The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)

Yes. The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1989, and the death decree against its author has never been withdrawn. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in February 1989 calling for the killing of Salman Rushdie and his publishers. Iranian leaders have said the fatwa cannot be revoked. In 2022, a man inspired by it stabbed Rushdie on stage in New York.

Why is The Satanic Verses banned in Iran?

Rushdie’s novel was published in the UK in September 1988. Parts of it, including dream sequences about a prophet modeled on Muhammad and a title that refers to a disputed early Islamic story, were seen by many Muslims as blasphemous. Protests spread from India and Pakistan to the UK. On February 14, 1989, Khomeini declared that Rushdie and everyone involved in publishing the book should be killed. Iran banned the novel, and an Iranian foundation offered a cash bounty for Rushdie’s death.

Key facts

• Status: Banned in Iran
• Since: February 1989, when the fatwa was issued
• Reason: the book is considered blasphemous toward Islam
• Fatwa: never formally revoked
• In the US: fully legal and sold everywhere

Timeline: from novel to knife attack

Is the fatwa against Salman Rushdie still active?

Yes, in religious terms. A fatwa issued by a supreme leader is treated in Iran as standing after his death, and no later leader has cancelled it. Iranian state-linked groups raised the bounty several times over the years. The danger became real again in 2022, when Matar, an American born and raised in New Jersey, attacked Rushdie on stage. Federal prosecutors said Matar had studied the fatwa for more than a year before the attack. His federal sentencing is set for November 3, 2026, and he faces up to life in prison.

Can you read The Satanic Verses in the US?

Yes. The book is legal across the United States and sold in bookstores and online. Sales jumped after the 2022 attack. Rushdie later wrote about the stabbing and his recovery in his 2024 memoir Knife.

Iran is not the only country that turned against this novel. India banned its import in 1988, a ban that quietly ended in 2024. Iran’s censors also target modern platforms, from Telegram, blocked by court order in 2018 to Instagram, cut off during the 2022 protests. See all bans in Iran or explore banned books around the world.