Mick Hartley

The reaction to Lord Carey’s speech has been depressingly predictable. It’s not as though he said anything particularly outrageous:

Dr Carey said that, while Christianity and Judaism had a long history of often painful critical scholarship, Islamic theology was only now being challenged to become more open to examination.

“In the case of Islam, Mohammed, acknowledged by all in spite of his religious greatness to be an illiterate man, is said to have received God’s word direct, word by word, from angels, and scribes recorded them later.

“Thus believers are told, because they have come direct from Allah, they are not to be questioned or revised.

“In the first few centuries of the Islamic era, Islamic theologians sought to meet the challenge this implied, but during the past 500 years critical scholarship has declined, leading to strong resistance to modernity.”

Dr Carey said that moderate Muslims must “resist strongly” the taking over of Islam by radical activists “and to express strongly, on behalf of the many millions of their co-religionists, their abhorrence of violence done in the name of Allah.”

He said: “We look to them to condemn suicide bombers and terrorists who use Islam as a weapon to destabilise and destroy innocent lives. Sadly, apart from a few courageous examples, very few Muslim leaders condemn, clearly and unconditionally, the evil of suicide bombers who kill innocent people.

“We need to hear outright condemnation of theologies that state that suicide bombers are martyrs and enter a martyr’s reward. We need to hear Muslims expressing their outrage and condemning such evil.”

Christians, who shared many admirable moral values with Muslims, such as respect for the family, must speak out against the persecution they often encountered in Muslim countries.

“During my time as archbishop, this was my constant refrain: that the welcome we have given to Muslims in the West, with the accompanying freedom to worship freely and build their mosques, should be reciprocated in Muslim lands,” he said.

Yet the response has been one of outrage:

Muslim leaders in Britain accused the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, of “bigotry” and “religious prejudice” after he accused Islamic societies of being authoritarian and committed to power and privilege.

They called on the present Archbishop, Rowan Williams, to condemn his predecessor’s views, expressed in a public lecture at the Gregorian University in Rome. […]

Iqbal Sacranie, the Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that Lord Carey’s comments were “unhelpful to dialogue”. He said: “In his myopic vision of the Middle East, Lord Carey seems also to show little understanding of the role played by Western powers in propping up many of the regimes all over the world.”

Syed Aziz Pasha, of the Union of Muslim Organisations, said the address was “very shocking”. He said: “He is not only bigoted, he is frustrated and a victim of Islamophobia.”

Zaki Badawi, the principal of the Muslim College in London, said: “This was just the wrong time to make such statements. I have great affection for him and consider him a personal friend. I cannot understand it. It showed a very narrow outlook and parts of his speech were nonsense and untrue. It is very unfortunate.”

Lord Ahmed, a Labour life peer, said: “I’m surprised that Lord Carey has been so insensitive. At a time when the Muslims and Islam are criticised and there’s a growing Islamophobia, Lord Carey’s remarks don’t help the situation for European Muslims.”

“A victim of Islamophobia” – ah yes, there does seem to be a lot of it about nowadays. Why could this be, I wonder?

Meanwhile I’ve heard nothing more about the Muslim anti-terrorism rally planned by the Muslim Council of Britain, and wonder if it wasn’t so much hot air. I hope I’m wrong. The MCB website makes no mention of it, concerning itself instead with condemnation of Carey and of the assassination of Sheikh Yassin “the renowned Islamic scholar”. Hassen Rasool also shares with us the lyrics of his song “Don’t Cry Palestine, Don’t Cry”, in remembrance of all those who have lost their lives “in this tragic modern-day genocide”. [No, don’t bother to check it out.] Something a little distasteful about referring to a genocide in this context? Mmm, must be my Islamophobia showing again.