What is a fatwa? Meaning of Islamic law and why it was ordered against Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie

Novelist Salman Rushdie has been admitted to hospital after he was stabbed in the neck whiloe onstage in New York.

The author had been appearing at the Chautauqua Insititute and was about to deliver a lecture when he was attacked.

Mr Rushdiw has remain controversial in the public eye after the publication of his 1988 novel The Satantic Verses.

In 1989, a fatwa was declared against the novelist in the aftermath of the publication.

But what is a fatwa, and why was one ordered against Mr Rushdie?

What is a fatwa?

A fatwa is a legal decree or opnion handed down by an Islamic leader.

It can be brought against a a range of subjects - including individuals, governments or products.

Death fatwas, although rare, can be brought against those who are deemed to have severely disregarded the Islamic faith.

Why was a fatwa ordered against Salman Rushdie?

The publication of Mr Rushdie’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses led to wide spread controversy over claimed the content was Islamophobic.

The author was accused of mocking the religion and the Prophet Muhammed due to the content within the novel.

Mr Rushdie included multiple plotpoints in his novel in which caused an agnry furore.

This included naming a group of prostitutes after the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as the similarly named character of Mahound living in a town called Jahilia appearing to have a vision of a polytheistic religion sent by the devil.

The book was banned from being sold in mulitple countries, with book-burning protests also being held against its publication.

On 14 February 1989, Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Rulhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Mr Rushdie, calling on “all brave muslims” to kill the author, and anyone associated with the translation or distribution of the book.

There was also a $3million bounty added to the fatwa.

What happened to Salman Rushdie?

In response to the fatwa, Mr Rushdie, who was brought up in the Islamic faith, said: “I’m very sad that it should have happened. It’s not true that this book is a blasphemy against Islam. I doubt very much that Khomeini or anyone else in Iran has read the book or more than selected extracts out of context.”

He made consequent statement throughout the years, adding in 1990 that “there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his last prophet” before adding that the characters in his novel who “casts aspersions... upon the authenticity of the holy Qur’an, or who rejects the divinity of Allah” did not represent his own views.

The author has since declared himself a “hardline athiest”

In the aftermath of the fatwa being declared, Mr Rushdie was placed into hiding for almost a decade and given round-the-clock police protection by Scotland Yard.

Despite this, there have been numerous attempts on his life.

On 3 August 1989, Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh was killed while preparing a book bomb which was to be delivered to Mr Rushdie in Paddington, London. The Organisation of the Mujahidin of Islam said that he had died while preparing an attack on the author.

He was also included in the al-Qaeda hit list, released in 2010, which listed organisation and individuals who they claim had insulted Islam.

Most recently, Mr Rushdiw was attacked on stage in New York, however it has yet to be confirmed if this attack was in relation to the fatwa against him.