Salman Rushdie’s fatwa stabber convicted on federal terror charges

A federal jury finds Salman Rushdie’s attacker guilty of terrorism charges that could keep him imprisoned for life.

By World Israel News Staff

A dual Lebanese American citizen who stabbed author Salman Rushdie in an attempt to carry out a decades-old Islamic fatwa calling for the writer’s death was convicted Wednesday on federal terrorism charges, a verdict that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.

Hadi Matar, 28, is already serving a 25-year sentence in New York state prison after being convicted last year of attempted murder for the 2022 knife attack on Rushdie during a literary event in western New York.

On Wednesday, however, Matar was also found guilty in federal court of providing material support to a terrorist organization and committing an act of terrorism that transcended national boundaries, according to a report by The New York Times. The convictions carry the possibility of decades of additional prison time, potentially ensuring that Matar never regains his freedom.

His sentencing on the federal charges is scheduled for November 2026.

Federal prosecutors argued that Matar’s attack was not simply an isolated act of violence, but one inspired by Hezbollah and rooted in the long-running campaign to enforce the fatwa issued against Rushdie following the publication of The Satanic Verses.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch, Matar was motivated by a 2006 speech delivered by the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who urged Muslims around the world to carry out the fatwa by killing Rushdie.

“The defendant decided no one was going to do it, so he had to do it,” Lynch said during his closing argument, according to Buffalo News.

“The defendant is the one who answered that call.”

Throughout the trial, Matar’s attorneys did not dispute that he had stabbed Rushdie. Instead, they argued that prosecutors failed to prove the attack was carried out on behalf of a terrorist organization or was motivated by terrorism under federal law.

The defense also contended that heightened tensions surrounding the ongoing conflict involving Iran had made it difficult for Matar to receive a fair trial before an impartial jury. Following the guilty verdict, his attorney said the conviction would be appealed.

Rushdie survived the attack but suffered life-altering injuries, including the loss of sight in one eye and lasting damage to his hand.