The apostate author Salman Rushdie, who was stabbed on Friday at a literary event in New York state, is on a ventilator and unable to speak, Aljazeera reported.
The source added that Rushdie is on a ventilator after the attack and suffered a wound to his liver and might lose an eye in the wake of the knife attack.
Rita Landman, an endocrinologist who was in the audience, said that Rushdie had multiple stab wounds, including one to the right side of his neck, and that there was a pool of blood under his body, the New York Times reported.
Multiple witnesses said the attacker was able to reach Rushdie easily, running onstage and approaching him from behind.
***But who Salman Rushdie is!
Rushdie was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) in India in 1947. As a teenager, he went to school in England, where he eventually settled. He began his career writing copy for an advertising firm, and he started writing fiction. He published his first novel, “Grimus,” in 1975.
Rushdie is the author of “The Satanic Verses”, a blasphemous novel about Islam published in 1988 which sparked Muslims’ outrage across the globe.
The Indian-born British author was forced into hiding in 1989 after his book The Satanic Verses was denounced by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Many considered the book blasphemous in its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad. The book was banned in several countries, Aljazeera reported.
The British-Indian author currently lives in the United States.
In early 1989, Imam Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the execution of Salman Rushdie, an Indian-born British author.
Imam Khomeini stated that the action against Rushdie was a religious duty for Muslims because of his alleged blasphemy against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in his novel "The Satanic Verses".
Imam Khomeini was totally rejecting any act of violence and terrorism, which are basically against the Islamic laws and jurisprudence. In this case, also Imam just undertook to issue a decree in accordance with the laws of Islam on Rushdie's act, while others may directly go for execution and then take the responsibility.
Both Shi‘a and Sunni Muslim jurisprudents have concessions and decrees on the issue of heresy.
“Apostasy” is an Islamic jurisprudential ruling and is issued to those who rebuff converting to Islam and means execution.
What Salman Rushdie, a British-Indian writer, wrote about Qur'anic verses and insults to Muslims as "Satanic Verses" was not an unplanned event. Especially when Western, Israeli, American, and British media outlets threw their weight behind Salman Rushdie.
Imam’s decree on Rushdie was supported by many Islamic scholars either in the UK or in the entire Muslim world. It was regarded as a sign of protest and opposition to those who had fostered in mind to degrade the position of the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) and show disrespect for the Muslim world’s sanctities.
***Reactions on the attack; A plot or incident?
An advisor to the Iranian negotiating team reacted to the attack on Salman Rushdie, the author of a blasphemous anti-Islam book, and described it as an odd incident regarding the ongoing Vienna talks.
"I won't be shedding tears for a writer who spouts endless hatred & contempt for Muslims & Islam. A pawn of empire who poses as a Postcolonial novelist," Mohammad Marandi, who is also vice-president for international affairs at the University of Tehran tweeted in reaction to the news about Salman Rushdie, the author of a blasphemous anti-Islam book, who was attacked Friday during an event in New York.
"But, isn't it odd that as we near a potential nuclear deal, the US makes claims about a hit on Bolton... and then this happens?" Marandi also added.
Salman Rushdie has been attacked on stage during an event in New York, according to US media.
After stabbing, Rushdie was flown to UPMC Hamot Surgery Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, and underwent surgery. Andrew Wylie, Rushdie's agent, said he was on a ventilator with a damaged liver, severed nerves in an arm and an eye he was likely to lose.
Marandi's tweet comes as the US Department of Justice issued a statement on Wednesday claiming that an Iranian citizen who is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been accused of attempting to assassinate John Bolton, former National Security Advisor of the United States.
"US's growing rhetoric about a politically bankrupt element, a prominent terrorist and a coup plotter against independent countries and governments, is an escape forward with the aim of escaping from responsibility for an international crime," Nasser Kan'ani, Iranian Foreign Ministry wrote in a tweet on Friday in reaction to the claims leveled against an alleged IRGC member by the US Department of Justice who accused him of plotting to kill former US National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Reported by Amin Mohammadzadegan Khoyi