As NPR notes, the Iranian government has since distanced itself from the 1989 fatwa, or edict, from then-Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for Rushdie’s death. AP reports that more than $3 million has been offered for Rushdie’s death. A report by Politico credits a “semi-official Iranian religious foundation” with increasing the original bounty, of $2.8 million, up to $3.3 million in 2012. More money was added to the bounty as recently as 2016, according to Reuters.
According to NPR, “The Satanic Verses” was controversial among some in the Muslim world for its characterization of the Muslim prophet, Muhammad. Considered blasphemous, the book was banned in Iran and elsewhere around the world, with riots over the book’s publication in Mumbai, India, where 12 people were killed. As a result of the fatwa, Rushdie went into hiding under the protection of the British government, where Rushdie lived. Only after nine years in seclusion did Rushdie reemerge to make public appearances.
