The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie: The Stage At Chautauqua, the Fatwa Behind It, and the Trials That Followed
Dustin Rutledge
Sep 2026 · Sonia Erirhomuru Solomon
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For more than three decades, Salman Rushdie lived with the consequences of a death threat that began after the publication of his controversial novel The Satanic Verses. In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death, forcing the celebrated author to live under extraordinary security and turning a literary controversy into an international story about freedom of expression, religion, politics, and personal danger.Then, on August 12, 2022, decades after the original fatwa, Rushdie walked onto a stage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York to speak about writers and freedom of expression. Before the event could properly begin, a man rushed onto the stage and attacked him with a knife. Rushdie survived the assault but suffered devastating injuries, including the loss of sight in one eye.The attack immediately raised questions that stretched far beyond the courtroom. Who was the attacker? What had brought him to that stage? How did a threat issued more than thirty years earlier intersect with a modern criminal investigation? And what would the courts ultimately establish about the attack and the man accused of carrying it out?The case led to the prosecution of Hadi Matar, who was convicted in New York of attempted murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison. A separate federal case later brought additional terrorism-related allegations and resulted in another conviction. Together, the proceedings placed the Chautauqua attack under an even wider legal and historical spotlight.
For more than three decades, Salman Rushdie lived with the consequences of a death threat that began after the publication of his controversial novel The Satanic Verses. In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death, forcing the celebrated author to live u...
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