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Video Q&A with Archbishop of Canterbury after Sharia speech

The Archbishop of Canterbury told the General Synod this week that much of what was reported of the lecture he gave on Islam and English law was "very far" from what he actually said.

Times Online has a video of the Q&A with the Archbishop following the lecture when he was grilled by legal professionals who had just heard the entire speech. You can watch it here.

Top ten comment pieces on the Archbishop and Sharia

A week on from Archbishopgate Faith Central offers a list of the best comment about the row.

Ruth Gledhill in The Times "Although he is a holy and spiritual man, danger lies in the appearance of the kind of intellectual arrogance common to many of Britain’s liberal elite. It is an arrogance that affords no credibility or respect to the popular voice"

Theo Hobson in Open Democracy "The problem with Rowan Williams’s lecture lies behind the actual text. The problem is that he has contributed to the debate about national identity in a disturbing rather than reassuring way."

Paul Vallely in The Independent, "To all of which the Archbishop may say "but you are objecting to something you think I said rather than what I actually did say". He has a point. But, equally, in a world where perception becomes its own reality, it is important for the leader of the Church of England not to create such fecund opportunities for misunderstanding"

David Aaronovitch in The Times "Acting as the effective general secretary of the National Union of Priests, Rabbis, Imams and Allied Pontiffs (or PRIAPus), he privileges religion over all other kinds of identities, but fails to point out why his proffered leeway should not also be taken up by Scientologists, Mormons, football clubs, political parties and any other community that offers “social identity and personal motivation”."

Asim Siddiqui in The Guardian "I would argue that the basic objectives of sharia (protection of life, family, dignity, intellect and property) are all covered by British law. The fundamental purpose of sharia is to achieve justice. This country is more just than most."

Lord Carey in The Daily Telegraph "And in his defence, it has been said that his prescription does no more than recognise the rights of people to settle private and domestic disputes in the way Jewish courts currently operate. Yet his proposal for a legal marketplace in which people can opt in and out based on religious affiliation opens the door to a parallel system of justice."

Christopher Hitchens in The Slate "For the women who are the principal prey of the sharia system, it is often only when they are shipped or flown to Britain that their true miseries begin. This modern disgrace is deepened and extended by a fatuous cleric who, presiding over an increasingly emaciated and schismatic and irrelevant church, nonetheless maintains that any faith is better than none at all."

Daniel Finkelstein in Comment Central "I wonder whether the Archbishop of Canterbury has heard of Lina Joy? Since Rowan Williams made his extraordinary intervention I have been in correspondence with Malaysians with direct experience of living under a parallel system of state and Sharia."

Andrew Gimson in The Telegraph "It has provoked an outpouring of ignorant and brutish abuse, but has also exposed the sham liberalism of so many in public life and the media."

Mary Ann Sieghart in The Times "It is one thing to respect Muslims’ need for halal butchery or for Sharia-compliant mortgages: these are genuine religious differences that harm nobody. But polygamy, forced marriages and (dis)honour violence are practices more cultural than religious. They are rooted in the culture of South Asian communities, often deeply rural, and have no place in modern Britain. They do not deserve respect or even toleration"

Joanna Sugden

Mellow Sharia

By way of counteracting some of the extreme Sharia-nightmares of recent days, the BBC site has an interesting visit to a (probably exceptionally liberal) Sharia divorce hearing.   Its attitude towards women is unexpectedly mellow,though to Western ears the idea of a  divorced woman not secondarily  freed by the court being "outcast" feels like a throwback to 1913.   

Sharia in Britain? We think not..

Our sister blog, Ruth Gledhill's Articles of Faith, offers a magnificent response to the Archbishop of Canterbury's plea for Sharia law to replace - in small part at least - the thousand years' evolution of common and equal British law.  "Has the Archbishop gone bonkers?"  she asks, and it takes a lot to rouse our civilized religion correspondent  to such bluntness.  I commend it. 
       All Faith Central has to add is that he chose a lulu of a day to make this suggestion to a country with less than 3% Muslim population, given the latest news from the Islamic police state of Saudi Arabia.  A western businesswoman has been arrested for sitting with a man in a Starbucks.  This follows a raft of other cases all in this 21st century; teenagers beheaded,  girls burnt to death because the religious police wouldn't let them out of the building wrongly dressed where unrelated men could see them...persecution of homosexuals, terrifying hounding of women, beating up of British Shia pilgrims and arrests of Christians...
      Interestingly,  there is now a reported unease among the Saudi authorities about the power of the religious police; last year there were promises to curb their power.   The Archbishop is not recommending brutal extremes, of course not, and Islamic law is not all bad.  But - as he would put it - we have to "face the fact" that it will take years of visible, measurable civilization and liberalization in Islamic states - Saudi, Iran, Afghanistan in particular - before British opinion will do anything but shrink in horror from the idea of any aspect of it being permitted to replace the rights and duties of British citizens under Britishlaw.                                                                                                                                           
    The BBC, ever even-handed, makes a brave stab at a parallel with the very limited Jewish courts , the Beth Din, which operate by mutual consent in business and marital matters in the Jewish community.  It is not a parallel which holds up for long, though.   Sharia apologists want much, much more. 

