Hadi Matar convicted of terrorism charges in Salman Rushdie stabbing

Jul 30, 2026

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▪The fatwa was never rescinded, and an Iranian foundation has offered a bounty of more than $3 million for killing Salman Rushdie.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."