By Rob Madden and Kimberly Chin

Salman Rushdie’s lecture, “The Role of the Novelist in the 21st Century,” was met with caution from University students on Wednesday.

University student, Sid Nathan, Rushdie’s relative and president of the Professional Organization in Speech Education (P.O.I.S.E.) organized the event. He said, “Throughout [Rushdie’s] life, he has represented what it means to speak against oppression. His life represents freedom of expression and what can be better than to fit him into our agenda?”

Rushdie spoke about the 1988 novel for which he is best known, “The Satanic Verses,” which caused the orthodox Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, to issue a Fatwa requiring Rushdie’s execution for what was perceived as an irreverent depiction of the prophet Muhammad. “It’s a book that aroused a certain amount of problems in the Muslim world,” Rushdie said.

“The Satanic Verses” was what placed Rushdie on the map and made him known as possibly “the most controversial figure in the 20th and 21st century.” His book has been deemed heretical as it challenges the Prophet Mohammad by exploring the human and divine nature outside of convention. Rushdie has been described as not only a man who is willing to defy tradition, even when it involves a death sentence and widespread demonstrations against his book, but also as a man who is willing to exercise his freedom of speech.

The provocative author commented on the way writing can bridge gaps versus creating a chasm. When asked about the reactions to his writing in the Muslim world, Rushdie responded, “I don’t think I, in some way, invented Islamic radicalism. One of my books rather dramatically fell into that chasm, which was very surprising to me at the time. Naively, I thought it was my least political novel.”

“I think there is a certain kind of Islam that has been very hostile to battles we thought were over, questions of the Enlightenment and fundamental freedoms. That’s a European and American battle of the 18th century. It’s depressing to have to fight that again. But we have to remember that in the same ways we don’t treat the west as a monolithic force, it’s wrong to treat Islam as one as well,” said Rushdie.

Rushdie stressed the prominence for a writer to pay attention to the world and to the people and subjects that one writes about. He said, “The act of writing has less to do with knowing and has more to do with listening.”

Novelists do not have answers, he explained. “Writers don’t have any special gift at solving problems of the world, they ask questions.” This, he said, creates a conversation within the readers’ minds. “Quest and question are more or less level. You go on a journey to ask questions,” he said.

He explained that a writer must “go to the edges of what is possible to understand and push out people’s understanding to some degree.” In other words, to allow the imagination to cause people to accept or challenge, for he queries “how narrowly or broadly can we be defined to imagining?”

Rushdie signed a proclamation defending the publication of the controversial cartoons in the September 30, 2005 issue of the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten. In particular, a cartoon depiction of the prophet Mohammed with his headgear in the form of a bomb inspired riots and was reprinted in more than 50 additional countries. The proclamation stated, “After having overcome fascism, Nazism and Stalinism the world now faces a new global threat: Islamism.”

Hamza Ahmad, a member of the Muslim Student Association, responded to this proclamation. “Islamism is anyone who follows Islam,” he said. “The death sentence that was called against Salman Rushdie was apostasy, which is leaving Islam. People look down upon Osama Bin Laden in the Muslim community yet the Western media portrays these extremists as representing Islam.”

Olivia Stanchina, a senior broadcast journalism major said, “I think a major problem is that a lot of Americans don’t understand exactly what is meant by the word Islamism. We like quick sound bites and words that are based on a collection of preconceived notions.”

“I think there is good amount of responsibility that comes with free speech, although I also think that what may be considered dangerous or offensive is open to interpretation,” said Safia Khalid, a University senior.

In 1990, Rushdie apologized to Muslims and even formally converted to Islam. He recanted soon after and described it as the biggest mistake of his life.

“I was put under enormous political pressure at the time, including by governments…I was put into a very forced position and found myself rather clumsily saying things that I didn’t mean. I’m not a religious person and I shouldn’t have said that I was.”

Rushdie did have a final word of advice that he would give to Muslim students who want to speak out against misconceptions of Islam. “It’s not an easy moment in which to have non-mainstream voices getting heard. I guess you just have to keep plugging away, that’s all you can do.”

Salman Rushdie, author of the book “The Satanic Verses,” was threatened for his writings.