Salman Rushdie, Aziz Nesin and our Lingering Fatwas

In 1993 Günter Wallraff (center) invited Salman Rushdie (right) and the Turkish writer Aziz Nesin to Cologne.

22 AUGUST 2022 • By Sahand Sahebdivani
In 1993, journalist Günter Wallraff (center) invited Salman Rushdie and the Turkish writer Aziz Nesin (left) to Cologne (photo Günter Zint).

 

Sahand Sahebdivani

 

It was about a decade ago when a friend took me to the Aziz Nesin Cultural Center in Istanbul for a cup of tea. He was a fast walker, a theater maker and an intellectual with all the proper leftist credentials. We were just passing Istiklal street when a few young guys stopped him to sell him a local communist paper, which he bought after a short discussion.

So you’re an Iranian refugee. Now tell me, are you a liberal or a communist?

“They’re idiots, ten euros! I told them no artists or anyone from the working class can afford their paper.”

I knew he was speaking about himself. In the previous days he had shown me the art of eating delicious but simple meals for very little money, going to Istanbul’s little hidden eateries.

“You bought it though, why?”

“Because they still have their ideals, I don’t want them to lose hope.”

Aziz Nesin (1915 – 1995) was a Turkish writer and humorist, as well as a political activist and critic of Islam. An editor and publisher, he was the author of more than 100 books.

In the cultural center he ordered two fincans of tea and introduced me to the waiter as an artist who had fled Iran as a young kid. The stern waiter never smiled, but had a question ready for me:

“So you’re an Iranian refugee. Now tell me, are you a liberal or a communist?”

“My father was a communist!” I told the guy. “That’s how we escaped, with his Kurdish communist contacts smuggling us over the mountains, from Iran to Turkey.”

“He’s a tricky one,” the waiter told my friend. “I asked him if he’s a communist, and he deflects by talking about his father!”

I wasn’t ashamed at not being able to answer his question, but I did feel like a fraud sitting in the Aziz Nesin Center without having read his work. A few years before, I had tried to find his books in the central library of Amsterdam. The computer told me they were available in Turkish, Persian and, curiously, in Portuguese. Not finding his work in a language I was comfortable reading, I had postponed being introduced to the works of a writer my father had often talked about when I was growing up.

Sadly, it seems the fatwas of religious fanatics live on after their deaths…

Last Friday it was closing time at Mezrab, the cultural center I cofounded in Amsterdam. The place was almost empty. Two young Turkish men were having a beer with me at the bar. I asked them if they had heard the news. They looked at me quizzically.

“Salman Rushdie being attacked and almost killed on stage in New York.”

The guys were young leftists, like the ones who would sell papers on Istiklal street or serve strong cups of tea in cultural centers. But they were too young to remember Rushdie’s Satanic Verses or the fatwa the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini had spoken over him in the last year of his life.

Sahand Sahebdivani telling a story at Mezrab, House of Stories, Amsterdam (photo Alborz Sahebdivani).

Then I asked them if they knew who Aziz Nesin was and how he was almost killed. Of course! they replied, our most important writer. Hated for being a communist, an intellectual, an atheist, an Alevi. It was in 1993 when a frenzied crowd left the mosque in the city of Sivas, in central Turkey, to go to the hotel in which Aziz Nesin and other artists, mostly Alevi, had gathered for an event. The mob attacked the hotel for eight hours without the police intervening, finally managing to burn it. As many as 37 people died in the fire. Aziz Nesin, by then an old man, escaped by climbing down a ladder, but even when he did so the firemen who were supposed to help him recognized him and attacked him.

All this was true, but there was some context the young men didn’t know. The final cause of the anger of the religious mob towards Aziz Nesin, who after all was an intellectual and atheist, had been his wish to translate and publish Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses in Turkish.

