OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:49 PM – Friday, May 16, 2025
Hadi Matar, a Shiite Muslim who attempted to stab Salman Rushdie, a British-American novelist, to death on a New York lecture stage — has been sentenced to a maximum term of 25 years in prison.
Matar, 26, was found guilty of attempted murder and assault in February. He sought to carry out a decades-old “fatwa” by ambushing the 77-year-old novelist while he was giving a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute in August 2022. A fatwa is a ruling or opinion on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized religious authority.
Before being sentenced, the knifeman, who had repeatedly screamed pro-Palestine chants during his trial, stepped up and made a statement on free speech — calling Rushdie a hypocrite.
Matar received the maximum 25-year sentence for Rushdie’s attempted murder and seven years for injuring another separate man who was on stage with him.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt stated that the sentences must run consecutively, since both victims were injured in the same occurrence.
Rushdie took the stand in order to recount the vicious attack. He described how he had feared that he was dying when his masked attacker forced the knife into his head and body “more than a dozen times,” as he was being introduced on stage.
Footage of the attack was played during the trial.
Videos showed Matar approaching Rushdie from behind, before stabbing him in front of the horrified audience. Rushdie could be observed stumbling forward while Matar clung to him, swinging and stabbing until they both collapsed and were soon separated by heroic bystanders.
In addition to now being blind in one eye, the author sustained nerve and liver damage — which he barely survived, according to doctors.
Rushdie, who recounted his recovery in his 2024 book “Knife,” spent 17 days in a Pennsylvania hospital following the attack and more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation clinic.
Matar was born in the United States but still holds Lebanese citizenship. He is now facing a federal prosecution on terrorism allegations.
Authorities noted that Matar was attempting to carry out a decades-old fatwa, or order, calling for Rushdie’s death when he went from his home in Fairview, New Jersey, to kill the author.
Matar has pleaded not guilty to a three-count indictment charging him with providing material to terrorists, attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, and engaging in terrorism transcending national boundaries.
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