After his controversial idea of introducing parts of Islamic Sharia to the British legal code, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, is now pleased with support from “a number of fairly senior people”. One year ago Williams had called for Sharia courts to deal with wills and divorce, while only criminal cases should remain with British courts. In July, Williams had received support from the former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, and some Islamic mediation systems are now already being used. For instance, Islamic tribunals are allowed to settle custody and financial affairs of divorces, subject to approval from a civil court.
At the anniversary of this disputed comments, the Archbishop feels that large parts of the society are now supportive of his views, and reaffirms his stance. But in fact, this again rouses strong opposition. Critics point to the fact that women do not have equal rights under Sharia law, that this will strengthen the extremists’ position, and more generally that family disputes are public areas of law that must not be solved by vague religious principles. The old debate on the separation of state and religion has once again been sparked by expanding it to Britain’s ‘new’ religion, to Islam.
