The Satanic Verses presents a richly layered narrative, or perhaps it's more fitting to say it has a complex central storyline that allows Rushdie to incorporate a variety of subplots and interwoven tales. The central plot focuses on the meeting and eventual separation of Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha. Both are Indian actors; Gibreel has achieved fame in India by playing divine roles in "theologicals," films centered around religious themes, while Saladin has found limited success in England, mostly through voice work for TV commercials and a sitcom titled The Aliens Show. Their paths cross under extraordinary circumstances: they are passengers on an Air-India jumbo jet that is hijacked and then destroyed by Canadian Sikh terrorists. Miraculously surviving the explosion, they find themselves descending onto an English beach. However, their escape from death comes with strange transformations. Gibreel gains a halo and believes he is an angel meant to herald the apocalypse, while Saladin is turned into a goat-like figure, complete with horns, legs, and hooves. Gibreel, in his altered state, is plagued by visions and shows signs of paranoid schizophrenia. Meanwhile, Saladin is arrested by the police, who mistake him for an illegal immigrant despite his long-standing residency and attempts to integrate into English society. When Saladin is detained, Gibreel fails to acknowledge him, driving Saladin to pursue two goals: regain his human identity and seek revenge on Gibreel for his abandonment. Saladin eventually ends up in Brickhall, a predominantly Asian area in London, where he becomes a significant character. He ultimately orchestrates Gibreel's downfall through cunning and manipulation. Ironically, Saladin is not judged for his part in Gibreel's ruin. By the novel's conclusion, Saladin undergoes personal transformation and rekindles love when he travels to India to be with his dying father.

There are also numerous other narratives that connect in various ways to the main story. Among the most compelling is the tale of Rosa Diamond, a solitary elderly woman whose home becomes a refuge for Gibreel and Saladin after their fall. She reminisces about the romantic episodes of her life on the Argentine pampas. The Sufiyan family's story portrays the typical experience of Asian immigrants in England, underscoring the pressures and changes they face. Both Gibreel and Saladin have their own romantic entanglements, which introduce additional twists to the main narrative. For example, Gibreel turns away from his Indian lover, Rekha Merchant, to pursue the captivating mountain-climber, Alleluia Cone. Saladin, separated from his wife, Pamela Lovelace, eventually returns to his Indian girlfriend, Zeeny Vakil. Overall, The Satanic Verses is a tapestry of stories and episodes linked together by the overarching narrative of Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha's emotional journeys.

Since the release of his novel, Rushdie has encountered significant criticism and has made efforts to explain his thematic intentions. In an interview with the Observer on September 25, 1988, Rushdie characterized The Satanic Verses as a story "about transformations, about religious faith, from the perspective of someone who would no longer describe himself as religious," and also about "imported cultures, specifically the immigrant experience." During another interview aired on BBC television on February 14, 1989, Rushdie mentioned that his novel sought to highlight the tension "between the sacred text and the profane text, between revealed literature and imagined literature." In a different conversation with India Today on September 15, 1988, Rushdie emphasized that one of his central themes is "religion and fanaticism" and another is the "challenge of whether a new idea or concept should choose to compromise or not."

Following the ban of his book in India, Rushdie focused on clarifying his thematic intentions through...