fatwa

Fatwa Issued Against Pakistani President for ‘Flirting’ With Palin

Sep 30, 2008
Tina Fey, in character again as Sarah Palin for last weekend's "Saturday Night Live," made light of how the Republican vice presidential candidate was "literally" embraced by "a couple of them Pakistani guys" she met at the United Nations last week. Unfortunately for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, though, the prayer leader of Islamabad's Red Mosque isn't laughing about Zardari's encounter with Palin last Thursday.
Join our newsletter Stay up to date with the latest from Truthdig. Join the Truthdig Newsletter for our latest publications.

That’s ‘Sir Salman Rushdie’ to You

Jun 17, 2007
Eighteen years after the publication of Salman Rushdie's explosively controversial novel "The Satanic Verses" -- which led to widespread criticism by Muslims and a death threat ordered by Ayatollah Khomeini -- the Indian-born writer has been singled out for a much more desirable form of official recognition: Rushdie has been knighted by the queen of England.

When Hugging Is a Crime

May 22, 2007
Nilofar Bakhtiar, Pakistan's federal minister for tourism, is in hot water with clerics in her home country for hugging a skydiving instructor who guided her through a tandem parachute jump for charity last month. Now, after striking such an "obscene" pose, she's had to resign from Pakistan's Cabinet.