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THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE "RUSHDIE AFFAIR" AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. IT EXAMINES THE CAUSE OF THE CONFLICT AND THE DEATH SENTENCE PASSED ON AUTHOR SALMAN RUSHDIE BY IRAN'S AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI; BLASPHEMY AS THE OBJECT OF THE CONFLICT; THE PROCESS OF THE CONFLICT AND CRISIS; AND INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS TO THE CRISIS. SEVERAL CONCLUSIONS FOLLOW: THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR HAS CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED THAT THERE EXISTS AND IRREDUCIBLE ANIMOSITY BETWEEN ISLAM AND THE CHRISTIAN WEST; THE PROCESS OF SECULARIZATION AND MODERNIZATION WITHIN MUSLIM SOCIETIES HAD BEEN REVERSED; AND THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR HAS INCREASED THE ANIMOSITY OF LARGE SEGMENTS OF THE POPULATION IN THE WESTERN SOCIETIES AGAINST MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS.

RECENT EVENTS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD HAVE FUELED THE ILLUSION THAT ALL SECULARIZING EFFORTS ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE, WHICH IS AT VARIANCE WITH BOTH THE FACTS OF HISTORY AND WITH PRESENT REALITIES. IT IS OBVIOUSLY TRUE THAT MUSLIM SOCIETIES HAVE ENCOUNTERED OBSTACLES IN THEIR SECULARIZING EFFORTS, AND SOMETIMES HAVE EVEN BEEN FORCED TO SHIFT THEIR COURSE. SECULARIZATION HAS ALSO KNOWN ITS DISCONTINUITIES AND CAESURAE, SUCH AS ENDED WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ISLAMIC REGIME IN IRAN, AND THERE WILL PROBABLY BE OTHERS IN THE FUTURE. BUT THE GENERAL FACT REMAINS. THOUGH SPORADIC REVERSALS MAY TAKE PLACE AT THE SURFACE, THE PROCESS OF SECULARIZATION CONTINUES ITS NORMAL COURSE. CONTEMPORARY MODELS, EVEN MANY OF THOSE THAT EXPLICITLY PROCLAIM THEMSELVES ISLAMIC, ARE STRIKING EXAMPLES OF THIS DEEP-SEATED PROCESS.