Islam is unusual in that it's the only one of the great world religions which was born inside recorded history. That there's an enormous amount of factual historical record about the life of a prophet and about social conditions in Arabia at that time. So it's possible to look at the origin of Islam in a scholarly way.
Salman RushdieIt may be argued that the past is a country from which we have all emigrated, that its loss is part of our common humanity.
Salman RushdieThe world is full of things that upset people. But most of us deal with it and move on and don't try and burn the planet down.
Salman RushdieWriters have been in terrible situations and have yet managed to produce extraordinary work.
Salman RushdieThis is going to make me sound ancient, but I remember Juhu Beach when there weren't any buildings on it. You'd go through countryside and arrive at this amazing beach. I remember driving from Delhi to the Qutab Minar through countryside. Mehrauli was a little village - that's all gone.
Salman Rushdie