Bishop of Rochester Criticises Muslim 'Victim Mentality'

The Bishop of Rochester has criticised what he called the 'victim mentality' of many Muslims in Britain.

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali told The Sunday Times that some Muslims had a "dual psychology" in which they sought "victimhood and domination".

"Their complaint often boils down to the position that it is always right to intervene when Muslims are victims, as in Bosnia or Kosovo, and always wrong when the Muslims are the oppressors or terrorists, as with the Taliban or in Iraq," he said.

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that the comments by the Church of England's only Asian bishop were "not very helpful for community relationships".

Bishop Nazir-Ali also said that radical Islam had been allowed to flourish in Britain because of a failure to counter these beliefs had allowed and that stricter checks should be implemented to filter out extremist clerics from the country. These included a check on qualifications, English language proficiency and an understanding of British life and culture.

"The two main causes of the present situation [rising extremism] are fundamentalist imams and material on the internet."

The Bishop of Rochester, whose father converted from Islam, also dipped into the debate over whether Muslim women should wear full-face veils, saying that they were not suitable in some circumstances such as teaching.

"I can see nothing in Islam that prescribes the wearing of a full-face veil. In the supermarket those at the cash tills need to be recognised. Teaching is another context in which society requires recognition and identification."

Bishop Nazir-Ali moved to Britain in the 1980s and became the youngest bishop in the world at 35.