Sir James Norman Dalrymple Anderson (29 September 1908 – 2 December 1994) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

, and

Arabist An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside the Arab world, who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and culture (usually including Arabic literature). Origins Arabists began in medieval Muslim Spain, which lay on the ...

Life

Anderson was born in

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

, Suffolk. He was educated at St Lawrence College,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, England, and went to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he obtained a B.A. in 1930 and a LL.B. in 1931 with a triple first. He went to Egypt in 1932 where he spent 8 years as a missionary, learning Arabic at the

American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...

. In 1939, he served with the British Army and in 1940 he was made Arab Liaison Officer for the

Libyan Arab Force The Libyan Arab Force, also known as the known as the Sanusi Army, consisting of five infantry battalions made up of volunteers, was established to aid the British war effort. With the exception of one military engagement near to Benghazi, this fo ...

. After the war he became Political Officer for Sanusi affairs and the Secretary for Arab Affairs in the General Headquarters (G.H.Q.) Middle East. He was awarded the MBE and later, in 1943, the OBE. in 1945, was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1974 and was knighted in 1975. He lectured on Islamic Law for three years at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and then from 1947 to 1971 he taught at SOAS, being appointed Professor of Oriental Laws in the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1954. He was the head of the Department of Law,

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

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1953–71; Professor of Oriental Laws,

1954–75; Director of the

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) is a member institute of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Founded in 1947, it is a national academic centre of excellence, serving the legal community and universities across the ...

in the University of London 1959–76. He died in Cambridge in 1994.

Family

His son Hugh R. D. Anderson was a President of the Cambridge Union Society while he was at

, in 1969.

Islamic law

Anderson's research on

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

broke new ground in Britain through its focus on modern legal codes in the Middle East and Africa. Anderson highlighted the hybrid mixture of Western and Islamic concepts which such codes adopted and which he believed would characterize future legal reforms. Throughout his writings he expressed concerns about the morality and practicality of certain rules and stipulations in the vast corpus of classical Islamic law. Because of his expertise in Islamic law, Anderson became a sought-after witness in legal cases, adviser to the Colonial Office and Foreign Office, and consultant to non-Western governments.

Involvement in evangelicalism

Anderson played a signal role in the transformation of

conservative evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an in ...

in England after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, encouraging the re-engagement of evangelicals with culture, society, politics, and ecumenism. He warned against cultural imperialism and argued for the compatibility of proclamation and dialogue. His interest in missionary work never abated and he served as president or chairman of a number of societies including the

Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society Crosslinks is an evangelical Anglican missionary society, drawing its support mainly from parishes in the Church of England and Church of Ireland. It was known as the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society (BCMS) until 1992. The BCMS was created a ...

and the Middle East General Mission.Middle East Christian Outreach
was formed in 1976 through the merger of the Arabic Literature Mission, Lebanon Evangelical Mission and Middle East General Missio

/ref> Anderson was a prominent

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

layman in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

serving as the first chairman of the House of Laity of the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly (Church of England), Church Assembly, is t ...

from 1970 to 1979. In this role he helped to secure a compromise agreement with the Prime Minister that guaranteed the church a greater degree of independence from the state in the choice of its bishops.

Writings

Anderson wrote and edited a number of books on Christian theology, comparative law and comparative religion, including: *''The Evidence for the Resurrection'', (1950) *''The World's Religions'', (1950, 1975) *''Islamic Law in Africa'', (1954) *''Islamic Law in the Modern World'', (1959) *''Changing Law in Developing Countries'', (1963) *''Family Law in Asia and Africa'', (1968) *''Into the World: The Need and Limits of Christian Involvement'', (1968) *''Christianity: the Witness of History – A Lawyer's Approach'', (1969) *''Christianity and Comparative Religion'', (1970) *''Morality, Law and Grace'', (1972) *''Law Reform in the Muslim World'', (1976) *''Liberty, Law and Justice'', (1978) *''The Mystery of the Incarnation'', (1978) *''God's Law and God's Love: An Essay in Comparative Religion'', (1980) *''Christianity and World Religions: The Challenge of Pluralism'', (1984) *''An Adopted Son: The Story of My Life'', (1985) *''Freedom Under Law'', (1988) *''Islam in the Modern World: a Christian Perspective'', (1990) Bibliography * * Thompson, Todd. ''Norman Anderson and the Christian Mission to Modernize Islam'', Hurst Pub. (2017).

References