Thirty years on, The Satanic Verses remains a novel that still provokes furious debate. To try and understand why, author, translator and journalist Maureen Freely will be joined by columnist and commentator Kenan Malik, presenters of recent radio 4 series ‘Fatwa’ Chloe Hadjimatheou and Mobeen Azhar, alongside Director of Southall Black Sisters Pragna Patel.

Within months of publication, Salman Rushdie’s fourth novel fictionalising the life of the prophet Mohammed was caught up in a maelstrom of protests and political power plays that engaged Muslims across the globe. On 14 February 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini rode a wave of anger and outrage to issue a Fatwa sentencing Rushdie to death, calling ‘all zealous Muslims’ to execute him – and everyone else involved in the books publication. In a manner unforeseen by the author, The Satanic Verses created and exposed cleavages in society like few other books throughout history.

What has happened since? In the intervening years, the arena for artistic, cultural and political expression has changed immeasurably. Many believe that, in the wake of the Fatwa, we live in a more censorious society, and the appetite for a diversity of voices – each with a label – has outgrown the need for genuinely diverse debate.

For others, the offence caused to Muslims in an already hostile environment still outweighs any defence of free expression and cultural enquiry. What is beyond doubt is that the book, and the Fatwa, redrew fault lines through the very ideas of community, race and debate in society, and that we still feel the reverberations today.