***** The Dynamic Decree Against Apostate Salman Rushdie
The following feature was broadcast by the IRIB's English radio on Tuesday, Bahman 25 (Feb. 13) on the 12th anniversary of Imam Khomeini's historic decree against the apostate author of The Satanic Verses.
The late Imam n his decree called on all Muslims and the faithful to work to this end so that no one will dare insult the holy Qoran, divine prophets and religious sanctities. Within a few hours, the news of this religious decree spread to the farthest parts of the globe and suddenly a storm of hatred and disgust toward Salman Rushdie and his supporters swept all over the world.
The Indian-born British apostate Salman Rushdie is a person who is contemptuous of Islam and its teachings, although he was born to Muslim parents, This very factor makes the death penalty against him irrevocable even if he were to pretend repentance, since repentance in Rushdie's case is a matter solely concerning divine mercy in afterlife depending on the sincerity of his intention. But in this world, he has to be executed.
Rushdie tried to portray the divine religion of Islam as a set of superstitious beliefs on the basis of a series of illusions and unfounded myths, With the money he was paid by the enemies of Islam he sold his soul to the devil and tried to ridicule the Almighty's last and greatest prophet in the form of an imaginary novel. Actually, Salman Rushdie by misusing the art and freedom of writing, has done irreparable harm to the noble status of the pen, In a pre-planned move designed to test the reaction of world Muslims, he attached the holy Qoran, the sentiments of Muslims and the beliefs of all other religions, for instance, he has also dared to insult Prophet Abraham in abusive language.
But Rushdie and his backers had probably not taken the razor-sharp a awareness of Imam Khomeini into consideration. The Imam reacted swiftly and in a dynamic move pronounced capital punishment against him. It was at this stage that the Western countries exposed themselves and in a blundering move they rallied to his support on the dubious claim of support for the freedom of the pen and expression.
Western statement faltered more an more, and in an abortive move to pressure Imam Khomeini, they recalled their ambassadors from Iran. The Imam was unmoved. His iron-resolve was God-oriented. It was based on the deep recognition of the rational laws of Islam, the love of the humanitarian ideals of the holy Qoran, and adherence to the sanctified personality of Prophet Mohammad (S).
Britain was the main culprit and in violation of the principle of justice it provided shelter and security to apostate Rushdie. But finally, the Western countries had to swallow their pride and send their ambassadors to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
However, their media horns continued the stale propaganda of defense of human rights and freedom of thought and expression in order to shield the apostate from justice. As any realistic person knows, anything which injures the sentiments of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims, is a clear misuse of the freedom of expression and violation of the most basic values of culture and civilization.
According to Ronald Dahl the famous writer of children books in Britain "Freedom of writing does not mean writing irresponsible and impolite words. But a writer who is keen to preserve the freedom of writing, should be equipped with ethics and morals which act as a natural form of self-censorship. The goal of Rushdie in writing The Satanic Verses was to gain cheap and scandalous publicity.
Rushdie's book was published by London's penguin publishers for sale all over the world, The praise for Rushdie by some so-called cultural centers in the U.S. and Europe as well as by certain Western statesmen, indicated an elaborately hatched conspiracy against Islam. As Imam Khomeini rightly said: "Their goal is not to defend a person, but to support an anit-Islamic and a negative issue designed by the Zionists. The British and Americans have foolishly and hastily placed themselves in confrontation with Islam."
The decree of Imam Khomeini was widely cheered by the Islamic world and breathed into the ummah the spirit of solidarity and awareness, Dr. Ghiyascddin Seddiqi of the Muslim Parliament of Britain, says in this regard: "In my opinion, the Imam's decree was a turning point in the history of Islam in Britain. Before the issuance of the decree, Muslims were considered a people without identity and their values and beliefs had no meaning, However, the wave generated by the Imam's dynamic decree throughout the world, caused the West to view the Muslim society as a power to reckon with."
After the passing away of Imam Khomeini, Western governments thought that it was time to scrap the issue of Salman Rushdie and make Iran revoke the death sentence.
Certain pseud-intellectuals were deceived by this Western plot, but the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, frustrated their designs when he explicitly said: "The Imam's decree is an arrow which has already been shot and hence cannot be returned to the bow."
Today, although a dozen years have passed since the issuance of the death sentence against the apostate Rushdie, Western governments, statesmen and the media, have been unable to stop even their own conscientious citizens who are no longer impressed by the double standards of their government, and rightly think that divine justice should be carried out against Rushdie.
At the same time, those who consider the holy Qoran, a life-inspiring source and those who sincerely adhere to the humanitarian ideals taught by the Almighty's last prophet, firmly believe in the truthfulness of Imam Khomeini's decree against the apostate who continues to hide with a price on his head.