British teacher faces sentence in Sudan

Gillian Gibbons, a 54-year-old teacher from Liverpool working with the children of Sudan,  has been arrested and may face flogging and imprisonment because - back in September - she was doing a project on animals with her 7-year-old pupils. She allowed them to choose the name of  a teddybear - suggestions like Hassan, Ahmad and Muhammad seem to have arisen naturally out of the children's own commonplace names.
     Unfortunately for her, their Islamic antennae were not fully developed and they chose Muhammad.  So she has - after parents and fellow-teachers apparently complained - been arrested for the crime of making an image of the prophet.  It is the same issue as inflamed the case of the cartoons last year. Profile of Sudan here.
  The charity which runs the Unity School is Christian, and popular with expatriates as well as Sudanese professionals; for 105 years it has taught all religions.  Currently  there is some issue over taxes, and a suggestion that Ms Gibbons is a pawn in all this.  If that is true, someone should be ashamed.  In any religion, using shock at blasphemy as a cover for more material ends is disgusting.  It is also difficult to see how the children's own choice of a familiar name could be seen as insulting.  Is it a crime when a Muslim mother soothes her baby Muhammad with a nonsense rhyme?

Hotel Sharia

The first ever chain of Sharia-compliant hotels has been launched.   There will be branches in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan,  Thailand and other countries.   Almulla hotels says that the Muslim traveller market is growing fast and that the hotels will not only eschew alcohol and serve halal food but "go beyond that to create a socially responsible culture in all of its hotels".    If you look up "Christian hotels" I fear you mainly get conference centres. 

Shari'a and persecution in Nigeria

Peter Tatchell alerts us to the ongoing viciousness of the campaigns and court cases against gay men in Nigeria; something seemingly approved, if not positively incited,  by Christian bishops and Muslim Imams. The raiding of a private party among men (and women)  over 18 , followed by charges which may carry the death penalty and by scenes of stone-throwing outside a court, has incensed the campaigning group Changing Attitudes Nigeria (CAN) which deplores the failure of the Nigerian Primate and also the Archbishop of Canterbury to speak out for the men.   

Sex and marriage - things you didn't know about Sharia

1. Many wives Yes a man can have four wives - but only if he proves he can take care of them all equally. Tunisia outlawed polygamy on the grounds that only Muhammed could satisfy four women. In other Islamic countries the man's financial accounts are scrutinised by the courts before he's allowed to marry manay women.

2. Share and share alike A man must spend an equal number of nights with each wife, but if he marries a virgin he can spend seven consecutive nights with her after the wedding. A non-virgin gets three consecutive nights.

3. Siblings A man can't marry two women who are sisters.

4. Buying a wife Muslim marriage is not valid unless the man has paid a dower to his wife.

5. Virgins Virgins, younger women, educated women and attractive women get higher dowers. The lowest a dower can be is 3 dirhams about 40p. A wife can refuse sex if she hasn't been paid her dower.    

Tatchell warms to a land with Sharia law

Peter Tatchell writes interestingly on Somaliland (as distinct from Somalia).  There is an interview too - but the point is that this  normally fierce campaigner is prepared to utter an "although imperfect..." note of praise for a country which at least is moving in the direction of freedom. 

Muslims and money

Islamic law doesn't just govern personal morals but extends to money matters. In these days of multicultural Britain banks and building societies are cashing in on Muslim requirements for Shari'a compliant loans, savings, and mortgages. Islamic finance courses are also big business for the business schools. In August NASA will even be taking part in one, perhaps a follow up to the Muslims in Space conference last year?

Here's a list of things you may not have known about banking Islamic style...

1. Interest free loans Earning interest on loans is known as usury or "riba" and is forbidden in Islam.
2. Double dealing To get round this, Muslims use a system know as the 'double sale' to get money from their investments and for banks to be able to earn interest on loans.
3. How it works You want to buy a car from your friend, but you can't afford it. Ask your bank to buy it for £9000. At the same time agree to buy the car from the bank for £9600 in monthly installments over three years. The two sales are almost simultaneous, but the bank owns the car for a brief period of time, so everything is halal, (alright).
4. Paying the mortgage Because of the prohibition on interest, Muslims use special Islamic Mortgages to allow them to buy houses in accordance with Shari'a. The market for Shari'a compliant mortgages in Britain is in excess of £7billion.
5. Credit Dubai Islamic Bank offers Islamic Credit Cards for use in the Islamic world but they are not yet available in the UK.