Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie (born Ahmed Salman Rushdie on June 19, 1947, in Bombay, India) is an Indian-born British essayist and author of fiction, most of which is set on the Indian subcontinent. He grew up in Mumbai (then Bombay) attended Rugby School, Warwickshire, then King's College, Cambridge in England. He is a British citizen. Following an advertising career with Ayer Barker, he became a full-time writer. His narrative style, blending myth and fantasy with real life, has been described as connected with magic realism. In 2004, Rushdie married for the fourth time, this time to prominent Indian model and actress Padma Lakshmi.

On Islamic Reformation

In August, 2005, Rushdie wrote a guest opinion piece for The Times, in which he called for a reform of Islam, arguing that the Koran should be treated as an historical, rather than a sacred, document. Such had been mooted by Western non-Muslims before, but he is the most noteworthy person of Muslim background to do so. He explicitly supported a liberal Islamic Reformation by stating that:

Related Topics:
2005 - The Times - Islamic Reformation

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:The deeper alienations that lead to terrorism may have their roots in these young men's objections to events in Iraq or elsewhere, but the closed communities of some traditional Western Muslims are places in which young men's alienations can easily deepen. 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.

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