Church backlash as Archbishop of
Last
updated at 14:22pm on 08.02.08
This comes on the heels
of Britain last week make a ruling to accept Muslim polygamists to get welfare
for each of their wives, while not accepting any British polygamists as either
legal or able to get welfare.
The Archbishop of
The Bishop of Southwark the Right
Reverend Tom Butler cast doubts on the argument that the Islamic law will come
into force in the
He said: "It will take a great deal more thought and work
before I think it's a good idea."
Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme
whether the Church of England leader, Dr Rowan Williams, should have been more
diplomatic in his speech which sparked the controversy, Dr Butler said:
"The Archbishop has a way with language but this was a very heavy
lecture."
He admitted that the Dr Williams had entered a
"minefield" with his views on Sharia law
and it was not clear whether he would backtrack on behalf of the Church of
England, on this issue.
He said: "Like all bishops I'm waking up this morning to a
shoal of emails from clergy asking what's going on."
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham also launched a ferocious
backlash against the Archbishop of Canterbury's claims about sharia law.
The Cabinet minister warned against such a radical legal
shake-up in the
Dr Williams faced a
barrage of criticism for arguing that sharia law
should be given some form of legal status in the
Voicing the views of many MPs, Mr
Burnham said: "This isn't a path down which we should go. The system, the
British legal system, should apply to everybody equally.
"You cannot run two systems of law alongside each other.
That in my view would be a recipe for chaos, social chaos. British law has to
be based on British values.
"If people choose to live in this country, they choose to
abide by that law and that law alone.
"It has got to be fundamental and a cornerstone of our
country and our democracy that everybody is equal before that one system of
British law."
This morning it also
emerged that Sharia crime courts are already
operating in parts of
According to a youth
worker, a group of Somali youths were arrested by police on suspicion of
stabbing another Somali teenager.
But the victim's family
told officers the matter would be settled out of court and the suspects were
released on bail.
A Sharia
court was convened and elders ordered the assailants to compensate the victim.
The Archbishop of
He declared that Sharia and Parliamentary law should be given equal legal
status so the people could choose which governs their lives.
This raised the
prospect of Islamic courts in
His comments in a BBC interview and a lecture to lawyers were
condemned at a time when government ministers are striving to encourage
integration and stop the nation from "sleepwalking to segregation".
The Prime Minister rapidly distanced himself from Dr Williams's view. Gordon Brown's spokesman said: "Our
general position is that sharia law cannot be used as
a justification for committing breaches of English law, nor should the principles
of sharia law be included in a civil court for
resolving contractual disputes.
"The Prime Minister believes British law should apply in
this country, based on British values."
Dr Williams's words opened a chasm
over Islam between senior leaders of the Church of England, who are already
trying to deal with an Anglican war over gay rights which broke out after he
was appointed archbishop.
The Bishop of
And the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu,
who has been fiercely critical of Muslim extremists, said last year that
"the imposition of sharia law,
In his lecture,
57-year-old Dr Williams said that "we have to think a little harder about
the role and rule of law in a plural society of overlapping identities".
He added that it
would be possible to develop "a scheme in which individuals retain the
liberty to choose the jurisdiction under which they will seek to resolve
certain carefully specified matters, so that power-holders are forced to
compete for the loyalty of their shared constituents.
"This may
include aspects of marital law, the regulation of financial transactions, and authorised structures of mediation and conflict
resolution."
The archbishop
attempted to distance himself from the extreme legal systems run in Islamic
countries such as
"Nobody in
their right mind, I think, would want to see in this country a kind of
inhumanity that sometimes appears to be associated with the practice of the law
in some Islamic states - the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as
well," he said.
Dr Williams pointed out
that Jewish Beth Din courts already operate in
Alternative sharia courts as proposed by the archbishop would dish out
enforceable law.
Muslim groups responded cautiously to Dr Williams's
proposals. A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said: "We will
need to look carefully at the archbishop's lecture."
The Ramadhan Foundation youth organisation said the scheme would help build respect and
tolerance.
Its director
Mohammed Shafiq said: "Sharia
law for civil matters is something which has been introduced in some western
countries with much success;
I believe that Muslims would take huge comfort from the
Government allowing civil matters being resolved according to their
faith."
But he added: "We are however disappointed that the
Archbishop of Canterbury was silent when Bishop Nazir-Ali
was promoting intolerance and lying about no-go areas for Christians in the UK
by Muslim extremists.
"Unless he speaks out against this intolerance, Muslims
will take his silence as authorisation and support
for such comments."
Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights
Commission, said Dr Williams's comments gave "succour to extremists".
"He needs to understand that his words carry enormous
weight," he said in a Channel 4 interview.
"What he seems to be talking about is a situation in which
people are treated differently under the law according to their religion. People cannot be treated differently. Everyone
should be equal in the eyes of the law.
"I don't doubt the archbishop's desire to accommodate
diversity, but we cannot do so at the expense of our common values."
He described Dr Williams as "muddled" and
"dangerous".
Mr Phillips was the first prominent Labour figure to condemn multiculturalism, the Left-wing
doctrine which promotes different cultures.
