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Gibbs 
Guest Group
Joined: 29 April 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 939
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 Posted: 14 June 2010 at 11:02am |
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Read his book in college. Very interesting read.
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Ron Webb
Senior Member
Male
atheist
Joined: 30 January 2008
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 2467
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Posted: 14 June 2010 at 7:27pm |
I read it. So did my Dad -- part of it, anyway. I don't think he finished it. It was okay, but, I didn't much care for the "magical realism" aspect of it. I thought it would have been a better book if he had just stuck with a straightforward reimagining of Muhammad's life, perhaps as a modern allegory.
But the key point is that neither my Dad nor I would have bothered to read it, if it weren't for the fuss that Muslims made about it.
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Addeenul �Aql � Religion is intellect.
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Angel
Senior Member
Joined: 03 July 2001
Status: Offline
Points: 6641
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Posted: 15 June 2010 at 12:49am |
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I know of the guy, hype or no hype haven't read any of his books.
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 ~ Our feet are earthbound, but our hearts and our minds have wings ~
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Chrysalis
Senior Member
Joined: 25 November 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 2033
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Posted: 16 June 2010 at 8:46am |
 Ron Webb wrote:
But the key point is that neither my Dad nor I would have bothered to read it, if it weren't for the fuss that Muslims made about it. |
This is true for a majority of his readers. Most of his sales can be attributed to the Ayatollah . . . good marketing for Rushdie.
Edited by Chrysalis - 16 June 2010 at 8:47am
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"O Lord, forgive me, my parents and Muslims in the Hereafter. O Lord, show mercy on them as they showed mercy to me when I was young."
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martha
Senior Member
Joined: 30 October 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 1140
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Posted: 16 June 2010 at 9:25am |
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I remember when the Satanic Verses was first published. It caused a huge outcry here in the UK..
I am amazed that it has upset muslims tbh. It is a book based on magical realism and has little/nothing to do with Muhammed(pbuh) BUt if one person objects then the others jump on the bandwagon. THe disturbances remind me of some British football hooligans.
I did get the book from the library but it didn't make much sense. There is a general reference to UK immigration throughout it.
Some of his other books are really good though. He is mainly a childrens author.
Many non-muslim people smiled when he received his knighthood from the Queen..as if in anticipation for the inevitable uproar again.
Thing is..no-one can complain in this age. Free speech is
for everyone, not just the select few.
As for Rushdie..he is a very intelligent man that denied Islam for a time. No-one is really sure if he went back to Islam or not. I very much doubt it. And tbh I don;t really care if he did or not.
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some of us are a lot like cement:- all mixed up and permanently set
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Hayfa
Senior Member
Female
Joined: 07 June 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 2368
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Posted: 16 June 2010 at 11:00am |
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So Martha,
What did he do to deserve knighthood anyways? lol
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When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. Rumi
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Ron Webb
Senior Member
Male
atheist
Joined: 30 January 2008
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 2467
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Posted: 16 June 2010 at 4:51pm |
martha wrote:
I am amazed that it has upset muslims tbh. It is a book based on magical realism and has little/nothing to do with Muhammed(pbuh) |
I'm guessing you didn't read the whole thing. Muhammad is a major character in the book, under the pseudonym of "Mahound" (which itself seems to be an insulting choice, given Islam's rather dim view of hounds). And although in the beginning Mahound is portrayed as sincere and well-intentioned, suspicions are raised later in the novel about the number of "revelations" (and their timing) that always seem to benefit Mahound. The clear implication is that Mahound is abusing his authority and perhaps even inventing Messages for his own purposes.
It's not surprising at all that Muslims would want to suppress this kind of thinking. Once you start questioning the Prophet's motivations, the whole foundation of Islam crumbles.
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Addeenul �Aql � Religion is intellect.
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Hayfa
Senior Member
Female
Joined: 07 June 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 2368
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Posted: 16 June 2010 at 9:35pm |
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Ron,
I think that the fact that many people in the west really don't care about the sensitivities of other peoples' beliefs it is clearly not odd for you to not understand why people may be insulted.
I do think that making a big deal out of something like this actually only helps fuel it. It would be better to ignore it ... it would have gone away.
And I became a Muslim and questioned alot about a lot of things. And no the foundation did not crumble. You are wrong. Just cause people felt it was degrading does not mean they were afraid. That causation is not supported.
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When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. Rumi
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