Aziz Nesin survived the attack, even if 37 others died. Rushdie hopefully will survive the barbarous attack of August 12th, even if thousands of other intellectuals in my native Iran did get killed by the same Ayatollah who issued a fatwa against him. And when one day, hopefully years from now, Rushdie dies, his complex and irreverent literature will live on, just as the subtle poetry of Nesin does today. Sadly, it seems the fatwas of religious fanatics live on after their deaths, too.

 

This column first appeared in Raseef22, an independent Arabic language media platform standing at the intersection of identity, democracy and social justice, and is published here by special arrangement with the author.

Sahand Sahebdivani

Sahand Sahebdivani Sahand Sahebdivani was born in Iran in 1980 and fled the country with his parents at the age of three. He was raised in the Netherlands where he studied storytelling, screenplay writing and music. He has operated the Mezrab Cultural... Read more

Sahand Sahebdivani was born in Iran in 1980 and fled the country with his parents at the age of three. He was raised in the Netherlands where he studied storytelling, screenplay writing and music. He has operated the Mezrab Cultural Center in Amsterdam, a renowned site for storytelling and other arts, since 2004. He’s worked both in Dutch and Persian language media as a writer and programmer on a variety of cultural, social and political issues. When he’s not in Amsterdam he’s touring the world with his band, his story shows and/or his storytelling workshops. 

Read less

Join Our Community

TMR exists thanks to its readers and supporters. By sharing our stories and celebrating cultural pluralism, we aim to counter racism, xenophobia, and exclusion with knowledge, empathy, and artistic expression.

RELATED

Essays

The Silencing of Algeria

19 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Ilhem Rachidi
The Silencing of Algeria
Uncategorized

Reading the Landscape: Cultural Clues and Regime Messages in Iran

12 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Raha Nik-Andish
Reading the Landscape: Cultural Clues and Regime Messages in Iran
Essays

Remaining in Light: Iranians Search for Solace and Well-Being

5 SEPTEMBER 2025 • By Malu Halasa
Remaining in Light: Iranians Search for Solace and Well-Being
Book Reviews

Hope Without Hope: Rojava and Revolutionary Commitment

11 JULY 2025 • By Arie Amaya-Akkermans
Hope Without Hope: Rojava and Revolutionary Commitment
Essays

Are We As Free To Read Books As We Think?

4 JULY 2025 • By Yasmina Jraissati
Are We As Free To Read Books As We Think?
Essays

Life Under the Shadow of Missiles: the View From Iran

20 JUNE 2025 • By Amir
Life Under the Shadow of Missiles: the View From Iran
Book Reviews

The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club — Review

6 JUNE 2025 • By Hannah Kaviani
The Evin Prison Bakers’ Club — Review
Editorial

For Our 50th Issue, Writers Reflect on Going Home

2 MAY 2025 • By TMR
For Our 50th Issue, Writers Reflect on Going Home
Essays

Leaving Abdoh, Finding Chamran

2 MAY 2025 • By Salar Abdoh
Leaving Abdoh, Finding Chamran
Essays

Looking for a Job, Living and Dying in Iran: The Logistics of Going Back

2 MAY 2025 • By Raha Nik-Andish
Looking for a Job, Living and Dying in Iran: The Logistics of Going Back
Art

On Forgiveness and Path—an Exhibition in Damascus

18 APRIL 2025 • By Robert Bociaga
On Forgiveness and <em>Path</em>—an Exhibition in Damascus
Book Reviews

Frankenstein in Baghdad: A Novel for Our Present Dystopia

21 MARCH 2025 • By Deborah Williams
<em>Frankenstein in Baghdad</em>: A Novel for Our Present Dystopia
Centerpiece

Love and Resistance in Online Persian Dating Shows

7 MARCH 2025 • By Malu Halasa
Love and Resistance in Online Persian Dating Shows
Art & Photography

Mostafa Nodeh: Featured Artist Interview

7 FEBRUARY 2025 • By Mostafa Nodeh
Mostafa Nodeh: Featured Artist Interview
Film

My Favorite Cake, Iranian Cinema’s Bittersweet Ode to Love

17 JANUARY 2025 • By Karim Goury
<em>My Favorite Cake</em>, Iranian Cinema’s Bittersweet Ode to Love
Book Reviews

In Killing Gilda Yahya Gharagozlou Tells an Intriguing Iranian Tale

10 JANUARY 2025 • By Azadeh Moaveni
In <em>Killing Gilda</em> Yahya Gharagozlou Tells an Intriguing Iranian Tale
Editorial

