‘THROWING DUST ON THE SUN’
Salman Rushdie stated in an interview (The Times of India, October 8, 1988) that his book ‘The Satanic Verses’ aims to explore religion and revelation from a secular perspective. However, it would be more accurate to describe it as an attempt to present the viewpoint of an insincere individual, as this particular interpretation of secularism has not been defined by any reputable scholar.
This book is an outrageous and offensive novel targeting Islam and the Prophet of Islam. While it correctly mentions the names of Hamzah and Ayesha, it distorts the name of the Prophet as ‘Mahound’ instead of Muhammad. Throughout history, certain Christian scholars and Orientalists in Europe have employed various means to defame the Prophet, driven by their antagonistic sentiments. Salman Rushdie’s deliberate use of this perverted name in his book is a reprehensible act.
Prophet Muhammad is the most esteemed figure in human history. His character is undeniably a source of inspiration for all of humanity. The magnificence and reverence surrounding him are so evident that all serious individuals have acknowledged them.
One of the remarkable qualities of Prophet Muhammad is that God Almighty bestowed upon him eternal victory. Despite facing intense opposition in ancient Arabia, he triumphed over all the tribes. Even the two mighty empires of his time, Byzantine and Persia, crumbled after encountering the Muslims. Although the Jews and Christians of his era became his adversaries, they were unable to inflict any harm upon him.
Following the Crusades, the Christian nations of Europe made concerted efforts to distort history and defame the image of Prophet Muhammad. However, despite their thousand-year endeavours, they ultimately failed. With the advent of the scientific revolution, human knowledge advanced to a point where the literature produced by the opponents of Prophet Muhammad was proven entirely unfounded. In subsequent generations of Christians themselves, individuals emerged who rejected the writings of their predecessors. Notably, Thomas Carlyle referred to Prophet Muhammad as a Hero in his book, “On Heroes, Hero-Worship, And the Heroic in History” (in its chapter ‘Muhammad: The Hero As Prophet’), published in 1840. In his book “The 100,” Michael Hart, published in 1978, declared Prophet Muhammad “the supremely successful man in history.”
Writing a baseless book or uttering foul words against someone whose greatness is widely acknowledged is comparable to throwing dust on the sun. Whoever attempts to throw dust on the sun only ends up with dust in their own mouth, ultimately proving themselves wrong.
Likewise, the magnitude of the greatness of the Prophet of Islam is such that no one’s pen can tarnish it. Human history, knowledge, and even the vast expanse of the universe would reject any such endeavour. Who could defame the image and distort the history of an individual whose arrival has forever altered the course of human history?
