Everything about Michael Nazir-ali totally explained
Michael James Nazir-Ali (born
19 August 1949) is the Pakistani-born 106th and current
Bishop of Rochester in the
Church of England. He holds dual Pakistani and British citizenship.
Background
Michael Nazir-Ali was born in
Karachi,
Pakistan to Christian parents, James and Patience Nazir-Ali. He comes from both a Christian and a Muslim family background. He attended the
Roman Catholic-run St Patrick's school in
Karachi and began attending Roman Catholic services and identifying as Christian at the age of 15; he was formally received into the
Church of Pakistan aged 20.
Academic career
Bishop Nazir-Ali attended
Saint Patrick's High School, Karachi, read economics, Islamic history, and sociology at the
University of Karachi (
BA 1970) and studied in preparation for ordination at
Ridley Hall, Cambridge (
1970). He undertook further postgraduate studies in theology at
St Edmund Hall, Oxford (
BLitt 1974,
MLitt 1981),
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (
MLitt 1976), and the
Australian College of Theology (
ThD 1983). He has also studied at the
Center for the Study of World Religions at
Harvard Divinity School and in 2005 he was awarded the Lambeth DD. He has a number of other doctorates. His particular academic interests include
comparative literature and
comparative philosophy of religion. In addition to teaching appointments in colleges and universities in many parts of the world, he's been a tutor in the
University of Cambridge, Senior Tutor of Karachi Theological College, and Visiting Professor of Theology and Religious Studies in the
University of Greenwich. He has been elected an
Honorary Fellow of his colleges at
Oxford (
St Edmund Hall) and
Cambridge (
Fitzwilliam). From 1986 until
1989, while he was Assistant to the
Archbishop of Canterbury and Co-ordinator of Studies and Education for the
Lambeth Conference, he was Honorary Curate of
Oxford St Giles and St Philip and St James with
St Margaret.
Family
Bishop Nazir-Ali met his wife, Valerie Cree, who is English, in
Cambridge, and married her in 1972. They have two sons, Shammy (Shamoun) and Ross, both now adults.
His pastimes include
hockey,
cricket,
table tennis, and
Scrabble, as well as writing poetry in English and Persian and listening to music. He was the sole UK bishop in a 1997 poll who could name all five members of the
Spice Girls. He says. "The original Spice Girls are in the Gospels. They are the women who took spices to the tomb of Christ and found it empty: the two Marys, Salome and Joanna."
Ecclesiastical and public career
He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1976 and worked in
Karachi and
Lahore, and became the first Bishop of
Raiwind in West Punjab (1984-86) — at the time, the youngest bishop in the Anglican Communion. When his life was endangered in Pakistan in 1986,
Robert Runcie, the Archbishop of Canterbury, arranged for his refuge in England. Nazir-Ali says, "...the reason behind some of the difficulties I was facing was removed when General Zia was killed - unfortunately for him, and I'm now not doing the work that I was doing at the time with the very poor." . He became an assistant to the Archbishop at
Lambeth and assisted with the planning of the 1988
Lambeth Conference; he was General Secretary of the Church Mission Society 1989-1994 and concurrently Assistant Bishop of
Southwark. He was appointed Bishop of
Rochester, England in 1994, and in 1999 entered the
House of Lords as one of the "Lords Spiritual" because of his seniority in episcopal office, the first religious leader from Asia to serve there. He will cease to be a member of the House of Lords upon retirement. He was suggested as a possible Archbishop of Canterbury but was passed over in favour of
Rowan Williams.
Between 1997 and 2003. he was chairman of the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's ethics and law committee. He is a leader of the Network for Inter-faith Concerns of the Anglican Communion.
Opinions
Bishop Nazir-Ali is generally in the evangelical wing of the Anglican Church, describing himself as "evangelical and catholic." He appointed the first woman archdeacon in the Church of England, and opposes the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy and blessing of same-sex unions. Bishop Nazir-Ali has become a prominent spokesman for engagement between Christianity and Islam. He is frequently quoted in the press and has sided with conservatives in the
Anglican Communion, particularly in their opposition to the recognition of gay relationships. He has advocated more effective integration of ethnic communities. He has been critical of the Canadian-style concept of
multiculturalism, urging that Britons take greater pride in their authentic cultural inheritance and that Britain and Britons take greater pains fully to integrate immigrants into the general community.
He was one of the 'rebel' bishops who signed a letter against Rowan Williams' appointment of the Reverend Dr
Jeffrey John as Bishop of Reading in 2003. The others were the Bishops of Bradford, Carlisle, Chester, Chichester, Exeter, Liverpool, Southwell, and Winchester.
In October 2007, he told the
Daily Telegraph that he wouldn't attend the 2008
Lambeth Conference because he'd find it "very difficult" to be in Council with bishops who had consecrated
Gene Robinson.
In 2000, Nazir-Ali wrote, "It is very important for the Church to continue saying that having children and their nurture is a basic good of marriage and not an optional extra. Just as a marriage isn't complete without mutual support, companionship and love, so there's a real lack if the intention is never to have children, regardless of circumstances. This signals that marriage isn't a matter of self-indulgence. In our age, such teaching is crucial." Although he views having children a basic part of a good marriage, he's denied ever labeling couples who didn't have children "self-indulgent".. He criticised the government's integration policy as "an agenda which still lacks the underpinning of a moral and spiritual vision", and asked that the government make a public affirmation of the "Christian roots of British society". These comments resulted in some debate and criticism, including a response from the Muslim Council of Britain, who said the mosque call was no different from church bells ringing, and
Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, who described the claims as "a gross caricature of reality". Conservative home affairs spokesman David Davis said the bishop had rightly drawn attention to a "deeply serious problem" and that Labour's support for multiculturalism risked creating a situation of "voluntary apartheid". The
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government,
Hazel Blears responded to Nazir-Ali's comments by stating that Britain was a "secular democracy", and challenged him to name specific 'no go' areas. but the Chair of the Equality Commission, Trevor Phillips, agreed with his analysis of the situation. Nazir-Ali has since received death threats against himself and his family, and he's now under escort by the Kent police; however, he says his "overflowing postbag" has been "overwhelmingly supportive".
Publications
Bishop Nazir-Ali's published writings include the following:
- Islam: A Christian Perspective (1983)
- Frontiers in Christian-Muslim Encounters (1987)
- From Everywhere to Everywhere: A World View of Christian Mission (1990)
- Thinking globally, acting locally (1992)
- Mission and Dialogue: Proclaiming the Gospel Afresh in Every Age (1995)
- The Mystery of Faith (1995)
- Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faith in a Plural World (2000)
- Shapes of the Church to Come (2001)
- Understanding My Muslim Neighbour (2003)
- Conviction And Conflict: Islam, Christianity And World Order (2005)
and many other articles in newspapers and journals
Further Information
Get more info on 'Michael Nazir-ali'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://michael_nazir-ali.totallyexplained.com">Michael Nazir-Ali Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