The Editor’s Letter Following the US 2024 Presidential Election

8 NOVEMBER 2024 • By Jordan Elgrably
The Editor’s Letter Following the US 2024 Presidential Election
Essays

The Felines that Leave Us, and the Humans that Left

1 NOVEMBER 2024 • By Farnaz Haeri, Salar Abdoh
The Felines that Leave Us, and the Humans that Left
Film

Freedom is a Combat Sport: On Tatami

11 OCTOBER 2024 • By Karim Goury
Freedom is a Combat Sport: On <em>Tatami</em>
Editorial

A Year of War Without End

4 OCTOBER 2024 • By Lina Mounzer
A Year of War Without End
Opinion

Lebanon’s Holy Gatekeepers of Free Speech

6 SEPTEMBER 2024 • By Joumana Haddad
Lebanon’s Holy Gatekeepers of Free Speech
Essays

My Life Among the Gatekeepers

6 SEPTEMBER 2024 • By Ammiel Alcalay
My Life Among the Gatekeepers
Poetry

Hafez, Iran’s Revered Poet, trans. Erfan Mojib & Gary Gach

15 JULY 2024 • By Erfan Mojib, Gary Gach
Hafez, Iran’s Revered Poet, trans. Erfan Mojib & Gary Gach
Fiction

“Firefly”—a short story by Alireza Iranmehr

5 JULY 2024 • By Alireza Iranmehr, Salar Abdoh
“Firefly”—a short story by Alireza Iranmehr
Essays

The Mourning Diaries of Atash Shakarami

5 JULY 2024 • By Poupeh Missaghi
The Mourning Diaries of Atash Shakarami
Poetry

Three Poems by Somaia Ramish

12 JUNE 2024 • By Somaia Ramish
Three Poems by Somaia Ramish
Interviews

Nothing is Normal, Nothing Is What it Seems (Underground Theatre in Iran After the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement)

7 JUNE 2024 • By Mehrnaz Daneshvar, Salar Abdoh
Nothing is Normal, Nothing Is What it Seems (Underground Theatre in Iran After the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement)
Opinion

Equating Critique of Israel with Antisemitism, US Academics are Being Silenced

12 APRIL 2024 • By Maura Finkelstein
Equating Critique of Israel with Antisemitism, US Academics are Being Silenced
Weekly

World Picks from the Editors: Apr 12— Apr 26

12 APRIL 2024 • By TMR
World Picks from the Editors: Apr 12— Apr 26
Art & Photography

Bani Khoshnoudi: Featured Artist for PARIS

1 APRIL 2024 • By TMR
Bani Khoshnoudi: Featured Artist for PARIS
Book Reviews

Eyeliner: A Cultural History by Zahra Hankir—A Review

19 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Nazli Tarzi
<em>Eyeliner: A Cultural History</em> by Zahra Hankir—A Review
short story

“Water”—a short story by Salar Abdoh

4 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Salar Abdoh
“Water”—a short story by Salar Abdoh
Essays

A Treatise on Love

4 FEBRUARY 2024 • By Maryam Haidari, Salar Abdoh
A Treatise on Love
Books

Illuminated Reading for 2024: Our Anticipated Titles

22 JANUARY 2024 • By TMR
Illuminated Reading for 2024: Our Anticipated Titles
Book Reviews

An Iranian Novelist Seeks the Truth About a Plane Crash

15 JANUARY 2024 • By Sepideh Farkhondeh
An Iranian Novelist Seeks the Truth About a Plane Crash
Film

Religious Misogyny Personified in Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider

