Asim was born and brought up in Birmingham and describes himself as a proud Brummie. Despite this, Asim moved to South Wales to pursue his studies at Swansea University where he gained a B.Eng in Civil Engineering and carried out his postgraduate research in International Relations, focusing on Middle East Security. Asim remains a staunch champion of all things Welsh and even settled in Cardiff a number of years ago.

In 2001, Asim joined the Civil Service as the Welsh Assembly Government’s (WAG) Race and Religion Advisor, before going on to head the Equalities Unit and becoming the lead for the Wales Community Cohesion Strategy. He then became the first Prevent coordinator for WAG and developed the WAG Prevent Strategy and Delivery Plan.

In April 2009, he then joined the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) at the Home Office as its first Community Advisor, and in August 2009 gained his first SCS role as Deputy Director of Prevent.

In 2011, he took up a secondment to global security giant G4S to provide Counter Terrorism Consultancy in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic games. Upon his return to the Home Office in July 2012, Asim was appointed Director of Information Management and Compliance in UKVI. In April 2015, he took a short career break overseas and used this time to set up an education charity. Having returned to the Home Office, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Asylum Taskforce. He is currently the Home Office Director of International Strategy, Engagement, and Devolution (ISED).

During his time as Director of ISED, Asim has overseen the successful delivery of numerous cross-cutting, high-profile and complex projects which cut across all Home Office equities. This includes regular Diplomatic engagements with international counterparts across the globe, from Senior Officials to Ministers. Asim also represents the Home Office in multilateral fora.

Asim is also an Islamic Family counsellor, dealing with issues of forced marriage, honour-based violence, marriage guidance counselling and general Islamic advice.