Ayatollah Khomeini called for a fatwa on which author of 1988's "The Satanic Verses"?

Ayatollah Khomeini called for a fatwa against Salman Rushdie, author of the 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.

On February 14, 1989, Iran's Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a religious ruling calling for Rushdie's assassination, alleging that the novel was blasphemous. The book had been published in 1988 and drew intense criticism from some Muslim communities because of passages involving religious figures and themes.

Rushdie, an India-born British author, spent years under police protection. The controversy produced international diplomatic tensions, protests, book bans, and attacks connected with the novel. Khomeini's declaration also targeted people involved in publishing the work, not only Rushdie himself.

A common misconception is that the fatwa was issued when the book first appeared in 1988; Khomeini's decree came in early 1989. The controversy also outlasted Khomeini, who died later that year, and continued to affect translators, publishers, and public debates about free expression.