A. A. SUVOROVA, Doctor of Philology Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Keywords: Bangladesh, feminism, Muslim fundamentalism, fatwa, struggle for women's rights In the modern world, the recognition of a writer is measured by prizes, awards, laudatory reviews and large print runs. But there are only a few writers who have gained worldwide fame because a fatwa has been issued against them - the conclusion of authoritative Muslim scholars that has the force of law, and in practice is a death sentence. Among those targeted for the fatwa are two of the most prominent: Salman Rushdie (b. 1947), a native of India, and Taslima Nasreen (b.1962), a resident of Bangladesh. Their lives and works are surrounded by a halo of scandal, although in this case the price of sensation is to live in an atmosphere of constant deadly danger. If the work of the English-language prose writer Rushdie is well known in Russia, then the poetry and prose of Taslima, who writes in Bengali, have not yet been translated into Russian. Taslima began publishing in her early youth, writing 13 collections of poetry, 8 novels, and 6 volumes of short stories, essays, and autobiographical prose. Despite her prolific work, she was not particularly well known as a writer until the early 1990s, but within a few years her name was on everyone's lips. This happened after the publication of her novel "Shame" (Lajja, 1993), which describes religious intolerance and severe persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, including the scene of the rape of a Hindu girl by Muslims. At the same time, the Bangladeshi Ulama issued a fatwa declaring Taslima an apostate and "hater of Islam", and the radical religious organization "Council of Warriors of Islam" appointed a monetary reward for her head1. The writer herself, as if adding fuel to the fire, in numerous interviews openly declared her "secular humanism" and atheism, spoke critically about the role of religion, in particular, Islam, in society, ... Read more