Editing Salman Rushdie (section)

===Religious background===
Rushdie came from a [[liberal Muslim]] family,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/salman-rushdie-39245|title=Salman Rushdie|website=Biography.com|language=en-us|access-date=11 October 2017|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012044134/https://www.biography.com/people/salman-rushdie-39245|url-status=live}}</ref> but he is an [[atheist]]. In a 2006 interview with [[PBS]], Rushdie called himself a "hardline atheist".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/print/faithandreason101_print.html|title=Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason – Bill Moyers and Salman Rushdie|date=23 June 2006|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=11 September 2017|archive-date=13 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013154432/https://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/print/faithandreason101_print.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1989, in an interview following the ''fatwa'', Rushdie said that he was in a sense a lapsed Muslim, though "shaped by Muslim culture more than any other," and a student of Islam.<ref name = Meer/> In another interview the same year, he said, "My point of view is that of a secular human being. I do not believe in supernatural entities, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu."<ref>{{cite news|title=Fact, faith and fiction|work=[[Far Eastern Economic Review]]|date=2 March 1989|page=11}}</ref>

In December 1990, Rushdie issued a statement reaffirming his Muslim faith, distancing himself from statements made by characters in ''Satanic Verses'' that cast aspersion on Islam or Prophet Mohammad, and opposing the release of the paperback edition of the novel.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hedges |first1=Chris |title=Rushdie Seeks to Mend His Rift With Islam |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/25/books/rushdie-seeks-to-mend-his-rift-with-islam.html |access-date=26 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=25 December 1990 |archive-date=26 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626213338/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/25/books/rushdie-seeks-to-mend-his-rift-with-islam.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Later, in 1992, he cited the release of the statement as perhaps his lowest point, regretting its language, which he said he had not written.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kamen |first1=Al |title=In 1992, Salman Rushdie wasn't sure he'd ever be safe |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/08/15/salman-rushdie-in-hiding/ |access-date=26 June 2023 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=15 August 2022 |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815194136/https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/08/15/salman-rushdie-in-hiding/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rushdie advocates the application of [[higher criticism]], pioneered during the late 19th century. In a guest opinion piece printed in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and ''[[The Times]]'' in mid-August 2005, Rushdie called for a reform in Islam.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1729998,00.html "Muslims unite! A new Reformation will bring your faith into the modern era"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112015156/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1729998,00.html |date=12 January 2008 }}, ''The Times'', 11 August 2005.</ref>

{{blockquote|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. ... It is high time, for starters, that Muslims were able to study the revelation of their religion as an event inside history, not supernaturally above it. ... Broad-mindedness is related to tolerance; open-mindedness is the sibling of peace.|author=Salman Rushdie|source="Muslims unite! A new Reformation will bring your faith into the modern era"}}

Rushdie is a critic of moral and [[cultural relativism]]. In an interview with [[Point of Inquiry]] in 2006, he described his view as follows:<ref>{{cite web|title=Salman Rushdie – Secular Values, Human Rights and Islamism|url=http://www.pointofinquiry.org/salman_rushdie_secular_values_human_rights_and_islamism/|access-date=11 October 2006|publisher=Point of Inquiry|archive-date=12 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112091143/http://www.pointofinquiry.org/salman_rushdie_secular_values_human_rights_and_islamism|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|We need all of us, whatever our background, to constantly examine the stories inside which and with which we live. 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 it seems to me that a definition of any living vibrant society is that you constantly question those stories. That you constantly argue about the stories. In fact the arguing never stops. The argument itself is freedom. It's not that you come to a conclusion about it. And through that argument you change your mind sometimes.… And that's how societies grow. When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison.… Somebody else controls the story.… Now it seems to me that we have to say that a problem in contemporary Islam is the inability to re-examine the ground narrative of the religion.… The fact that in Islam it is very difficult to do this, makes it difficult to think new thoughts.|author=|title=|source=}}

Rushdie is an advocate of [[religious satire]]. He condemned the [[Charlie Hebdo shooting]] and defended comedic criticism of religions in a comment originally posted on [[English PEN]] where he called religions a medieval form of unreason. Rushdie called the attack a consequence of "religious totalitarianism", which according to him had caused "a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam". He said:<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/salman-rushdie-charlie-hebdo_n_6430904.html|title= Salman Rushdie Responds To Charlie Hebdo Attack, Says Religion Must Be Subject To Satire|first= Maddie|last= Crum|work= [[Huffington Post]]|date= 7 January 2015|access-date= 20 June 2015|archive-date= 21 April 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150421111119/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/salman-rushdie-charlie-hebdo_n_6430904.html|url-status= live}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today. I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity. '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.}}

When asked about reading and writing as a human right, Rushdie states: "...there are the larger stories, the grand narratives that we live in, which are things like nation, and family, and clan, and so on. Those stories are considered to be treated reverentially. They need to be part of the way in which we conduct the discourse of our lives and to prevent people from doing something very damaging to human nature."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pen.org/press-clip/the-art-of-bravery-an-interview-with-salman-rushdie/|title=The Art of Bravery: An Interview with Salman Rushdie|work=Los Angeles Review of Books|via=PEN America|date=25 April 2013|access-date=1 May 2019|archive-date=1 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501180708/https://pen.org/press-clip/the-art-of-bravery-an-interview-with-salman-rushdie/|url-status=live}}</ref> Though Rushdie believes the freedoms of literature to be universal, the bulk of his fictions portrays the struggles of the marginally underrepresented. This can be seen in his portrayal of the role of women in his novel ''[[Shame (Rushdie novel)|Shame]]''. In this novel, Rushdie, "suggests that it is women who suffer most from the injustices of the Pakistani social order."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Deszcz |first1=Justyna |title=Salman Rushdie's attempt at a feminist fairytale reconfiguration in ''Shame'' |journal=Folklore |date=April 2004 |volume=115 |issue=1 |pages=27–44 |id={{ProQuest|2152779627}} |doi=10.1080/0015587042000192510 |s2cid=145667781 | issn=0015-587X }}</ref> His support of feminism can also be seen in a 2015 interview with ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine's ''[[The Cut (website)|The Cut]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/11/15-famous-men-whether-theyre-feminists.html|title=15 Male Celebrities Answer 'Are You a Feminist?'|author=The Cut|work=The Cut|date=17 November 2015 |access-date=7 December 2015|archive-date=6 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706152328/https://www.thecut.com/2015/11/15-famous-men-whether-theyre-feminists.html|url-status=live}}</ref>