The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. Just like his previous books, Rushdie relies heavily on contemporary events and persons to create the characters in his book. The Character of the chief protaganist of Satanic verses is based on that of the Indian film star Amitabh Bacchan.The title refers to what are known as the satanic verses. According to early Muslim biographies of Muhammad, Muhammad was tricked into revealing these verses as part of the Qur'an by Satan and he later retracted them, saying the angel Jibreel had told him to do so. The verses allow for prayers of intercession to be made to three Pagan Meccan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manah. The part of the story that deals with the "satanic verses" in the book was based on the accounts of the historians al-Waqidi and al-Tabari.