'Extremist' who discourages singing and music is the patron of a Muslim school where girls cover everything but their eyes

• Hadhrat Shaykh Maulana Adam Sahib is the founder of a girls' school
• Pupils at the Islamic school are taught to cover themselves fully in public
• Their strict uniform is the niqab - a long gown which covers their body
• The school in east Leicester has never been inspected by Ofsted

An extremist has a guiding role at a Muslim school where teenage girls have to cover all but their eyes, the Mail has discovered.

Hadhrat Shaykh Maulana Adam Sahib – who appears to condone 'striking' students – is the founder and 'honorary patron' of the full-time girls' school.

Pupils at the private Islamic school, which caters for over-16s, are taught to cover themselves fully in public.

Their strict uniform is the niqab – a long black gown that covers their entire body except for slits for their eyes.

An extremist has a guiding role at a Muslim school in Leicester (pictured) where teenage girls have to cover all but their eyes, the Mail has discovered

Students were photographed leaving the Jame'ah Uloomul Qur'an institution in Leicester

The school is one of six that operate out of the Jame'ah Uloomul Qur'an institution, in east Leicester. It is the only one that provides full-time education – between 8am and 2.30pm, Monday to Friday.

The five other schools operate largely in the evenings and weekends, catering for boys and girls of a variety of ages. Sexes are understood to be segregated.

A whistleblower says Mr Adam, 79, 'oversees the school… offering guidance as and when it's needed'. Another source close to the school describes him as the 'philosophical head, who guides the decision-making'.

 But Mr Adam strongly denies he has an 'overseeing role'.

Jame'ah Uloomul Qur'an – all six sections – has never been inspected by Ofsted.

This is because current laws mean any school that is part-time – including madrasas open in the evenings and weekends – do not have to register with the Department for Education.

The same applies to schools for over-16s, even if they are full time.

This means that although this school has been running for more than 25 years, it has never been inspected by Ofsted or checked by any authority, including the local council.

Given the lack of checks, it is impossible to say what views these young women are being taught. But it is known what Mr Adam teaches in sermons available on the internet.

In one, translated from Urdu, he says: 'For a man to look at them ('strange women') with desire unlawfully, or for a woman to look at a strange man unlawfully with desire, this is a major sin, a great sin.

'If this is not treated, if we don't rectify ourselves in this, then… this can lead to a person having an evil death and it leading him to the Fire.'

In another lecture, he appears to endorse using force against young men who think about women 'with desire'.

He suggests in such cases it is justified to strike the boys' hand 'with force', saying it teaches them a lesson.

Mr Adam is an influential Deobandi scholar. The Deobandis, who control nearly half the mosques in the UK, have been accused of discouraging integration into British society.

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Their strict uniform is the niqab – a long black gown that covers their entire body except for slits for their eyes 

The school is one of six that operate out of the Jame'ah Uloomul Qur'an institution, in east Leicester

Mr Adam's son, Mufti Adam al-Kawthari, is described as a teacher at Jame'ah Uloomul Qur'an – the institution as a whole, not the girls' school.

Mr al-Kawthari also runs an Islamic 'advice centre' across the road from Jame'ah Uloomul Qur'an, called Darul Iftaa. On its website, he tells women to cover themselves as much as possible.

He advises them not to sing, listen to music, celebrate birthdays or use tampons before marriage.

He also says it's 'impermissible' to attempt to dress or look like the Kuffar (a term for non-Muslims, widely seen as derogatory). Manzoor Moghal, chairman of the Muslim Forum said:

'Requiring girls to cover themselves like this is a way of keeping them from integrating from the rest of society. It is not right that schools for over-16s are not routinely being inspected by Ofsted.'

A spokesman for the full-time girls' section of the school denied Mr Adam has any involvement beyond being its founder and 'honorary patron' and said Mr al-Kawthari is also not involved. 

Only women teachers work in the girls' section, the spokesman added.

A spokesman for Mr Adam said: 'He has never condoned or endorsed the use of violence on anyone. These statements must have been taken out of context.'

While he holds extreme views, Mr Adam has not endorsed illegal or extreme action of any kind.

Mr al-Kawthari said he has 'a very limited lecturing role for 18 plus adult males only'.

The Department for Education said: 'Extremism and intolerance has no place in our society. 

Where we receive allegations of individuals promoting twisted ideologies or discrimination in classrooms we will take action.'