Over a literary career spanning five decades, Sir Salman Rushdie has been no stranger to death threats arising from the nature of his work.
The novelist is one of Britain's most famous and best-selling authors of all time, with his second novel, Midnight's Children, winning the illustrious Booker Prize in 1981.
But it was his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, that became his most controversial work - causing international turmoil unprecedented in scale.
Many Muslims across the Islamic world reacted furiously to the publication of the book, arguing that the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad was a grave insult to their faith.
Death threats were made against Rushdie, 75, who was forced into hiding, and the British government placed him under police protection.
Iran quickly severed ties with the UK in protest and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa - or a decree - calling for the assassination of the novelist in 1989 - the year following the publication of the book.
But in the West, authors and intellectuals denounce the threat to freedom of expression posed by the violent reaction to the book.
Over a literary career spanning five decades, Sir Salman Rushdie has been no stranger to death threats arising from the nature of his work.
The novelist is one of Britain's most famous and best-selling authors of all time, with his second novel, Midnight's Children, winning the illustrious Booker Prize in 1981.
But it was his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, that became his most controversial work - causing international turmoil unprecedented in scale.
Many Muslims across the Islamic world reacted furiously to the publication of the book, arguing that the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad was a grave insult to their faith.
Death threats were made against Rushdie, 75, who was forced into hiding, and the British government placed him under police protection.
Iran quickly severed ties with the UK in protest and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa - or a decree - calling for the assassination of the novelist in 1989 - the year following the publication of the book.
But in the West, authors and intellectuals denounce the threat to freedom of expression posed by the violent reaction to the book.
Image source, PA Media
Image source, Getty Images
