About / Michael Nazir-Ali

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali was the 106th Bishop of Rochester, for 15 years, until 1 September 2009.

He is originally from Southwest Asia and was the first Diocesan Bishop in the Church of England born abroad. He was appointed in 1994. Before that he was the General Secretary of CMS from 1989-1994 and prior to holding this position was Bishop of Raiwind in Pakistan. He holds both British and Pakistani citizenship and from 1999 was a member of the House of Lords where he was active in a number of areas of national and international concern. He has both a Christian and a Muslim family background and is now President of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue (OXTRAD).

Michael’s secondary education was in Pakistan. He read Economics, Sociology and Islamic History at the University of Karachi, and Theology at Fitzwilliam College and Ridley Hall, Cambridge.

His interests have led him to research and study in several fields, including comparative literature, comparative philosophy of religion and theology at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and elsewhere. He has taught at colleges and universities in the United Kingdom and Pakistan. He is an Honorary Fellow of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He is Senior Fellow of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He has been Visiting Professor of Theology and Religious Studies in the University of Greenwich and on the faculties of the London School of Theology (LST) affiliated to the Universities of Brunel and Middlesex, the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, the Alexandria School of Theology and the Lahore College of Theology.

Michael has been a visiting lecturer in a number of universities and colleges in the UK, Canada, the USA and Australia. In October 2015, he delivered the inaugural Hensley Henson Lecture on the Church in Politics: Past, Present and Future at Priors Hall, Durham Cathedral in co-operation with the Departments of History, Politics and Theology at Durham University. He has travelled widely in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America. He is the author of thirteen books and of numerous articles on Mission, Ecumenism, the Anglican Communion, and relations with people of other faiths (particularly Islam).

To download a more detailed version of Bishop Michael’s bio, click here.

List of Bishop Michael’s published Books:

Faith, Freedom and the Future: Challenges for the 21st Century, Wilberforce Publications, London, 2016

Triple Jeopardy for the West: Aggressive Secularism, Radical Islamism and Multiculturalism, Bloomsbury, 2012

The Unique & Universal Christ: Jesus in a Plural World, Carlisle, Paternoster, 2008

Conviction and Conflict: Islam, Christianity and World Order, Continuum, 2005

Understanding My Muslim Neighbour [with Chris Stone], Canterbury Press, 2002

Shapes of the Church to Come, Kingsway, Eastbourne, 2001

Citizens and Exiles: Christian Faith in a Plural Society, SPCK, London, 1998; United Church Press, Cleveland, 1998

The Mystery of Faith, CFS, Lahore, 1995

Mission and Dialogue: Proclaiming the Gospel Afresh in Every Age, SPCK, London, 1995

From Everywhere to Everywhere: A World View of Christian Mission, Collins, London, 1990

Frontiers in Christian-Muslim Encounter, Regnum, Oxford, 1987

Islam, a Christian Perspective, Paternoster Press, Exeter, 1982; Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1983

He is also the author of numerous articles in newspapers, magazines and journals.