Sex-abuse allegations against Chicago Muslim religious leader roil community

By Kevin Sullivan
Arab News
February 16, 2015

http://www.arabnews.com/world/news/705106

WASHINGTON: Allegations of sexual abuse by the longtime president of a leading Chicago-area Islamic school have roiled the region’s Muslims and raised questions about the reporting of sexual abuse in a close-knit religious community.

The allegations that Abdullah Saleem of the Institute of Islamic Education in Elgin, a Chicago suburb, sexually abused an adult female school employee surfaced in December, when a leading Muslim scholar referred to them in a blog.

Elgin police confirmed on Saturday that they are conducting a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the school, but spokesman Cmdr. Ana Lalley said she could provide no further details.

Saleem, who has been a respected Muslim leader in Chicago for decades, has not been charged with any crime.

Mohammed Kaiseruddin, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, the region’s most influential Muslim umbrella group, said Saleem has resigned from his post and been replaced by his son. He said Saleem left for his native India after the allegations surfaced, and he did not know if he had returned.