Salman Rushdie Redefined Free Speech & Restructured 'Creative Audacity'

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 23 September 2023 “Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn't exist in any declaration I have ever read. If you are offended it is your problem, and frankly lots of things offend lots of people. I can walk into a bookshop and point out a number of books that I find very unattractive in what they say. But it doesn't occur to me to burn the bookshop down. If you don't like a book, read another book. If you start reading a book and you decide you don't like it, nobody is telling you to finish it. To read a 600-page novel and then say that it has deeply offended you: well, you have done a lot of work to be offended.” ― Salman Rushdie ― Salman Rushdie ------- "In August 2022, a Lebanese origin American Muslim Hadi Matar attacked him (Salman Rushdie) on stage during a programme in New York. He sustained some injuries but recovered soon though he lost his right eye. Still, he did not show any signs of repentance or remorse. Instead, he defended his right to free speech." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Also Read: Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses and The Case of Free Speech --------------------------------------------------------------------- Why should Salman Rushdie show any signs of repentance or remorse? When does a person show repentance or remorse? When he feels that he did something wrong. Compunction makes a person repent. Rushdie is convinced of his stand against Islam and all organized faiths. It's his right. It's an individual's inalienable right to express what he or she wants to express unambiguously as well as fearlessly. Repentance dilutes the intensity of the cause one espouses. To stay unfazed in the face of threats and uncertainty makes a man. 'Respect for religion' has become a code phrase meaning 'fear of religion.' Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, derision, satire and of course, our fearless disrespect. Unless a few maverick geniuses like Dawkins and Rushdie condemn god and religion, how can the religiously inebriated mankind be awakened and jolted out of their slumberous state for ages and aeons? In fact, Rushdie's ' The Satanic Verses' is the quintessence of free speech. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Granted, Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses' is stylistically his worst novel. It's marked by hopping and incoherence. It's also a tad uncouth and lacks aesthetics. Yet, you cannot deny its impact and ramifications. It has redefined the very concept of religious sanctity and sacredness. Nothing is sacrosanct in this world. Anyone has the right to blast a faith and its associated revered figures. And what's freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist. Rushdie wanted to express his angst and anger regarding religion, esp. regressive Islam. He expressed that through 'The Satanic Verses' where he says, " From the beginning, men used God to justify the unjustifiable." The 'modern' world should be thankful to Rushdie because he enabled us to ask uncomfortable questions. He prodded the living zombies to doubt because he believes that faith without doubt is addiction. He emboldened the world and restructured the term 'creative audacity.' To be impudent is to be prudent. So, instead of repenting, he should congratulate himself on being able to change the religious mindset of a lot many individuals. On the contrary, his Muslim attacker Hadi Matar must repent for his dastardly act. By the way, I'm waiting for the news of the Nobel Committee conferring this year's Nobel for Literature on Salman Rushdie. The dismal fate of Philip Roth and Milan Kundera shouldn't befall Rushdie. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/salman-rushdie-free-speech-creative-audacity/d/130739 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism