Islam convert home-wrecker, says ex wife

Before

Lauren Booth, Islam convert and half-sister of Cherie Blair, has been called a home-wrecker by her new husband's ex wife.

She's in the news once again for saying that since British soldier Lee Rigby was murdered, she's noticed a difference when she travels on public transport dressed as a Muslim woman.  Men look at her with hatred as though they want to hit her, she says.

Cherie Blair is Booth's half-sister

Tony Blair was quoted recently as saying  there is a "problem with Islam" which allows the seeds of extremism to be sown.  His sister-in-law was not impressed and said "Absolutely not, and I think it's very dangerous to take a summary of a religion from a man who's overseen the invasion of several Muslim countries and overseen a war where a million people who are Muslims, have been killed and millions displaced."

After

For such a pious woman, Ms Booth thought nothing of having an affair with a married man and father of two, right under the nose of his wife.   Her new husband's legal wife of 16 years, Faiza, said she is nothing more than a home-wrecker and her legal husband Sohale Ahmed is a bigamist - he married Booth in a Muslim ceremony while keeping her as his legal wife.

Speaking from her brother's house in Texas where she went to recover from the collapse of her marriage, she said "Lauren destroyed my home - you can't just put on a hijab and say you are a good Muslim woman - it's about having boundaries with men, and love and respect for women. She came into my house as my and my husband's guest and did this under my nose.  Her behaviour appalls me, and other Muslim women - the very people she professes to support - now must judge her."

Booth placed a jokey ad on Facebook last year, looking for a good Muslim husband.  She said that "Mossad agents, secret drinkers, CIA stooges, men who don't pray and men who don't pay, need not apply."

She came to stay with the Ahmed family in March 2012.  Mrs Ahmed cooked and stayed home with the children while her husband and Lauren went out together and came home late.  One night she was shocked to see him coming out of her room, he said he'd just popped in to get something.  "It was killing me, I told Sohale that even though I knew he was not going to stop seeing her, she was not allowed back in my house.  So he started going away on business for three and four days at a time and spending time in London on weekends."

The happy couple

In April 2012, Sohale launched the Gaza fundraising charity Peace 2012 and signed up Ms Booth as a co-director two weeks later. 

Ramadam was approaching and Sohale wanted Lauren to stay with them but Faiza said no way so he went out with her and stayed out.  "He ate his sehri (the pre-dawn meal) and his iftar (the meal to break the fast of Ramadam) with Lauren, which felt like he was spurning his own family."

"On Eid Day, Lauren arrived home from the mosque with Sohale and other family members and no one warned me.  I walked out of my kitchen and she was there in my front room in full make-up, dressed from head to toe in red, the traditional colour of a Muslim wedding dress." 

They got married in a secret nikah, a ceremony not recognised as legal in Britain.  According to Islamic law, a man is allowed to take up to four wives but it is becoming more acceptable in the UK to have just one. The first wife is told that a new wife is coming and although she cannot object, she is given the opportunity to ask for a divorce.

Sohale Ahmed kept his marriage secret from his wife until he gathered enough courage to ask her for a divorce over the phone.  He then sent her a text to say he was married.

Lauren Booth is a journalist, peace activist and renowned international speaker who champions Muslim women's rights.  She was married to actor Craig Darby and they have two daughters.  She divorced him after he had a serious motor bike accident that left him severely brain damaged.

 Craig Darby, Lauren and their daughters before the accident

Faiza has enrolled her two children in schools in Texas and said there is no going back. "Lauren has cost him his friends, me and the children, all he has in life now is her. When he told me he loved me, he always used to say 'You are my first wife and my last' but he broke his promise."

Booth converted to Islam in October 2010.