In defence of our Arch Bishop, Dr Rowan Williams - 27th February 2008
Dear Dr Williams.
May the peace and blessings of God be with you.
Having listened to and read your speech and subsequent explanations again and again, there seem to be no doubt your recent comments have been taken out of context. This is reflected in the reactions to your comments which illustrate both the level of ignorance in Britain about the Islamic Sharia, and the near total blindness to the flaws within secular Britain and the harm it has caused to our society, particularly our family life.
In a world filled with cultural conditioning, it is hard to find people to think without prejudging the life of others. You did this because of your faith.
You are aware the Media regularly selects stories that shock. Sadly many become fodder for the ever hungry press with an insatiable appetite for sensational reporting. Without serious thought to the long term affect of what they write and without examining the facts, the press composes, creates and often plants unfavourable and biased picture in the minds of its readers. Then there are those who for their personal interest and gain join in and what we have are "the blind leading the blind".
Now is a very crucial time for our entire community to work together; to use our best endeavours to support each other; and to be tolerant and understanding of the differences which make Britain the truly wonderful country in which we thrive as a multi-cultural society. To be successful in this objective, we will require the willing involvement and participation of all sections of our small but highly-populated country. The establishment of a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society living in peace and harmony.
There are many aspects of Sharia Law which may be considered side by side as has been done in India to improve relations and bring harmony between the different religious groups. People with limited vision oppose such a debate without realising that the outcome, may result in the finer things from other religions and socio-economic systems, as in current case, may be incorporated for the improvement of our British society.
You are aware the Muslims in Britain are a rich medley of all colours, shapes and sizes. We are as diverse as you can imagine with different cultures and schools of thought that bind our small and individual communities. We are united by our faith that many of us take very seriously and I have no doubt this can be a force for good for our nation. I firmly believe that persons who take their religion seriously are often the best persons to deal with and they mostly turn out to be truthful and honest.
It is worth noting just over 1,400 years ago prophet Mohammad (PBUH) sent the Muslims to Abyssinia because he believed that a just Christian king will look after them and give them shelter. This he did and the Muslims thrived in a foreign land.
In parallel, not long a go our fathers came to Britain, a Christian county which gave them shelter and looked after them. It was here they thrived and were given an opportunity to live their lives according to their religious needs. Here they lived in a manner they could not possible do in their own land.
I admit in the 50’s Britain was not always at its best with signs such as “No Dogs and Indians” doing little to develop harmonious relations but our fathers persevered and today our children who are working in almost every work place are a testament to this. Furthermore who could have guessed over half a century ago that Chicken Tikka Masala” would become our nations favourite dish.
Britain is our country and we reaffirm our conviction in the British values of fair play and the rule of law and we see no incompatibility in these principles with Islam whose fundamental belief include the pursuit of social justice and fairness. Hence it is horrifying to note that actions of a tiny minority, who murder in cold blood, are used to judge and condemn Islam as a whole.
The future of our nation will be cemented in how we dealt with our own people in the past. If it is fair then comments from Dr Bari will seem like scaremongering when he warned us, ("There is a disproportionate amount of discussion surrounding us and the air is thick with suspicion and unease. It is not good for the Muslim community; it is not good for society." Britain must, he warns, beware of becoming like Nazi Germany") but if not, then our nation will become further divided and we may loose the battle for its soul.
This soul which was constructed by the blood, sweat and tears of our forefathers and it was they who introduced Habeas Corpus & the Magna Carta. People like John lock and John Wesley and men such as John Wilberforce who battled to develop the British way of life, the life of Justice, Integrity and Fairness, so today we can have a better life. If now people try and change this, we should fight them tooth and nail because this is our country and we are lawful citizens of our land.
We do not seek parallel legal systems, nor do we aim to enforce on anyone any particular code or way of life. But we do expect a fair hearing away from the hysteria and the screaming of impending doom from invading hordes; the cutting off of hands, men and women being stoned to death and the compulsory wearing of the Hijab/Niqab, along with other stereotypes.
I welcome your knowledge of Islam and you may recall under the caliphate of Umar bin Khatab, Christianity thrived and Christians looked to the Muslims Khalifa for protection of their community, whilst living in a Muslim land run under Sharia Law.
In Brighton and Hove we have a wonderful set of people working within the interfaith community and amongst these is the Bishop of Chichester: Rt Revd John Hind. I hope soon you will come to visit our little city and give us an opportunity to welcome you and to say thank you personally on behalf of our Muslim community for the just and honourable manner in which you have handled things.
It seems those who have some influence as Muslims and non-Muslims have now proven to be incapable of creating a positive dialogue and so it is down to those of us at the grassroots level, to dispel the misconceptions, neutralise the hatred and dissolve the extremist views. In Islam there is no room for extremism and God almighty warns us about it in the Qur’an regarding it.
During these controversial times we feel greatly re-assured that we have a person of your understanding and experience to deal with the numerous sensitive issues which keep on arising.
I would like to assure you as a Muslim of my continuous support in achieving your goals of maintaining harmonious relations within our communities of diverse ethnic and religious groups.