11 DECEMBER 2023 • By Bavand Karim
Religious Misogyny Personified in Ali Abbasi’s <em>Holy Spider</em>
Fiction

“The Waiting Bones”—an essay by Maryam Haidari

3 DECEMBER 2023 • By Maryam Haidari, Salar Abdoh
“The Waiting Bones”—an essay by Maryam Haidari
Book Reviews

First Kurdish Sci-Fi Collection is Rooted in the Past

28 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Matthew Broomfield
First Kurdish Sci-Fi Collection is Rooted in the Past
Fiction

Bahar: 22 years in the Life of a Compulsory Hijabi in Teheran

20 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Joumana Haddad
Bahar: 22 years in the Life of a Compulsory Hijabi in Teheran
Art & Photography

Iranian Women Photographers: Life, Freedom, Music, Art & Hair

20 NOVEMBER 2023 • By Malu Halasa
Iranian Women Photographers: Life, Freedom, Music, Art & Hair
Islam

October 7 and the First Days of the War

23 OCTOBER 2023 • By Robin Yassin-Kassab
October 7 and the First Days of the War
Book Reviews

Reza Aslan’s An American Martyr in Persia Argues for US-Iranian Friendship

1 OCTOBER 2023 • By Dalia Sofer
Reza Aslan’s <em>An American Martyr in Persia</em> Argues for US-Iranian Friendship
Art

Special World Picks Sept 15-26 on TMR’s Third Anniversary

14 SEPTEMBER 2023 • By TMR
Special World Picks Sept 15-26 on TMR’s Third Anniversary
Essays

A Day in the Life with Forugh Farrokhzad (and a Tortoise)

3 SEPTEMBER 2023 • By Fargol Malekpoosh
A Day in the Life with Forugh Farrokhzad (and a Tortoise)
Book Reviews

Can the Kurdish Women’s Movement Transform the Middle East?

31 JULY 2023 • By Matthew Broomfield
Can the Kurdish Women’s Movement Transform the Middle East?
Fiction

Arrival in the Dark—fiction from Alireza Iranmehr

2 JULY 2023 • By Alireza Iranmehr, Salar Abdoh
Arrival in the Dark—fiction from Alireza Iranmehr
Fiction

“Here, Freedom”—fiction from Danial Haghighi

2 JULY 2023 • By Danial Haghighi, Salar Abdoh
“Here, Freedom”—fiction from Danial Haghighi
Essays

Zahhāk: An Etiology of Evil

2 JULY 2023 • By Omid Arabian
Zahhāk: An Etiology of Evil
Fiction

“The Long Walk of the Martyr”—fiction from Salar Abdoh

2 JULY 2023 • By Salar Abdoh
“The Long Walk of the Martyr”—fiction from Salar Abdoh
Photography

Iran on the Move—Photos by Peyman Hooshmandzadeh

1 MAY 2023 • By Peyman Hooshmandzadeh, Malu Halasa
Iran on the Move—Photos by Peyman Hooshmandzadeh
Book Reviews

Hard Work: Kurdish Kolbars or Porters Risk Everything

1 MAY 2023 • By Clive Bell
Hard Work: Kurdish <em>Kolbars</em> or Porters Risk Everything
Cities

The Odyssey That Forged a Stronger Athenian

5 MARCH 2023 • By Iason Athanasiadis
The Odyssey That Forged a Stronger Athenian
Book Reviews

White Torture Prison Interviews Condemn Solitary Confinement

13 FEBRUARY 2023 • By Kamin Mohammadi
<em>White Torture</em> Prison Interviews Condemn Solitary Confinement
Columns

Letters From Tehran: Braving Tehran’s Roundabout, Maidan Valiasr

30 JANUARY 2023 • By TMR
Letters From Tehran: Braving Tehran’s Roundabout, Maidan Valiasr
Book Reviews

Editor’s Picks: Magical Realism in Iranian Lit

30 JANUARY 2023 • By Rana Asfour
Editor’s Picks: Magical Realism in Iranian Lit
Columns

Moroccans Triumph at World Cup While Press Freedom Suffers

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Samia Errazzouki
Moroccans Triumph at World Cup While Press Freedom Suffers
Featured article

Don’t Be a Stooge for the Regime—Iranians Reject State-Controlled Media!

