Today's Common Hour speaker, renowned and controversial author of "Midnight's Children" and "The Satanic Verses," Salman Rushdie, has had a death threat out on him since February 14, 1989. The threat was renewed on its anniversary in 2005. The fatwa, or sentence of death, was issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then leader of Iran.
The fatwa reads, "I would like to inform all intrepid Muslims in the world that the author of the book entitled 'The Satanic Verses,' which has been compiled, printed, and published in opposition to Islam, the Prophet, and the Qur'an, as well as those publishers who were aware of its contents, have been sentenced to death. I call on all zealous Muslims to execute them quickly, wherever they find them, so that no one will dare insult the Islamic sanctities. Whoever is killed on this path will be regarded as a martyr, God willing."
With a fatwa on Rushdie's head, the Department of Security has also taken a unique focus on this Common Hour.
"We will be prepared if something unusual happens," Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols said.
"We've been in touch with Salmon Rushdie's staff."
Rushdie will also "have some accompaniment here," according to Nichols. Despite these extra security concerns, both Bowdoin Security and the events department have been trying to keep a normal environment surrounding the event.
"It will be as much a normal Common Hour event as possible," Nichols said.
"Security will not be evident to the casual attendee. We will have some uniformed presence and some un-uniformed presence," he said.
Many students have expressed frustration at their inability to find tickets to Rushdie's lecture. With all the attention surrounding the event, some have questioned why a larger venue, such as the gym, is not being used.
"Athletics has the priority to the gym," Assistant Director of Events Brenna Hensley said.
"It's just not an option."
Students, who could only pick up one ticket at a time with a Bowdoin ID, lined up for tickets on February 10 when they were first made available.
"I didn't think the tickets would run out that quickly," said Shahid Khoja '06, who is planning to attend the Common Hour.
"There was a huge line, and tickets ran out in like two hours," he said. All the tickets that have been returned will be redistributed starting at 11 a.m. before the lecture.
According to Hensley, the events department has been working to accommodate those students unable to get tickets. In addition to holding the talk in Pickard, Rushdie's lecture will be projected live in Wish Theatre. Also, there will be a reception in Moulton Union directly after the event until 3 p.m. that Rushdie is planning to attend.
Hensley hopes to keep the reception from devolving into a book signing. "A lot of it depends on the speaker's personality, but I don't want him to get stuck [signing books]," she said.
To combat this, Hensley said, "He'll mingle for 20 to 30 minutes before sitting down. Our goal is to have him interact with the campus." Hensley asked students to limit themselves to bringing one book per person to be signed.
Rushdie, born in 1947 in Bombay, India, grew up at a time of rapid change in the subcontinent. In June of that year, Pakistan separated from India. On August 15, 1947, India gained its independence from Great Britain and a time of turmoil, hope, and violence began. Because of this, many of Rushdie's books focus on political themes. Rushdie, however, shies away from convention when retelling his country's past.
"He doesn't write about facts. He's a fiction writer," Khoja said. "When you're reading facts, you just get what is written in history."
Rushdie's second novel, "Midnight's Children," deals with post-independence India's dreams and ideals meeting reality and opens with a child being born on the eve of independence.
"It is one of my favorite novels. I've taught him in a couple of classes. He's a great writer," Associate Professor of English Aviva Briefel said.
His third novel, "Shame," deals with the same issues and time period, focusing on a fictional country strongly resembling Pakistan. The book deals with the concept of honor versus shame.
However, Rushdie's fame, and his fatwa, did not come until his fourth book, "The Satanic Verses," was published. "The Satanic Verses" deals with the ideas of good versus evil, faith versus fanaticism, and illusion versus reality.
"We tend to associate him with 'The Satanic Verses,' because of what happened after that," Briefel said.
Khoja says he thinks much of the interest in the Common Hour is fueled by the controversy surrounding Rushdie.
"I just read in the news that he wrote about something blasphemous. People are just focusing on that one controversy and not looking at the rest of his work," he said.
Briefel also expressed concern that the lecture will be focused on controversy.
"I'm hoping people will ask him questions about his writing, in addition to about what happened to him in the late 80s and early 90s," she said.
Hensley shares the campus's anticipation of Rushdie's upcoming lecture.
"We're honored to have him here," she said. Since his writing is taught in Asian studies, religion, history, and English at the College, Rushdie has been "somebody the College has wanted to bring for quite some time," Hensley said.
"We've been pursuing him heavily for the past year," she said.