Now at Emory, Rushdie gets annual reminder of Iran's fatwa
Author Salman Rushdie started a five-year appointment with the Emory University faculty on Tuesday, one day before the 18th anniversary of the death threat that catapulted him into worldwide fame.
Rushdie says he still receives a "sort of Valentine's card" from Iran each year on February 14 letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him...
Rushdie was forced into hiding for a decade after the late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a 1989 fatwa, or opinion on Islamic law, ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie because the book allegedly insulted Islam.
In 1998, the Iranian government declared it would not support but could not rescind the fatwa. But the yearly notes continue. "It's reached the point where it's a piece of rhetoric rather than a real threat," Rushdie said.
The 59-year-old Rushdie is also donating his archive to the university, including a diary of his decade in hiding and two early, unpublished novels.
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Rushdie says he still receives a "sort of Valentine's card" from Iran each year on February 14 letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him...
Rushdie was forced into hiding for a decade after the late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a 1989 fatwa, or opinion on Islamic law, ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie because the book allegedly insulted Islam.
In 1998, the Iranian government declared it would not support but could not rescind the fatwa. But the yearly notes continue. "It's reached the point where it's a piece of rhetoric rather than a real threat," Rushdie said.
The 59-year-old Rushdie is also donating his archive to the university, including a diary of his decade in hiding and two early, unpublished novels.