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Malu Halasa
Don’t Be a Stooge for the Regime—Iranians Reject State-Controlled Media!
Columns

Siri Hustvedt & Ahdaf Souief Write Letters to Imprisoned Writer Narges Mohammadi

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By TMR
Siri Hustvedt & Ahdaf Souief Write Letters to Imprisoned Writer Narges Mohammadi
Music

Revolutionary Hit Parade: 12+1 Protest Songs from Iran

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Malu Halasa
Revolutionary Hit Parade: 12+1 Protest Songs from Iran
Film

Imprisoned Director Jafar Panahi’s No Bears

15 DECEMBER 2022 • By Clive Bell
Imprisoned Director Jafar Panahi’s <em>No Bears</em>
Opinion

Historic Game on the Horizon: US Faces Iran Once More

28 NOVEMBER 2022 • By Mireille Rebeiz
Columns

Free Alaa Now

7 NOVEMBER 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
Free Alaa Now
Opinion

Fragile Freedom, Fragile States in the Muslim World

24 OCTOBER 2022 • By I. Rida Mahmood
Fragile Freedom, Fragile States in the Muslim World
Opinion

Letter From Tehran: On the Pain of Others, Once Again

24 OCTOBER 2022 • By Sara Mokhavat
Letter From Tehran: On the Pain of Others, Once Again
Poetry

The Heroine Forugh Farrokhzad—”Only Voice Remains”

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Sholeh Wolpé
The Heroine Forugh Farrokhzad—”Only Voice Remains”
Art

#MahsaAmini—Art by Rachid Bouhamidi, Los Angeles

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Rachid Bouhamidi
#MahsaAmini—Art by Rachid Bouhamidi, Los Angeles
Art & Photography

Homage to Mahsa Jhina Amini & the Women-Led Call for Freedom

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By TMR
Homage to Mahsa Jhina Amini & the Women-Led Call for Freedom
Art

Defiance—an essay from Sara Mokhavat

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Sara Mokhavat, Salar Abdoh
Defiance—an essay from Sara Mokhavat
Poetry

“I Will Write”—Homage to Ángel Guinda and Mahsa Amini

15 OCTOBER 2022 • By Sholeh Wolpé
“I Will Write”—Homage to Ángel Guinda and Mahsa Amini
Art & Photography

Shirin Mohammad: Portrait of an Artist Between Berlin & Tehran

15 SEPTEMBER 2022 • By Noushin Afzali
Shirin Mohammad: Portrait of an Artist Between Berlin & Tehran
Columns

Salman Rushdie, Aziz Nesin and our Lingering Fatwas

22 AUGUST 2022 • By Sahand Sahebdivani
Salman Rushdie, Aziz Nesin and our Lingering Fatwas
Featured excerpt

“Fatima and The Handsome Jew”—Ali Al-Muqri

15 AUGUST 2022 • By Ali al-Muqri
“Fatima and The Handsome Jew”—Ali Al-Muqri
Art

Abundant Middle Eastern Talent at the ’22 Avignon Theatre Fest

18 JULY 2022 • By Nada Ghosn
Abundant Middle Eastern Talent at the ’22 Avignon Theatre Fest
Editorial

Editorial: Is the World Driving Us Mad?

