The Islamist threat in Malaysia has lessons for us all

When Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, gave his thoughtful lecture on Sharia law and his slightly less thoughtful BBC interview about its “inevitability” in Britain, he could have taken a little more time to study the reality of politics in the Muslim world.

In countries as different as Pakistan and Malaysia, the struggle is not between Islamists and others but between moderate Muslim leaders and hardliners proposing Sharia. Where moderates are determined to stand up against extremism in these countries, Sharia is no more “inevitable” than in Britain.
 
In Malaysia, the General Election began officially last Sunday. Voters go to the polls on 8 March. At just 13 days, the election campaign may seem short to us – but it is actually the longest election campaign in more than 25 years. It is being contested by more than twenty parties, with 1,588 candidates fighting for 222 seats in the national parliament.