'I was secretly married to an Islamic peer' Woman says many like her are suffering in silence

'I was secretly married to an Islamic peer' Woman says many like her are suffering in silence A woman has spoken of her secret marriage to a holy man and said the actions of some of these men are being swept under the carpet within the British Asian community. The woman has said she was the fourth wife of the man who used the Islamic marriage only to satiate his physical appetite. She has made allegations that she would meet him in a car park and when she looked to expose his actions she was threatened by some of his followers. He later divorced her via a WhatsApp message after a ten-month Islamic marriage. Spiritual guides or ‘peers’ are highly revered in some communities and can attract hundreds if not thousands of disciples. The vast majority do not take any payment and help to guide communities in the righteous Islamic faith. They make a valuable contribution to the communities and followers they serve. They are sincere and pious and provide spiritual and moral guidance on a daily basis. The woman, who still fears for her safety, did not wish to be named but wanted to raise the issue in the hope it would help other women trapped in such situations to come forward. She said she was, alongside her parents, an ardent murid (a follower, also translated as committed one) of this peer for many years. And this trust is abused by some men. Justifying requests to see pictures She claims she had been in contact with him on WhatsApp to ask for advice and duas (prayers). On one occasion she asked for advice following her divorce and said this was the catalyst for a change in tone of the peer’s messages to her. She said: “He told me that he had three wives, one of whom was known publicly, the other two were a secret. “In his next message he sent me pictures of several random women that he had taken off the internet in their bikinis and asked me to send him pictures of myself like that to him. “I was really shocked and asked him if this was permissible in Islam. “He then sent me a reference from the Quran where I now realise he had manipulated the text and the translation for his own purpose. He said that particular verse implied it was permissible for him to see me naked. “I blindly followed what he said. I thought he is such a holy man. He must be right. “So I sent him several compromising pictures of myself.” In one text message he asked her, both in Urdu and English, if she has a hairy body. Following further messages, she said the peer declared his love for her and said he wanted to marry her. She said: “I just kept thinking I really like him, he’s such a special person, he’s a peer and he’ll make me a better person. “In Islam you are allowed four wives. I kind of fell for the whole peer thing.” The peer made it clear he would not be able to devote much time to her after the marriage and at most, he would meet her twice a month. She agreed to his terms. However, following a meeting in Birmingham, she said the man made no contact with for two months after that. “I was devastated. I was sending him messages, I could see the two blue ticks so I know he had read them, but he didn’t reply. “I panicked because I thought he has my nude pictures now. What if they appear on the internet?” She said the two months of no communication from the peer induced depression and that she turned to self-harm. “I heard that he was back in Birmingham. I decided to write him a letter and deliver it by hand to him at the mosque where he preaches.