London – Safar 05 1429/ February 12, 2008 – Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams defended his right to raise sensitive issues such as Islamic law in Britain but said yesterday that his handling of the matter may have been clumsy and misleading. The spiritual leader of the world’s 77 million Anglicans was applauded and given a standing ovation by fellow clerics when he opened a meeting of the Church of England’s general synod. Dr. Williams sparked a political and religious storm last week when he said the introduction of aspects of Shariah in Britain was unavoidable. That provoked a string of tabloid headlines with the best-selling Sun launching a campaign for him to quit.
Dr. Williams told the synod he took responsibility for what he had said “and for any misleading choice of words that has helped to cause distress or misunderstanding among the public at large and especially among fellow Christians”. Dr. Williams said the Church of England, Britain’s official religion in an increasingly multicultural society, is “often looked to for some coherent voice on behalf of all faith communities living here … however clumsily it may have been deployed in this instance”. He defended what he said was an attempt to open debate on whether “certain additional choices could and should be made available under the law of the United Kingdom for resolving disputes and regulating transactions” involving Muslims, naming as an example legal provisions allowing for Islamic forms of financial transactions such as mortgages.
Dr. Williams insisted that he was not calling for a two-tiered system of law.
Islamic law is based on the Holy Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and practiced in some predominantly Muslim countries. Sharia covers many elements of life, such as how trade is to be conducted. He won backing yesterday from Prime Minister Gordon Brown as “a man of integrity”.
HA/IINA
12 Feb 2008