The book opens with Gibreel and Saladin, the sole survivors, falling into the Atlantic Ocean.Īs Gibreel descends, he is transformed into the angel Gabriel and has a series of dreams.

During an argument the terrorists accidentally detonate a bomb, destroying the aircraft over the English Channel. Gibreel and Saladin meet on a flight from Bombay (Mumbai) to London, and the plane is hijacked by Sikh terrorists. Saladin Chamcha is a voice actor who has had a falling out with his father. Gibreel Farishta is a successful film actor who has suffered a recent bout of mental illness and who is in love with an English mountain climber, Alleluia Cone.

The complex and multilayered plot focuses on two protagonists, both Indian Muslims living in England. Violent demonstrations followed in Pakistan copies of the novel were burned in Britain, where several bookstores were bombed and the work was banned in several countries. Some Muslims considered its fanciful and satiric use of Islam blasphemous, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran condemned the book and issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for the killing of Rushdie as well as his editors and publishers. The Satanic Verses, magic realist epic novel by Indian-born writer Salman Rushdie that upon its publication in 1988 became one of the most controversial books of the late 20th century.

SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.

Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them!

Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.

100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.

COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.

Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.

This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.

#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.

Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.

Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.

Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.

The satanic verses book buy