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Attack on Salman Rushdie — 2022 Stabbing and Legal Outcome

In August 2022, Salman Rushdie was stabbed 15 times on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York by Hadi Matar, leaving him blind in one eye and with nerve damage. Matar was later convicted of federal terrorism charges and is facing a potential life sentence.

The Attack

On August 12, 2022, as Rushdie was about to speak at a literary festival in Chautauqua, New York, Hadi Matar rushed the stage and stabbed him multiple times Wikipedia. Rushdie was hospitalized for 17 days and suffered permanent blindness in his right eye and nerve damage Yahoo+1. The attack also injured the event’s moderator, Henry Reese Wikipedia. Motive and Background

Prosecutors allege Matar’s motive was to carry out a fatwa — a death order — issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 after Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses was published. The book was deemed blasphemous by some Muslims, and the fatwa set a $3 million bounty on Rushdie’s life Wikipedia+1. Although Iran’s government denied involvement, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah had endorsed the fatwa in 2006 AOL+1.

Legal Proceedings

State court (May 2025): Matar was convicted of attempted murder and assault, sentenced to 25 years in prison Wikipedia.

Federal court (July 30, 2026): A jury in Buffalo, New York, convicted Matar of attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, committing an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and providing material support to terrorists Yahoo+1. He now faces a maximum life sentence when sentenced on November 3, 2026 Yahoo+1.

Rushdie’s Reflections

In his memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder and interviews, Rushdie described the attack as “the cruelest blow” but emphasized that language was his “knife” to fight back, underscoring the power of truth-telling in the face of violence Yahoo+1.

In summary: The 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie was a high-profile act of terrorism linked to a decades-old fatwa. The attacker, Hadi Matar, has been convicted on both state and federal charges, with a potential life sentence pending.