London, UK - A prominent evangelical member of the Church of England’s General Synod has called for a ban on the building of any more mosques in Britain.
Alison Ruoff also claimed that Sharia law is inevitable in this country if mosques continue to be built here.
Mrs Ruoff, a former magistrate, said in an interview with London’s Premier Christian Radio that no more mosques should be built in Britain until all persecution of Christians in Muslim nations had ceased.
She said: “No more mosques in the UK. We are constantly building new mosques, which are paid for by the money that comes from oil states.
“We have only in this country as far as we know, 3.5 to four million Muslims. There are enough mosques for Muslims in this country, they don’t need anymore.
“We don’t need to have Sharia law which would come with more mosques imposed upon our nation, if we don’t watch out, that would happen. If we want to become an Islamic state, this is the way to go.
“You build a mosque and then what happens? You have Muslim people moving into that area, all the shops will then become Islamic, all the housing will then become Islamic and as the Bishop of Rochester has so wisely pointed out, that will be a no-go area for anyone else.
“They will bring in Islamic law. We cannot allow that to happen.”
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali enraged the Muslim community and received death threats against his family when he warned recently that parts of Britain had become no-go areas for non-Muslims.
The subsequent controversial speech on Islamic law by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, coincided with a concern among many of the Church’s other bishops to mollify Britain’s Muslims in the wake of Dr Nazir-Ali’s comments.
Mrs Ruoff, who comes from the same conservative wing of the church as Dr Nazir-Ali, was speaking as Islamic movement Tablighi Jamaat, a missionary group founded in India in the 1920s, continues its campaign to build a 12,000-capacity “mega mosque” in east London in time for the Olympic Games in 2012.
There has been strong opposition from critics who accuse the organisation of a separatist agenda and seeking world domination through Islam. An “anti mega-mosque” Downing Street petition was signed by more than 275,000 people last year, but also drew accusations of being racist and Islamophobic.
Mrs Ruoff, who lives in Waltham Cross, north east London, told Premier Christian Radio: “We are still a Christian country, we need to hold on to that.
“If we don’t watch out, we will become an Islamic state. It’s that serious.”
Leading Muslims hit back at the “bigoted” comments of Mrs Ruoff. Inayat Bunglawala, Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “These are unfortunately very bigoted and, frankly, xenophobic remarks.
“The focus of this lady on mosques and her call not to build anymore highlights her own insecurities.
“These kinds of comments you would expect to come from some one from the BNP not the church.
“There must be freedom for all communities and not just for some - I think heads of the church will be disgusted with the comments.
“The fact is that mosques have been established as well as synagogues and other places of worship in this country and it’s one of the beauties of living in Britain that we have freedom of worship.
“If you wish to build a mosque and you get approval from the local council then you have every right provided you can finance it and you have permission. All communities must be allowed to provide a place of worship.
“These kinds of remarks do not help bring together communities. I do not and cannot regard these comments as representative of the Christian community.”
A study by Premier Christian Radio claimed there are currently 47,000 Christian churches in the UK and 1,600 mosques.