May the peace and blessing of God be with you.
Dear Dr Williams.
May the peace and blessings of God be with you.
Having listened to and read your speech and subsequent explanations again and again, there seem to be no doubt your recent comments have been taken out of context. This is reflected in the reactions to your comments which illustrate both the level of ignorance in Britain about the Islamic Sharia, and the near total blindness to the flaws within secular Britain and the harm it has caused to our society, particularly our family life.
In a world filled with cultural conditioning, it is hard to find people to think without prejudging the life of others. You did this because of your faith.
You are aware the Media regularly selects stories that shock. Sadly many become fodder for the ever hungry press with an insatiable appetite for sensational reporting. Without serious thought to the long term affect of what they write and without examining the facts, the press composes, creates and often plants unfavourable and biased picture in the minds of its readers. Then there are those who for their personal interest and gain join in and what we have are "the blind leading the blind".
Now is a very crucial time for our entire community to work together; to use our best endeavours to support each other; and to be tolerant and understanding of the differences which make Britain the truly wonderful country in which we thrive as a multi-cultural society. To be successful in this objective, we will require the willing involvement and participation of all sections of our small but highly-populated country. The establishment of a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society living in peace and harmony.
There are many aspects of Sharia Law which may be considered side by side as has been done in India to improve relations and bring harmony between the different religious groups. People with limited vision oppose such a debate without realising that the outcome, may result in the finer things from other religions and socio-economic systems, as in current case, may be incorporated for the improvement of our British society.
You are aware the Muslims in Britain are a rich medley of all colours, shapes and sizes. We are as diverse as you can imagine with different cultures and schools of thought that bind our small and individual communities. We are united by our faith that many of us take very seriously and I have no doubt this can be a force for good for our nation. I firmly believe that persons who take their religion seriously are often the best persons to deal with and they mostly turn out to be truthful and honest.
It is worth noting just over 1,400 years ago prophet Mohammad (PBUH) sent the Muslims to Abyssinia because he believed that a just Christian king will look after them and give them shelter. This he did and the Muslims thrived in a foreign land.
In parallel, not long a go our fathers came to Britain, a Christian county which gave them shelter and looked after them. It was here they thrived and were given an opportunity to live their lives according to their religious needs. Here they lived in a manner they could not possible do in their own land.
I admit in the 50’s Britain was not always at its best with signs such as “No Dogs and Indians” doing little to develop harmonious relations but our fathers persevered and today our children who are working in almost every work place are a testament to this. Furthermore who could have guessed over half a century ago that Chicken Tikka Masala” would become our nations favourite dish.
Britain is our country and we reaffirm our conviction in the British values of fair play and the rule of law and we see no incompatibility in these principles with Islam whose fundamental belief include the pursuit of social justice and fairness. Hence it is horrifying to note that actions of a tiny minority, who murder in cold blood, are used to judge and condemn Islam as a whole.
The future of our nation will be cemented in how we dealt with our own people in the past. If it is fair then comments from Dr Bari will seem like scaremongering when he warned us, ("There is a disproportionate amount of discussion surrounding us and the air is thick with suspicion and unease. It is not good for the Muslim community; it is not good for society." Britain must, he warns, beware of becoming like Nazi Germany") but if not, then our nation will become further divided and we may loose the battle for its soul.
This soul which was constructed by the blood, sweat and tears of our forefathers and it was they who introduced Habeas Corpus & the Magna Carta. People like John lock and John Wesley and men such as John Wilberforce who battled to develop the British way of life, the life of Justice, Integrity and Fairness, so today we can have a better life. If now people try and change this, we should fight them tooth and nail because this is our country and we are lawful citizens of our land.
We do not seek parallel legal systems, nor do we aim to enforce on anyone any particular code or way of life. But we do expect a fair hearing away from the hysteria and the screaming of impending doom from invading hordes; the cutting off of hands, men and women being stoned to death and the compulsory wearing of the Hijab/Niqab, along with other stereotypes.
I welcome your knowledge of Islam and you may recall under the caliphate of Umar bin Khatab, Christianity thrived and Christians looked to the Muslims Khalifa for protection of their community, whilst living in a Muslim land run under Sharia Law.
In Brighton and Hove we have a wonderful set of people working within the interfaith community and amongst these is the Bishop of Chichester: Rt Revd John Hind. I hope soon you will come to visit our little city and give us an opportunity to welcome you and to say thank you personally on behalf of our Muslim community for the just and honourable manner in which you have handled things.
It seems those who have some influence as Muslims and non-Muslims have now proven to be incapable of creating a positive dialogue and so it is down to those of us at the grassroots level, to dispel the misconceptions, neutralise the hatred and dissolve the extremist views. In Islam there is no room for extremism and God almighty warns us about it in the Qur’an regarding it.
During these controversial times we feel greatly re-assured that we have a person of your understanding and experience to deal with the numerous sensitive issues which keep on arising.
I would like to assure you as a Muslim of my continuous support in achieving your goals of maintaining harmonious relations within our communities of diverse ethnic and religious groups.
May the peace and blessing of God be with you.
