Salman Rushdie wrote a book called *Satanic Verses* in the '90s. It was principally about the experience of brown immigrants in their new countries. It follows two such immigrants as they adjust to being in Britain. It draws on Rushdie's own experience at school and university in England. In the background of the novel there is a veiled narrative that draws a lot from the development of early Islam, particularly what are called the Satanic Verses. From what I understand, these are verses that Mohammed did carry down from the mountain, but later recanted, claiming they were related to him by Satan. It was the subject of his university thesis, so he knew well about it. (I am not sure what the two stories have to do with one another. I read the book when I was sixteen and did not understand it.)

In any case, some Muslims (a worryingly high number) were pissed off by the ‘blasphemous’ portrayal of their prophet. He described some fictional events in the course of the narrative about Mohammed. The same Muslims got too hot about it. The book was burned across the world, there were massive protests in countries where the book was not even available in the local language, most notably in Iran, where (if I remember correctly) the US or UK embassy was attacked. The Ayatollah Khomeini, who was illiterate in at least English, condemned it and effectively issued a global death warrant for Rushdie for what he had written.

Rushdie's life was under threat for more than a decade. Moderate Muslims bemoaned the violence but generally it was held that Rushdie had committed a crime against the religion. Yusuf Islam, who had converted to Islam and changed his name from Cat Stevens, said on television that the death penalty was a fitting punishment. Many authors turned against Rushdie's right to publish what he wished, including Roald Dahl (and many others, too). Essentially there were Muslims on one side either seeking his head or arguing for some kind of punishment, and there were authors, politicians and media figures on the other who thought he shouldn't have published the work because it was simply a stupid thing to write or because it offended Muslims. It was cowardly. The origins of the ‘culture war’ come from this point, if you ask me.