Fact Check: Viral tweet on anti-Islamic statement by Rushdie wrongly attributed to the novelist
On August 12, 2022, novelist Salman Rushdie was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Rushdie was blinded in his right eye after a man stabbed him onstage.
On August 12, 2022, novelist Salman Rushdie was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Rushdie was blinded in his right eye after a man stabbed him onstage.
Recently, Rushdie told ‘The New Yorker’ magazine that he feels “lucky” to have survived the attack and that his "main overwhelming feeling is of gratitude".
Soon after, an anti-Islamic statement allegedly credited to Rushdie that the Islam community will not rest till every society, culture, and religion is either annihilated or converted, went viral on Twitter.
FACT CHECK:
It should be noted that the quote/statement allegedly issued by Rushdie has several grammatical errors, which is not common for a novelist. This clearly indicates that the statement was either said in speech or written in word by Rushdie.
The quote went viral when an individual posted the statement as a response to a tweet by Imtiaz Mahmood on Feb 7. That person claimed that the statement was issued by Salman Rushdie, and called the author a "survivor of Islamic violence" referring to the New York incident.
However, Rushdie clarified that the quote wasn't his. "Fake quote. Not said by me," he wrote on Twitter.
Moreover, no media organization has reported on such a statement either. Evidently, it is clear that the quote is fake and wrongly attributed to Salman Rushdie.