Qari Muhammad Asim

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British imam, solicitor and government adviser; Senior Contributing Editor of Imams Online (linked to RICU/Breakthrough Media covert propaganda); Chair of Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board; former Deputy Chair of the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group and independent expert on defining Islamophobia (dismissed 2022); Trustee of Hope not Hate and British Future; Legal Director at DLA Piper; MBE 2012


Qari Asim (also known as Qari Muhammad Asim) is a British imam, solicitor and public figure. He is Senior Imam at Leeds Makkah Masjid, Legal Director at DLA Piper, Chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, and a trustee of Hope not Hate and British Future. He has been Senior Contributing Editor of Imams Online, a platform identified in leaked documents as part of the covert propaganda campaign run by the Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU) of the Home Office (part of the Homeland Security Group, formerly the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism). In 2019 he was appointed Deputy Chair of the government’s Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group and independent expert to lead work on a definition of Islamophobia; he was removed from these roles in 2022.[1]

Career

Asim has been Imam at Leeds Makkah Masjid since May 2005. The mosque has received awards as the UK’s Model Mosque under his leadership. Professionally he is a real-estate solicitor: Associate at Mills & Reeve (2004–2005), then at DLA Piper as Associate (from 2005), Senior Associate (from 2009) and Legal Director (from May 2018), based in Leeds. He holds an LLB from the University of Leeds (1996–1999).[2]

He was appointed MBE in 2012 “for building community harmony” in Leeds.

Government roles and Islamophobia definition

In July 2019 the government appointed Asim Deputy Chair of the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group and independent expert to lead a process for establishing a definition of Islamophobia, building on existing proposals including the APPG definition. The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government stated he would work across Muslim communities and stakeholders to produce a “legally robust, comprehensive and workable definition.” He has also served as an adviser to the Independent Review into the Application of Sharia Law in England and Wales.[1]

In June 2022 he was removed from his government roles after supporting calls for cinemas to stop screening the film The Lady of Heaven. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities wrote:

“Your recent support for a campaign to limit free expression – a campaign which has itself encouraged communal tensions – means it is no longer appropriate for you to continue your work with government in roles designed to promote community harmony.”

Asim stated he had not attended or organised protests, that the government’s characterisation was “inaccurate,” and that he was concerned the film “risked fuelling extremism and tension.” He described the decision as a “red herring.” Cineworld subsequently cancelled UK screenings of the film.[3]

Imams Online and RICU connections

Asim is Senior Contributing Editor of Imams Online, the project of Faith Associates named in leaked Breakthrough Media documents and 2015 reporting as an asset used by RICU to generate and promote “moderate and respected Muslim voices” under the Prevent strategy. Content for the site, including the Haqiqah magazine, was reported to have been produced or approved under RICU direction via Breakthrough Media. Asim has spoken publicly in support of the platform’s counter-extremism work, including at the launch of Haqiqah.[4]

Other affiliations

  • Chair, Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board
  • Trustee, Hope not Hate and British Future (executive/advisory board)
  • Trustee, Christian Muslim Forum; director, Forum for Promoting Peace (London)
  • Faith adviser to Near Neighbours programme and Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
  • Member, ITV Yorkshire Diversity Group; advisory panel of Oxfam; regional leadership board of Mosaic
  • Governor, Leeds Beckett University
  • Participant, Contextualising Islam in Britain II project (Cambridge, 2012)[5]
  • Co-chair / co-founder roles in British Muslim Network and Leeds Muslim Network (later material)

In 2025 a group of Barelwi imams issued an open letter calling on Leeds Makkah Masjid to remove him and urging Muslims to dissociate from him, citing his government work and interfaith engagement (including with Jewish organisations). The mosque management committee rejected the allegations and defended his service.[6]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Independent expert appointed to tackle Islamophobia, 23 July 2019.
  2. ↑ Career details as summarised from public profiles and the source stub.
  3. ↑ BBC, “Qari Asim: Imam removed as government adviser over film protests”, 13 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Imams Online, author page; Breakthrough Media Showcase book 2015 (leaked); Middle East Eye, “Google-hosted Muslim leaders summit linked to Home Office Prevent unit”, 2015.
  5. ↑ CONTEXTUALISING ISLAM IN BRITAIN, Project Leader Professor Yasir Suleiman, January 2012.
  6. ↑ 5Pillars, “Barelwi imams call on Muslims to dissociate themselves from Qari Asim”, 27 February 2025; Makkah Masjid, response, 4 March 2025.
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