re the inimitable rushdie in article bcc b ics uci edu bvickers ics uci edu brett j vickers writes in article bu edu jaeger buphy bu edu gregg jaeger writes well seeing as you are not muslim the sort of fatwa issued by khomeini would not be relevant to you i can understand your fear of persecution and i share it even more than you being muslim however rushdie s behavior was not completely excusable why should a fatwa issued by khomeini be relevant to anyone who doesn t live in iran issued by khomeini it shouldn t be relevant to anyone but issued by an honest and learned scholar of islam it would be relevant to any muslim as it would be contrary to islamic law which all muslims are required to respect who is it that decides whether rushdie s behavior is excusable anyone sufficiently well versed in islamic law and capable of reasoning if you are talking about a weak sense of excuse it depends on what sense of excuse you have in mind and who cares if you think it is inexcusable only someone who thinks my opinion is important obviously obviously you don t care nor do i care that you don t care gregg
