific act on @SalmanRushdie my wish is for us all to live in peace. May God grant him and every one else who has suffered from the manic pandemic of violence in this world, a full recovery. Peace" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 April 2023– via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Stations Stop Playing Cat Stevens Records New York Times 2 March 1989;.
  13. ↑ Stevenson, Richard W. (8 March 1989). "Los Angeles Journal; Books, Then Records; Flames Climb Higher". The New York Times.
  14. ↑ Roundup: Historians' Take – Juan Cole: Why I Find It Hard to Shed a Tear for Cat Stevens Archived 21 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine , History News Network, 23 September 2004
  15. ↑ Letters to The Sunday Telegraph, Cat Stevens wanted me dead, last letter on the page dated 6 May 2007.
  16. ↑ George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight | GST S1: Episode 42 - Salman Rushdie George Tonight Season 1 Episode 42 24 November 2010.
  17. ↑ "Jon Stewart tells Stephen Colbert: I nearly quit 'Daily Show' over 'insane' co-workers". Today (U.S. TV program). 11 December 2012.
  18. ↑ Brothers in the Business Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine ; Montclair Film Festival; Liz Dircks
  19. ↑ "Hannity Obsession". The Daily Show. 24 April 2014.
  20. ↑ Fisher, Max. "The Long War Between Salman Rushdie and Cat Stevens". TheAtlanticWire.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2010. The Haven citations were linked to here and here respectively. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  21. ↑ Notes for Salman Rushdie: Satanic Verse Archived 4 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine p.45
  22. ↑ Rushdie, Salman, The Satanic Verses, The Consortium, 1992, p.211
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.