He declared that under its influence
Yesterday he said the "implication that British courts
should treat people differently based on their faith is divisive and dangerous.
"It risks removing the protection afforded by law, for
example, to children in custody cases or women in divorce proceedings.
"The first people who would suffer would be ethnic-minority
citizens. Follow the logic of this extreme multiculturalism through and where
do we end up?
With a group of white Christians in Barking and Dagenham
deciding they had a conscientious objection to nonwhite Muslims in their neighbourhoods - and seeking the support of the
courts?"
Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, said: "I am
appalled that the head of the Church of England is advocating that parts of sharia law should be introduced into British law.
"The idea that you can have the moderate bits without the
nasty bits coming along at a later time is naive."
Tory backbencher David Davies, an Anglican, said: "I am
astounded. Dr Williams is a nice enough man, very intellectual, but he has
clearly lost the plot.
"He's one of the
most influential Christian prelates in the world and he's supposed to be
standing up for Christianity. (Two years ago the Lord warned me of betrayal in the EU by Church
leaders and Politicians selling out of their churches and their nations to
Muslimism. This shall only increase in this and the next decade as the EU races
towards Sharia Law and Muslim rule.)
"What he's doing is abandoning his own religion. If people
come to this country they should be prepared to compromise their own traditions
to fit in with the host country.
Tory cohesion spokesman Baroness Warsi,
a Muslim herself, said: "The archbishop's comments are unhelpful and may
add to the confusion that already exists in our communities.
"Freedom under the law allows respect for some religious
practices.
"But let's be absolutely clear. All British citizens must
be subject to British laws developed through Parliament and the courts."
In his lecture, 57-year-old Dr Williams said that "we have
to think a little harder about the role and rule of law in a plural society of
overlapping identities".
He added that it would be possible to develop "a scheme in
which individuals retain the liberty to choose the jurisdiction under which
they will seek to resolve certain carefully specified matters, so that
power-holders are forced to compete for the loyalty of their shared
constituents.
"This may include aspects of marital law, the regulation of
financial transactions, and authorised structures of
mediation and conflict resolution."
The archbishop attempted to distance himself from the extreme
legal systems run in Islamic countries such as
"Nobody in their right mind, I think, would want to see in
this country a kind of inhumanity that sometimes appears to be associated with
the practice of the law in some Islamic states - the extreme punishments, the
attitudes to women as well," he said.
Dr Williams pointed out
that Jewish Beth Din courts already operate in
Alternative sharia courts as proposed
by the archbishop would dish out enforceable law.
Muslim groups responded cautiously to Dr Williams's
proposals. A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said: "We will
need to look carefully at the archbishop's lecture."
The Ramadhan Foundation youth organisation said the scheme would help build respect and
tolerance.
Its director Mohammed Shafiq said:
"Sharia law for civil matters is something which
has been introduced in some western countries with much success; I believe that
Muslims would take huge comfort from the Government allowing civil matters
being resolved according to their faith."
But he added: "We are however disappointed that the
Archbishop of Canterbury was silent when Bishop Nazir-Ali
was promoting intolerance and lying about no-go areas for Christians in the UK
by Muslim extremists.
"Unless he speaks out against this intolerance, Muslims
will take his silence as authorisation and support
for such comments."
Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights
Commission, said Dr Williams's comments gave "succour to extremists".
"He needs to understand that his words carry enormous
weight," he said in a Channel 4 interview.
"What he seems to be talking about is a situation in which
people are treated differently under the law according to their religion. People cannot be treated differently. Everyone
should be equal in the eyes of the law.
I don't doubt the archbishop's desire to accommodate diversity,
but we cannot do so at the expense of our common values."
He described Dr Williams as "muddled" and
"dangerous".
Mr Phillips was the first prominent Labour figure to condemn multiculturalism, the Left-wing
doctrine which promotes different cultures.
He declared that under its influence
Yesterday he said the "implication that British courts
should treat people differently based on their faith is divisive and dangerous.
"It risks removing the protection afforded by law, for
example, to children in custody cases or women in divorce proceedings.
"The first people who would suffer would be ethnic-minority
citizens. Follow the logic
of this extreme multiculturalism through and
where do we end up?
With a group of white Christians in Barking and Dagenham
deciding they had a conscientious objection to nonwhite Muslims in their neighbourhoods - and seeking the support of the
courts?"
Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, said: "I am
appalled that the head of the Church of England is advocating that parts of sharia law should be introduced into British law.
"The idea that you can have the moderate bits without the
nasty bits coming along at a later time is naive."
Tory backbencher David Davies, an Anglican, said: "I am
astounded. Dr Williams is a nice enough man, very intellectual, but he has
clearly lost the plot.
"He's one of the most influential Christian prelates in the
world and he's supposed to be standing up for Christianity.
"What he's doing is abandoning his own religion. If people
come to this country they should be prepared to compromise their own traditions
to fit in with the host country.
Tory cohesion spokesman Baroness Warsi,
a Muslim herself, said: "The archbishop's comments are unhelpful and may
add to the confusion that already exists in our communities.
"Freedom under the law allows respect for some religious
practices.
"But let's be absolutely clear. All British citizens must
be subject to British laws developed through Parliament and the courts."