15 JULY 2022 • By TMR
Editorial: Is the World Driving Us Mad?
Centerpiece

Big Laleh, Little Laleh—memoir by Shokouh Moghimi

15 JULY 2022 • By Shokouh Moghimi, Salar Abdoh
Big Laleh, Little Laleh—memoir by Shokouh Moghimi
Columns

World Refugee Day — What We Owe Each Other

20 JUNE 2022 • By Jordan Elgrably
World Refugee Day — What We Owe Each Other
Book Reviews

Abū Ḥamza’s Bread

15 APRIL 2022 • By Philip Grant
Abū Ḥamza’s Bread
Columns

Not Just Any Rice: Persian Kateh over Chelo

15 APRIL 2022 • By Maryam Mortaz, A.J. Naddaff
Not Just Any Rice: Persian Kateh over Chelo
Latest Reviews

Three Love Poems by Rumi, Translated by Haleh Liza Gafori

15 MARCH 2022 • By Haleh Liza Gafori
Three Love Poems by Rumi, Translated by Haleh Liza Gafori
Art

Silver Stories from Artist Micaela Amateau Amato

15 FEBRUARY 2022 • By Micaela Amateau Amato
Silver Stories from Artist Micaela Amateau Amato
Columns

Getting to the Other Side: a Kurdish Migrant Story

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Iason Athanasiadis
Getting to the Other Side: a Kurdish Migrant Story
Art & Photography

Refugees of Afghanistan in Iran: a Photo Essay by Peyman Hooshmandzadeh

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Peyman Hooshmandzadeh, Salar Abdoh
Refugees of Afghanistan in Iran: a Photo Essay by Peyman Hooshmandzadeh
Book Reviews

Meditations on The Ungrateful Refugee

15 JANUARY 2022 • By Rana Asfour
Meditations on <em>The Ungrateful Refugee</em>
Interviews

The Fabulous Omid Djalili on Good Times and the World

15 DECEMBER 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
The Fabulous Omid Djalili on Good Times and the World
Columns

Kurdish Poet and Writer Meral Şimşek Merits Her Freedom

4 OCTOBER 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
Kurdish Poet and Writer Meral Şimşek Merits Her Freedom
Art & Photography

Hasteem, We Are Here: The Collective for Black Iranians

15 SEPTEMBER 2021 • By Maryam Sophia Jahanbin
Hasteem, We Are Here: The Collective for Black Iranians
Essays

Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature

15 SEPTEMBER 2021 • By Ava Homa
Why Resistance Is Foundational to Kurdish Literature
Featured excerpt

The Harrowing Life of Kurdish Freedom Activist Kobra Banehi

15 SEPTEMBER 2021 • By Kobra Banehi, Jordan Elgrably
The Harrowing Life of Kurdish Freedom Activist Kobra Banehi
Essays

The Complexity of Belonging: Reflections of a Female Copt

15 SEPTEMBER 2021 • By Nevine Abraham
The Complexity of Belonging: Reflections of a Female Copt
Latest Reviews

Women Comic Artists, from Afghanistan to Morocco

15 AUGUST 2021 • By Sherine Hamdy
Women Comic Artists, from Afghanistan to Morocco
Weekly

The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter

4 JULY 2021 • By Maryam Zar
The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter
Book Reviews

ISIS and the Absurdity of War in the Age of Twitter

4 JULY 2021 • By Jessica Proett
ISIS and the Absurdity of War in the Age of Twitter
Art

The Murals of “Education is Not a Crime”

14 MAY 2021 • By Saleem Vaillancourt
The Murals of “Education is Not a Crime”
Editorial

Why TRUTH? الحقيقه

15 MARCH 2021 • By Jordan Elgrably
Why TRUTH? الحقيقه
TMR 7 • Truth?

The Crash, Covid-19 and Other Iranian Stories

14 MARCH 2021 • By Malu Halasa
The Crash, Covid-19 and Other Iranian Stories
TMR 6 • Revolutions

The Revolution Sees its Shadow 10 Years Later

14 FEBRUARY 2021 • By Mischa Geracoulis
The Revolution Sees its Shadow 10 Years Later
Columns

A Beheading for the Prophet and a Reckoning for France

26 OCTOBER 2020 • By Jordan Elgrably
A Beheading for the Prophet and a Reckoning for France

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

4 × 1 =

Scroll to Top