Satire of "The Prophet's Hair"

Salman Rushdie is arguably one of the most celebrated, criticized, and talked-about authors of our time.  He is known in particular for his political criticisms and satires, especially on the Islamic faith.  Controversy erupted after the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses due to its interpreted (and most likely intentional) erroneous portrayal of the prophet Muhammad and other Muslim historical figures.  At the time of its publication it even led to the religious fatwa that Rushdie be executed for his crimes against Islam.  Rushdie spent nearly a decade in hiding from potential assassins and plots against him, but never let that keep him from continuing his writing.  Following his own tradition, it is therefore no surprise that several of his short stories in the collection East, West contain the same biting satire and criticism.  Particularly, the story “The Prophet’s Hair” can be interpreted as an overall satire of religion.

The story follows the misfortune that befalls a family that comes into contact with the Prophet’s Hair, a relic that has caused a huge uproar after having been stolen from a local temple.  Hashim, the town’s wealthy moneylender, prides himself in “living honourably in the world” despite not being a religious man (p. 41).  However, when he finds the stolen glass vial containing the prophet Muhammad’s hair his personality does a 180 after his greed overcomes him and he decides to keep the vial. 

Hashim justifies the deed as obeying the ideals of Muhammad, stating that “the Prophet would have disapproved mightily of this relic-worship…so, by keeping this hair from its distracted devotees, I perform…a finer service than I would by returning it” (p. 44).  Hashim also claims that he would add the vial to his collection, but only in valuing its secular importance.  Shortly after this though, he experiences a religious epiphany and becomes a strict adherent to Islam.  He explodes in a confession of his disappointment with his marriage and his children, and from then-on requires the whole household to strictly abide the Qur’an.  Hashim has them burn all other books, pray the required five times a day, and forces every member of the family to read from the holy book for two hours each day.  In this sudden conversion, Hashim engages in the idol-worship of the vial and its contents that he was so sure he would prevent by keeping it.  His obsession over the vial also leads him to disown his daughter and harass both his wife and son.  When Atta and Huma (his son and daughter, respectively) conspire to have the vial stolen and returned to its temple, a course of events are set into motion that ultimately end in the total destruction of the family and those involved in the theft.

The satire of this story revolves around Rushdie’s portrayal of religion.  In most religions, holy relics such as the Prophet’s Hair are enshrined in their temples in order to bring people of all walks of life together in praise and worship.  In Rushdie’s story, contact with the vial of hair is almost like a curse that ruins the lives of all people coming into contact with it.  Instead of bringing peace, it produces violence of the most horrible kind.  When the Prophet’s Hair changes Hashim from a secular man to a religious one, he comes to rule over his family with an iron fist.  His harsh new laws of the household mostly apply to the others, while Hashim adheres to the things he chooses at his convenience.  Instead of being a model follower of Islam, he becomes a hypocrite.  Finally, a religious epiphany is generally considered to be a beautiful awakening that betters the life of the person experiencing it.  Instead, Hashim’s epiphany tears apart his entire family, resulting in his wife’s insanity and the death of every other family member, including himself.

In “The Prophet’s Hair,” Rushdie hints at the dark possibilities of what people can almost unwittingly do to each other in the name of worship.  Despite not taking his every warning with extreme seriousness, I believe it is good to reflect on these themes and not let our beliefs carry ourselves away into abusing our fellow man over them.