Should we be willing for some elements of Islamic Sharia Law to be implemented in the UK? Probably not. But do we as Christians not share some of the values at least that are codified in this law? And if so can we not find common ground with Muslims on many issues that trouble both our communities – despite our rejection of full Sharia? And in light of the awful atrocity committed in Norway, is it not incumbent on us to find this common ground and start work to build on it?

Last week saw some of our tabloid newspapers report on an incident occurring on the streets of inner London: some Muslim group – or ‘Islamic extremists’ as the online Daily Mail portrayed them – had been putting up flyers declaring the area as a ‘Sharia Controlled Zone’. It had no validity in law, of course, but it reflected this group’s concerns about the ‘thug life attitude you get in British cities’. The group’s spokesperson, Anjem Choudry – or ‘hate preacher’ according to the Mail – said that Muslims would no longer tolerate ‘the fruits … of Western civilisation’ such as drunken behaviour, gambling and prostitution. They were also concerned about the free association between males and females. Unsurprisingly, the Mail was against such a campaign to impose Sharia Law on the streets of Britain.

Maybe it should not be a surprise either to learn that the Christian Institute also carried the story last week and used much the same tone in its reporting. Its context for the report was similar to the tabloids’ – that we should not tolerate the imposition of Sharia Law upon the citizens of the UK. And, as I suggest above, maybe they’re correct. What is surprising in reading this Christian organisation’s stance, however, is that they did not seek to draw on any common values they hold with the Muslims on many areas of concern. They even quote – without any sense of irony, it would seem – one Muslim spokesperson saying, ‘We have a big problem with prostitution here, a huge problem with drugs, we have an infestation of gambling shops on the High Road’.

And yet these are the very same issues that the Christian Institute has been campaigning on for years. In a report on prostitution (link) they said, ‘Prostitution is not only immoral. By its very nature, is harmful and degrading to women. It is inextricably linked to drug abuse, exploitation and violence’. On cannabis (link) they said, ‘Cannabis is a very harmful mind-altering drug. It causes schizophrenia, cancer and is responsible for a rising proportion of road deaths. An explosion in cannabis use would be a massive strain on the NHS’. And on gambling (link): ‘Gambling is addictive and harmful, fuelling crime, poverty and family breakdown. It has serious consequences for the individual involved, the individual’s family and society at large’. Indeed, when the gambling laws were being liberalised under the Blair government, on the very issue of town centres being infested with betting shops they said this: ‘Removing this requirement could result in a proliferation of betting shops on the high street. There would be little to stop the growth of streets dominated by betting shops’.

On each of these serious social ills both Christian and Muslim are in agreement. Ironically the conservative opinion within both religions would use state enforced law to deal with the problems – for all the Christian Institute papers quoted from above either argue against the liberalising of existing laws or argue for their strengthening. Which is what this particular Muslim was also calling for. The actual gap between them on these issues, it seems to me, is paper thin.

Not that either would acknowledge that. But for the followers of Jesus there surely must be a call to help bridge the divides in the communities we live in rather than making them ever greater. Isn’t one obvious way of doing this by being willing to see common values and work with them rather than against them?


Share