text: Sharmeena: The teenager flew in secret to Syria . The jihadi bride who persuaded three friends to follow her to Syria was brought up in a strict Muslim household which turned to Islamic State apologists Cage when she disappeared, it emerged yesterday. Sharmeena Begum, 15, was raised by her uncle Shamim Miah, a devout Muslim and former religious scholar. He encouraged her to pray each dawn before classes at Bethnal Green Academy in Tower Hamlets. He blames the airport authorities, police and her school for letting Sharmeena flee the country last December, flying from Gatwick to Turkey before crossing the border to Syria. Controversially, he has turned for advice to Cage, the hardline human rights group whose leaders have said IS executioner Jihadi John is a ‘beautiful young man’. In an exclusive interview this week, Mr Miah, 38, sat at the kitchen table of his terraced house, a few minutes’ walk from the academy in East London. It is where Sharmeena lived with him, her mother Shahnaz – until her death from cancer aged 33 last year – and her grandmother, Jahanara, 66. Close to tears, he disclosed how his niece used £1,000 to go to Syria, money given by relatives after her mother’s death as a traditional gift in Bangladeshi families to show respect for the deceased. ‘At first her Nan – my mother –kept the money safe. Then Sharmeena asked to open her own bank account and she gave the cash to her,’ said Mr Miah. ‘She also pressed to keep her passport in her bedroom and we allowed that too. If her mother had not died, she would never have had money to go.’ Mr Miah was born in Bangladesh and came to this country as a boy with his parents. He studied Islam before becoming a takeaway restaurant owner and now works nights at a supermarket. ‘I have known Sharmeena since she was born,’ he said. ‘She grew up in my house with her mother Shahnaz, my sister.’ Shamima Begum's family at Scotland Yard's headquarters, London, pictured with Abase Hussen, father of Amira Abase . Lured to jihad: Kadiza Sultana, 16, left, Shamima Begum, 15, centre, and Amira Abase, 15, right, at Gatwick . He explained that Sharmeena’s father, Mohammad Uddin, had not often lived at the house because his work took him away so often. Mr Uddin, 39, a waiter, has remarried and lives with his new wife in a block of flats in Bethnal Green. Mr Miah has been interviewed by police about his missing niece and the disappearance of her three classmates: Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, earlier this year. It is thought that Sharmeena was the ringleader, inspiring the other three to follow her to Syria. It has emerged that a fifth girl from the academy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also plotted to become a jihadi bride. She boarded a plane for Syria from Heathrow on the same Saturday which Sharmeena flew from Gatwick. This girl’s parents alerted police, the jet was stopped on the runway and she was removed. It has also emerged that Amira’s father Hussen Abase is an Islamic militant who marched at the front of a rally led by hate preacher Anjem Choudary and attended by Michael Adebowale, one of the killers of soldier Lee Rigby. Like Mr Miah, Mr Abase is receiving advice from Cage. But her uncle denies his devotion to Islam influenced Sharmeena. He has already been asked by police if she was radicalised at home. ‘The loss of her mum turned my niece’s life upside down despite our Islamic belief that earthly life means nothing,’ he said. ‘It is the hereafter that we prepare for. She turned to religion after her death.’ He feels let down by police and the school, alleging that neither care about Sharmeena ‘because she is a Muslim girl’. Mr Miah added: ‘You tell the police everything you know but they seem to do nothing to get Sharmeena back. I am really scared of what they might do to me if I am blamed for her going to Syria.’ He is also worried for Sharmeena if she does return to the UK. ‘I believe she will be prosecuted. I don’t think she will ever be allowed to return to our home. The police will want information from her about the Islamic State and life will never be normal for her again.’ Reliving the morning his niece disappeared, Mr Miah told how the teenager said her prayers at 5am as usual. ‘The early prayers are what we do every day in our Muslim religion,’ he explained solemnly. Sharmeena then came downstairs and told her grandmother that she had extra classes at school. ‘She left at about nine in Western clothes, leaving her Asian ones. We do not know whether she took a taxi, bus or train to the airport. Or if she was picked up by a car. I came back from the night shift at ten but I was not alarmed.’ Flight to terror: Clutching their luggage, the three teenage friends prepare to board a flight to Istanbul . But by midday, the family was worried. They rang Sharmeena’s mobile but had no answer. At 5pm, it was offering to take messages in Turkish. ‘We realised she was abroad and I rang the local police, who said she was a missing girl who would come home,’ said Mr Miah. He found a UK number on Sharmeena’s phone records which she had rung constantly, including the morning she disappeared. When he called it, a woman’s voice said: ‘Who is Sharmeena? I don’t know a Sharmeena’ and put the phone down. Mr Miah now suspects the woman was an IS recruiter based in London. ‘In my faith, we believe in an eye for an eye, a life for a life, and I would like to kill the person who persuaded her to go away,’ he said. ‘I also feel let down by the authorities, who allowed Sharmeena out to Syria and then three of her friends, all from the same school.’ When Sharmeena went missing, he alerted her father and told him he must go to the academy and warn teachers what might happen to other girls. Mr Uddin did but said staff did not listen to him. Mr Miah went a day later and saw a senior teacher. ‘I said parents should be warned their daughters might go to Syria. I offered to speak to them myself but I have not been invited.’ Frustrated, Mr Miah turned to officials at Cage, who told him Sharmeena went to Syria ‘to get married’ or ‘for radicalisation’ by IS. He feels it is the only organisation listening to him or which might help get her back. However, some of his family blame him for her disappearance, added Mr Miah. ‘We knew nothing about her plan. I am in shock. Her grandmother is so upset. ‘We think only of Sharmeena and worry if she has enough food to eat in Syria. We feel hopeless.’ A Labour councillor’s son seized attempting to cross into war-torn Syria with four children had been targeted by the Government’s anti-extremism Prevent strategy, sources said last night. As counter-terrorism police last night searched the home of Shakil Ahmed – recently pictured with Ed Miliband – and Turkish authorities prepared to deport the group of nine, questions were asked over whether signs of 21-year-old Waheed’s apparent radicalisation had been missed. The politics student’s father, 45, was in hiding yesterday as officers combed the family home in Rochdale, examining a car parked outside and removing several items. The adults in Turkey were named as Waheed’s maternal aunt, Zareeda Bi, 47, her sons Mahboob Yasin, 22, and Habib Yasin, 24, along with Habib’s wife, Samia Bi, 22. On radar: Counter-terrorism police searched the home of Shakil Ahmed, pictured here with Ed Miliband, as it is revealed his son Waheed Ahmed (right) was targeted by the Government's anti-extremism Prevent strategy . Sources claimed Waheed had been monitored by the Government’s Prevent strategy, which aims to stop extremists resorting to acts of terrorism but has been slammed as a ‘toxic’ brand which further alienates disaffected young Muslims. Friends said they had not noticed a change in Waheed’s behaviour. Raided: Police searched councillor Shakil Ahmed's home after his son was seized trying to cross to war-torn Syria . Bassat Yousaf, 21, who has known Waheed since they were at primary school, said: ‘He’s really a quiet guy. Seeing him on the news came as a shock for me. He didn’t seem that kind of person. ‘We used to talk about Palestine and Syria and he sometimes collected charity money. I used to see him collecting a lot of charity money for people whose homes have been blown up.’ The nine were seized as they tried to cross into Syria on Wednesday, but Waheed’s father said he had believed his son was on ‘a work placement in Birmingham’. The Home Office declined to comment on reports of Waheed’s involvement with its Prevent strategy, which last year resulted in 77 reports from worried families to anti-terror police. Police refused to say if the adults would be arrested on their return to the UK.
target: Sharmeena Begum was raised by uncle who was former religious scholar .
  He blames airport authorities, police and her school for letting her flee .
  She used £1,000 of inheritance following her mother's death .
  He is worried what will happen in Syria and that she won't be allowed home .