Hadi Matar has been convicted of federal terrorism charges for the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie. Matar, who faces a potential life sentence on top of a 25-year state sentence, was found to have acted in support of Hezbollah and was motivated by a 1989 fatwa against Rushdie for his novel "The Satanic Verses." Rushdie survived the attack, which cost him the sight in one eye, and testified at the trial.
Matar terrorism conviction
- ▪Hadi Matar is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence after being convicted of attempted murder in 2025
- ▪The federal conviction carries a potential life sentence for Hadi Matar, who is 28 years old
- ▪The charges against Hadi Matar included engaging in an act of transnational terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah
- ▪Hadi Matar was convicted of federal terrorism charges on July 29, 2026, for the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie
Rushdie stabbing attack
- ▪The stabbing occurred in August 2022 as Salman Rushdie was about to speak on writers' safety at the Chautauqua Institution in New York
- ▪The attack also wounded Ralph Henry Reese, the moderator at Salman Rushdie's planned lecture
- ▪Salman Rushdie was stabbed 15 times, suffering grave injuries including the loss of sight in his right eye and damage to his hand and liver
The Satanic Verses controversy
- ▪The 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses" drew protests for what some Muslims saw as blasphemous content about the Prophet Muhammad
- ▪In the years following the book's publication, at least 45 people were killed in riots, and its Japanese translator was stabbed to death
Khomeini fatwa history
- ▪The fatwa was never rescinded, and an Iranian foundation has offered a bounty of more than $3 million for killing Salman Rushdie
- ▪In 1989, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling for Salman Rushdie's death
Hezbollah connection evidence
- ▪Evidence showed Hadi Matar tracked Salman Rushdie's public appearances and wrote in a private note, "We need to kill him ASAP."
- ▪Hadi Matar, a U.S. citizen, also holds citizenship in Lebanon, where the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah is based
- ▪Prosecutors argued Hadi Matar was motivated by a 2006 speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that endorsed the fatwa against Salman Rushdie
Rushdie post-attack recovery
- ▪Salman Rushdie testified at the trial in Buffalo, New York, describing the attack and the extent of his injuries
- ▪In 2024, Salman Rushdie published a memoir about the attack titled "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder."
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