Things that go fatwa in the knight

(Caricature by Riber Hansson)

In search of more information on Salman Rushdie's knighthood and the angry sputtering from Iran and Pakistan, I made a rather interesting discovery.

Did you know Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II records Royal podcasts? They are infrequent but available. Her last was on Commonwealth Day, which falls on March 12.

But back to important things. Every February, on the fatwa's anniversary, Iran announces that the 1989 death threat to Rushdie is still valid. Click here to see a video of Rushdie reading from "The Satanic Verses."

This June 16, the British government announced it was bestowing knighthood on Rushdie.

The literary world proclaimed its delight at the news. Iran and Pakistan summoned their British envoys to express their displeasure.

A Times story Tuesday:

"Eighteen years after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill him, a government minister in Pakistan said yesterday that Rushdie’s recent knighthood justified suicide bombing.

The question of blasphemy in The Satanic Verses, Rushdie’s 1988 tale of a prophet misled by the devil, remains a deeply sensitive issue in much of the Muslim world and the author’s inclusion in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last week has inflamed anti-British sentiment.

Gerald Butt, editor of the authoritative Middle East Economic Survey, told The Times: 'It will be interpreted as an action calculated to goad Muslims at a time when the atmosphere is already very tense and Britain’s standing in the region is very low because of its involvement in Iraq and its lack of action in tackling the Palestine issue.'"

At least one Irani group has raised the bounty on Rushdie's head to $150,000.

And the Queen's effigy was burned in Multan, Pakistan.

Click here to download the full list of people honored by the Queen on her birthday. Rushdie's name appears under "Knighthoods" on page 2 of the 95-page document: "Ahmed Salman Rushdie. Author. For services to Literature."

And since we were all wondering, here is the Royal description of the significance of knighthood:

"A knighthood (or a damehood, its female equivalent) is one of the highest honours an individual in the United Kingdom can achieve.

While in past centuries knighthood used to be awarded solely for military merit, today it recognises significant contributions to national life.

Recipients today range from actors to scientists, and from school head teachers to industrialists.

A knighthood cannot be bought and it carries no military obligations to the Sovereign."

And on the same page, this illuminating sidebar, "Did You Know?":

"In ceremony of knighting, the knight-elect kneels on a knighting-stool in front of The Queen, who then lays the sword blade on the knight's right and then left shoulder....Contrary to popular belief, the words 'Arise, Sir ...' are not used."

Note to angry Muslim extremists: You wanted to punish Rushdie in 1989 and made him world-famous instead. Now the queen will honor his fame by taking a sword to his head. Are you happy now?