Britain’s Sharia Law Controversy
In a recent interview on BBC Radio 4’s World at One, Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, predicted that it was “unavoidable” that elements of Islamic sharia law would be introduced in Britain. According to Dr. Williams: “It seems unavoidable and, as a matter of fact, certain conditions of sharia are already recognised in our society and under our law, so it is not as if we are bringing in an alien and rival system. We already have in this country a number of situations in which the internal law of religious communities is recognised by the law of the land as justifying conscientious objections in certain circumstances.” Dr. Williams added: “There is a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law as we already do with aspects of other kinds of religious law.”
According to British newspaper reports, the Archbishop’s statement has been met with widespread criticism (see, e.g., Archbishop of Canterbury Warns Sharia Law in Britain is Inevitable). The criticism notwithstanding, the Archbishop has stood by his statement. A report in the February 12, 2008, edition of THE GUARDIAN states in part:
Having torn up his original speech to address the remarks first given in a BBC interview and then in a lengthy speech at the Royal Courts of Justice, [Dr. Williams] took responsibility for any “unclarity” which may have caused “distress or misunderstanding” among the public, especially his fellow Christians. But while he moved to neutralise the crisis which followed his assertion that adopting certain aspects of Islamic law seemed “unavoidable”, he stopped short of the full apology some critics had demanded.He said he believed “quite strongly” it was not inappropriate for a pastor of the Church of England to address issues around the perceived concerns of other religious communities. And, clearly blaming media coverage for the outpouring of anger, he told his Westminster audience: “Some of what has been heard is a very long way from what was said in the Royal Courts of Justice last Thursday.”
Synod members gave him a minute-long standing ovation as he took his seat. He appeared relaxed during the address, which was well received.
He was not proposing, he said, to introduce sharia as a “parallel jurisdiction” and insisted there could be no “blank cheques” regarding the status of women and their liberties. He did, however, repeat his assertion that certain provisions of sharia were already recognised by society and that this could be extended to other areas.
“The question remains whether certain additional choices could and should be made available under the law … for resolving disputes and regulating transactions. It would be analogous to what is already possible in terms of the legal recognition of financial transactions under Islamic regulation … it would create a helpful interaction between the courts and the practice of Muslim legal scholars.”
Incensed by the Archbishop’s remarks, one British columnist has called them “a strategic attack on secularism from the head of an outdated institution,” and has offered Dr. Williams some advice: Split his Church from the State.
VEJ