Amir Khan and his estranged wife Faryal Makhdoom have turned to a spiritual leader in a bid to save their marriage
AMIR Khan and his estranged wife Faryal have turned to a spiritual leader in a bid to save their marriage.
Pir Saqib Shaami has the awkward task of trying to negotiate a reunion following the couple’s extraordinary recent public bust-up.
The 30-year-old boxer announced his marriage split on Twitter, sparking a vicious war of words.
He accused her of “moving on quick” with boxer Anthony Joshua.
Faryal, 27, rubbished the claims and Joshua, 27, has denied any relationship with her.
Now the warring couple have turned to Birmingham based guru Shaami.
He is due to host a meeting between them to encourage them to “try again”.
The leader refused to see Faryal privately because it was “against the teachings of Islam” for him to meet her without another man present.
But Faryal confirmed she is in touch with him.
She posted a tweet before quickly deleting it.
It said: “I respect & trust Shaykh Saqib Shaami as much as Amir does. He has not been biased previously & will do justice. I also respect Shaykh Saqib Shaamis Islamic position of not meeting women to stop spreading false rumours on social media”.
Friends of Khan have told The Sun he spoke to the leader repeatedly over recent months and expressed his desire to leave Faryal.
The boxer is said to have told him that the relationship was unhealthy – but the spiritual leader asked him to be patient and work it out.
He also asked Faryal in phone conversations not to stop their two-year-old daughter Lamaisah from meeting her father – and subsequently the boxer reunited with her father yesterday.
Faryal has asked the leader to help her achieve a reconciliation with Khan.
The leader is understood to have told the warring couple that: “In Islam you are still married”.
The spiritual leader has been providing guidance to the Khan family for years and has told both Amir and Faryal that they were equally to blame for their troubles.
The boxer’s parents met Pir Saqib Shaami at his base in Birmingham for over 90 minutes on Tuesday.
They asked him to pray for the “stability and strength” of their son.
Mr Shaami is pals with Khan and they have regularly met throughout his turbulent career.
The revered leader counselled him when he was exposed by The Sun on Sunday for cheating on his wife.
The fighter sought “a spiritual explanation of his actions as a solace”.
A source said: “To Amir he explained what the rights of women are, what his wrongdoings were and why he should seek forgiveness and to Faryal she has said she has equal share to blame for deterioration of relations and that she has been wrong too.”
The couple married in 2013 at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, with rights to the £800,000 bash sold to a glossy mag.
Khan has been approached for comment.
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