“His acceptance of some Muslim laws within British law would be disastrous for the nation.” Archbishop Williams tried to maintain an impassive expression yesterday when was forced to run the gauntlet as he left Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge, after attending a memorial service.

More than 200 people had gathered at the church’s doors and many angrily shouted,  “Resign, resign” as the procession passed.

Dr Williams, 57, had spoken in tribute to one of Cambridge’s most respected academics, the Rev Professor Charles Moule, who died last year, aged 98.

His constant fidgeting and pained expression while waiting to deliver his sermon betrayed a discomfort at having a public commitment at such a sensitive time.

Staff at St Mary’s had privately expressed the hope that the controversy would not hijack the memorial event attended by more than 1,000 Cambridge dons and relatives but it seemed a lost cause.

The Archbishop’s remarks have attracted condemnation from members of the General Synod, senior theologians, Government ministers and even moderate Muslims.

Among those calling for his resignation yesterday was Alison Ruoff, a member of the Synod, who said: “He has been a disaster for the Church of England. He vacillates, he is a weak leader and does not stand for the Church.”

The row erupted after Dr Williams stated that Britain had to “face up to the fact” that officially sanctioning some aspects of sharia law would improve relations with some minorities who could not relate to Britain’s legal system.

“Nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that has sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states,” he said on Thursday.

“But there are ways of looking at marital disputes, for example, which provide an alternative to divorce courts as we understand them.”

Sharia law is practised in a handful of countries including Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Libya. It represents the extreme side of Islam, advocating harsh and almost Biblical punishment for crimes such as theft, adultery and blasphemy, including the cutting off of limbs and death by stoning.
It is also seen as denying women’s rights, forcing them to cover themselves with the burka.

The Archbishop’s contentious comments came just two weeks after the Sunday Express revealed that sections of Britain’s inner cities were already holding private sharia courts to judge over a range of matters.