Sharia court cleric is quizzed over child rape

A MUSLIM cleric who runs Britain’s largest network of sharia courts has been questioned over historic child rape allegations.
West Midlands Police are investigating claims that Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi raped two Dutch women in the 1980s and 1990s.
He has denied the claims, which first appeared in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, saying they are ‘unfounded’ and part of a campaign to discredit his family.
The cleric, 51, is the head of the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, an Islamic legal service that operates a string of controversial sharia law courts across England which critics say discriminate against women.
The two women claim they were sexually abused from the ages of 11 and 12 until they turned 16. They were sent to the UK by their parents to be educated by Sheikh Siddiqi’s father, a respected Muslim scholar.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: ‘A 51-year-old man from Nuneaton has been voluntarily interviewed in relation to allegations of historical rape cases. Inquiries remain ongoing.’
Sheikh Siddiqi is also head of an Islamic college based at a stately manor in Warwickshire. He also owns a Devon holiday park where several Premiership footballers have cottages.