Viral anti-Islamic quote attributed to Salman Rushdie is fake

A graphic containing novelist Salman Rushdie's photo and an anti-Islamic statement attributed to him is doing the rounds on social media.

Referring to Rushide as the survivor of Islamic violence, the statement reads: “The large majority of peaceful Muslims don't matter because I was attacked by just one Muslim who followed Quran. All religions are not the same because they have not codified death to whoever doesn't belong to their religion. In my life, I want to warn the world that Islam will not rest till every society, culture, and religion is either annihilated or converted (sic).”

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It comes after Rushdie escaped an assassination attempt ahead of his lecture at an event at the Chautauqua Institution in New York on 12 August 2022. Hadi Matar (24) from New Jersey, during the introduction, leapt onto the stage and stabbed Rushdie, which led to the loss of vision in one eye.

Fact Check

NewsMeter ran a keyword search but did not find a report by any credible media organization about Rushdie making any such statement.

We checked Rushdie's social media accounts and found him calling out a Twitter user who had shared the graphic. Retweeting the post, he called the quote “fake”. “Fake quote. Not said by me,” he wrote.

Hence, we conclude that the anti-Islamic quote was falsely attributed to Salman Rushdie