Tao Te Ching
Salman Rushdie
1947 CE –
Fearless antagonist of Islamic fundamentalism
Prolific, award-winning, and fearless writer, Rushdie’s novels combine magical realism with historical fiction and concentrate on the interplays between Western and Eastern civilization. An antagonist of religious extremism and advocate for Islamic reform, his books were banned in many Muslim countries, he was put on an Al-Qaeda hit list, and the spiritual leader of Iran—Ayatollah Khomeini—issued a fatwā ordering his execution. When knighted on the English Queen’s birthday in 2007, mass demonstrations against him broke out in Malaysia and Pakistan while many Muslims campaigned publicly for his death. He supported Barack Obama’s election and the UK vote to stay in the EU, criticizes the Republican Party, champions ways to end racial discrimination, and actively supports feminism.
Lineages
American (USA) Artists British Islamic
Eras
Generations
Baby Boomer (1946 – 1964 CE)Unlisted Sources
Quotes by Salman Rushdie (12 quotes)
“One Kapuściński is worth more than a thousand whimpering and fantasizing scribblers. His exceptional combination of journalism and art allows us to feel so close to what Kapuściński calls 'the inexpressible true image of war'.”
Comments: Click to comment
“Religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.”
Comments: Click to comment
“Religion—a medieval form of unreason—when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms… ‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion.’ Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.”
Comments: Click to comment
“My point of view is that of a secular human being. I do not believe in supernatural entities, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu.”
Comments: Click to comment
“What is needed is a move beyond tradition, nothing less than a reform movement to bring the core concepts of Islam into the modern age, a Muslim Reformation to combat not only the jihadist ideologues but also the dusty, stifling seminaries of the traditionalists, throwing open the windows to let in much-needed fresh air.”
Comments: Click to comment
“We all live in stories, so called grand narratives. Nation is a story. Family is a story. Religion is a story. Community is a story. We all live within and with these narratives… and need to constantly examine them… that’s the definition of any living vibrant society—constantly questioning those stories. The argument itself is freedom… that's how societies grow.”
Comments: Click to comment
“Names, once they are in common use, quickly become mere sounds, their etymology being buried, like so many of the earth's marvels, beneath the dust of habit.”
Comments: Click to comment
“A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep.”
Comments: Click to comment
“From the beginning, men used God to justify the unjustifiable.”
Comments: Click to comment
“My father was such an admirer of Ibn Rushd's philosophy, he decided to change the family name to Rushdie. I realized why my father was so interested in him, because he was really an incredibly modernizing voice inside our Islamic culture.”
Comments: Click to comment
“When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison… somebody else controls the story.”
Comments: Click to comment
Comments (0)