Bishop of Rochester: Impossible to have Sharia law in UK

The Bishop of Rochester has become the latest critic of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s comments on sharia law, saying it would be "simply impossible" to have sharia and UK law running side by side.

The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who holds dual British and Pakistani citizenship, said Britain should learn from the example of Canada, where Muslim women's groups managed to crush attempts to introduce Islamic law in matrimonial cases.

He added that sharia would be "in tension" with fundamental aspects of our current legal system, such as the rights of women, and debates on sharia law "are not an argument for disturbing the integrity of a legal tradition which is rooted in the quite different moral and spiritual vision deriving from the Bible".

Dr Rowan Williams has been widely criticised after he said that it "seems inevitable" that elements of the Muslim law, such as divorce proceedings, would be incorporated into British legislation.

The Archbishop's controversial stance has received widespread criticism from Christian and secular groups, the head of the equality watchdog, several high-profile Muslims and MPs from all parties. Read more
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