Salman Rushdie stabbed in New York: Know his controversial works, net worth, other details

Salman Rushdie, a British author of Indian descent, is well-known for his novels and essays. Known for his dramatic writings with political and religious overtones, he even went into hiding as a result of his writings at one time in his career. He was just stabbed in New York in August 2022. 

Salman Rushdie was born in India in June 1947, and his debut book was released in 1975. He also focuses on themes related to the Indian subcontinent as a hub for the exchange of ideas between Eastern and Western cultures. He published his book Midnight's Children in 1981 and won the Booker Prize for it. In 2012, he turned the book into a screenplay. While his third book, Shame, also did well, his fourth book, The Satanic Verses, which was published in 1988, received harsh criticism.

Leaders of the Muslim community in Britain condemned the book, and by 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the political and spiritual leader of Iran, had set a price on Rushdie's head for execution. The author had to go into hiding as a result.

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Then, what is Salman Rushdie's net worth in 2022? Various media report estimates his current net worth at $15 million.

Salman Rushdie's success as a writer and communicator may have increased his wealth, but expressing his opinions still put him in grave risk.

The Satanic Verses' contentious portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad prompted Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's Supreme Leader at the time, to label the book as "blasphemy against Islam" and issue a fatwa on Salman Rushdie. The United Kingdom and Iran cut off diplomatic ties as a result of the fatwa and violence that followed the publication of the book.

Media sources claim that in 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious group gathered almost $3.3 million by offering it as a reward for Salman Rushdie's death. The author rejected these threats on his life at the time by noting that nobody appeared motivated by the incentive. According to The Guardian, he went into hiding in 1989 and spent a significant amount of time at a secluded farmhouse in Wales. To improve his protection, Rushdie also resided under the nickname Joseph Anton. In 2012, he released a book under his assumed name.

Rushdie didn't fully come out of hiding until four years after Sayyid Mohammad Khatami, a reformist Iranian president, pleaded for the world to let Rushdie live. By September 2001, Rushdie was more visible in public and had abandoned his pseudonym.

Salman Rushdie was reportedly stabbed in the neck on Friday, August 12, 2022, at 11 a.m., according to The New York Times. He took the stage at the Chautauqua Institution to deliver a lecture. The writer was flown to the hospital immediately after the incident, according to the police report, and his agency said he was undergoing surgery at the time. The attack's motivation is still unknown at this moment.

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