Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Apostasy case: Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey calls on British Muslim leaders to back the right to convert from Islam

Lord Carey said some ex-Muslims in the UK  were forced to ‘almost go underground’ 

Ian Johnston
Monday 19 May 2014 10:44 BST
Comments
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has called on leading British Muslims to support the right to convert from Islam to another religion after a court in Sudan sentenced a woman to death for apostasy
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has called on leading British Muslims to support the right to convert from Islam to another religion after a court in Sudan sentenced a woman to death for apostasy (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has called on leading British Muslims to support the right to convert from Islam to another religion after a court in Sudan sentenced a woman to death for apostasy.

The peer said it was “accepted doctrine” that Muslim converts should face the death penalty. He also said there were examples of ex-Muslims in Britain who had been forced to “almost go underground”.

“Isn’t there something fundamentally wrong with Islam at its core that it cannot allow people to change their religion?” he told The Sunday Times.

“It is accepted doctrine in Islam [that] you don’t convert and if you do the penalty may be death.” He added: “I want to hear Muslim leaders say ‘we allow Muslims to become Christians if they wish to’.”

Lord Carey spoke out after Meriam Ibrahim, 27, was sentenced to death by a sharia court in Sudan after refusing to recant her Christian faith. The sentence has been suspended as she is pregnant.

Read more: Apostasy - What you need to know

But a leading British Muslim thinker Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui told The Independent that the Koran said people should have the freedom of religion.

The idea that former Muslims should be put to death was introduced later as part of “man-made sharia” law, he said, adding that the issue was being debated by Muslim scholars around the world.

“I think hopefully at some stage consensus will emerge that this is a very divisive, anti-pluralism approach and it must be abandoned,” he said. “The basic rule of the Koran is there is freedom [of religion]… the basic rule of Islam is there’s no compulsion in religion.”

Asked whether Muslims should be allowed to convert, Dr Siddiqui, a fellow of the Muslim Institute, said they “should be allowed to do whatever they want”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in