Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses drew death threats from Iran's leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York.
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The 75-year-old Indian-born British-American novelist suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, which he is likely to lose, his agent, Andrew Wylie, said.
The attack was met with shock and outrage from much of the world, along with tributes and praise for the award-winning author who for more than 30 years has faced death threats for The Satanic Verses.
US President Joe Biden led tributes as he issued a White House statement after learning that Rushdie is in critical condition. "Today, the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack against the writer Salman Rushdie," he said in a statement. "This act of violence is appalling.
"All of us in the Biden-Harris Administration are praying for his speedy recovery. We are thankful to good citizens and first responders for helping Mr. Rushdie so quickly after the attack and to law enforcement for its swift and effective work, which is ongoing."
The attack on Salman Rushdie is an attack on our freedoms and values. It is the result of decades of incitement led by the extremist regime in Tehran.
On behalf of the people of Israel, we wish him a full and speedy recovery.
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) August 13, 2022
Prime Minister Yair Lapid condemned the attempt on Rushdie's life as the result of years of incitement by the extremist Iranian regime.
"The attack on Salman Rushdie is an attack on our freedoms and values. It is the result of decades of incitement led by the extremist regime in Tehran," Lapid tweeted. "On behalf of the people of Israel, we wish him a full and speedy recovery."
Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll also denounced the attack and Iran, saying the "shocking attack on Salman Rushdie is further evidence of the brutality and extremism of the Iranian regime, which has gone after and persecuted freethinkers everywhere for decades. Iran is a threat to the free world.
Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, "Appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend. Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We are all hoping he is okay."
French President Emmanuel Macron also paid his respects on Twitter, writing, "For 33 years, Salman Rushdie has embodied freedom and the fight against obscurantism. He has just been the victim of a cowardly attack by the forces of hatred and barbarism. His fight is our fight; it is universal. Now more than ever, we stand by his side."
Horror writer Stephen King tweeted, "I hope Salman Rushdie is okay." "What kind of asshat stabs a writer, anyway?" King added in a follow-up tweet.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted, "Horrifying news. Feeling very sick right now. Let him be ok."
Author of The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, condemned the attack: "I'm utterly horrified by the cowardly attack on Salman Rushdie. I pray for his recovery. He is an essential voice and cannot be silenced," he tweeted.
Rushdie's publisher, Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle, issued a statement saying, "We are deeply shocked and appalled to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie while he was speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. We condemn this violent public assault, and our thoughts are with Salman and his family at this distressing time."
Police identified the attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey. He was arrested at the scene and latter charged with attempted murder. Matar was born a decade after The Satanic Verses was published. The motive for the attack was unclear, State Police Maj. Eugene Staniszewski said.
Rushdie, a native of India who has since lived in Britain and the US, is known for his surreal and satirical prose style, beginning with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel Midnight's Children, in which he sharply criticized India's then-prime minister, Indira Gandhi.
Published in 1988, The Satanic Verses – a dream sequence based on the life of the Prophet Muhammad – enraged Muslims, who denounced it as blasphemy, and the book was banned in India, Pakistan, and other Muslim nations. In 1989, then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling for Rushdie to be killed over the book.
Khomeini died that same year, but the fatwa remains in effect as his successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, never saw fit to withdraw it.
Iranians reacted with praise and worry Saturday over the attack on Rushdie.
Iranian state media made a point to note one man identified as being killed while trying to carry out the fatwa. Lebanese national Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh died when a book bomb he had prematurely exploded in a London hotel on Aug. 3, 1989, just over 33 years ago.
In Tehran, some offered praise for an attack targeting a writer they believe tarnished the Islamic faith. In the streets of Iran's capital, images of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini still peer down at passers-by.
"I don't know Salman Rushdie, but I am happy to hear that he was attacked since he insulted Islam," said Reza Amiri, a 27-year-old deliveryman. "This is the fate for anybody who insults sanctities."
At newsstands Saturday, front-page headlines offered their own takes on the attack. The hard-line Vatan-e Emrouz's main story covered what it described as: "A knife in the neck of Salman Rushdie." The reformist newspaper Etemad's headline asked: "Salman Rushdie near death?"
The conservative newspaper Khorasan bore a large image of Rushdie on a stretcher, its headline blaring: "Satan on the path to hell."
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