Faith in God's county

Qari Asim is a case in point. He’s about as far away as it’s possible to get from the Yorkshire stereotype of old, but is proud of his adoptive home and ambitious for its future.

“Yorkshire is God’s County,” he says. “We have a huge level of ethnic mix here and in comparison with some of the other regions Yorkshire is much better at accepting and embracing people of diverse backgrounds.

“We’ve seen some of the businesses owned by people of diverse backgrounds flourish in Yorkshire, from the Aagrah group of restaurants to Seafresh, which is based in Bradford. We’ve seen some real success stories in the region and there is now a recognition that we can only thrive and flourish if people of diverse backgrounds are part of the business community.”

Mr Asim’s word carries the double weight of his two parallel lives. Even though he hasn’t yet turned 40, he’s already the senior imam at one of the country’s leading mosques, Leeds Makkah – and the youngest person in the UK ever to reach that position – as well as being a respected commercial property lawyer at multinational law firm DLA Piper.

In fact, he’s thought to be the only imam in the country to lead daily prayers as well as working full-time in a corporate environment, giving him a unique perspective on the world of business.

“I see myself as a bridge,” he says. “Some of the things I’ve been able to do and some of the bold decisions I’ve been able to make as a religious leader have been due to my exposure to the commercial world. Both of my worlds complement and supplement each other.

“Sometimes you hear people say you can only be a pure Muslim if you stay inside the mosque, but that’s not what our faith teaches us. Our faith inspires us to be part of the fabric of the society in which we live.

“So as a result, my faith that has inspired me to be part of the commercial world as well as the religious world. I perceive no conflict between the two; I want to be an energetic, commercial person and at the same time be a dynamic religious leader, and I try to reflect that in my work.

“Because ultimately I see that among the diverse communities that live in Yorkshire, we are all Yorkshiremen and women, and as a result if we offer a more cohesive service as institutions – whether it be religious, business or academic – we’ll be more profitable, both commercially and in terms of investment in people.”

He adds: “We can’t have segregated communities. I think business is one of those things that can act as a tool to bring those communities together because Britain – and Yorkshire – allows those opportunities.”

That positive attitude has take Mr Asim a long way, but he is under no illusion that “Yorkshiremen and women” of other backgrounds can still struggle for acceptance in the workplace.

“I’ve seen people come to the mosque; one of them had sent his CV off with his Muslim name, applied to ten companies and didn’t get a response. He changed his name and sent the same CV to the same ten firms and some of them responded.

“More investment needs to go into BME communities at an early stage. We see that sometimes there is a lack of confidence and a lack of belief in the system among young people from school level.

“So it’s about raising aspiration and instilling confidence in the BME communities from school age.

“We’ve also not seen many people from the ethnic minorities in the top CEO positions of companies across the country, so I think there is a certain glass ceiling there.

“It’s not direct institutional racism, or closed ranks, but it’s the same thing that we’ve found with men and women in the workforce. It took a while for women to be recognised as equal partners in the workforce and we’re still struggling for them to reach the board level.

“I think things are much better than perhaps a decade ago, but we can’t be complacent.

“The more we can promote people from ethnic backgrounds – ensuring they’re promoted on their merits – the more they can act as role models for others to break through.”

Mr Asim’s unique perspective has made his opinion eagerly sought after, not least by Prime Minister David Cameron, who visited Leeds Makkah Mosque recently.

“Mr Cameron came to learn about some of the work we’ve done to build bridges between communities, and also about the work done for the empowerment of women and engagement of youth,” says Mr Asim, who was awarded the MBE for just this kind of work after the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

The business world too tends to listen when he speaks, especially when a company is formulating a policy programme to promote diversity within the business.

“When they do that, there needs to be integrity; they need to believe in their policies. When you believe in something, you take bold decisions,” he says.

“We live in such a diverse, global world – [having a diverse workforce] is a way to actually increase profit levels. It should be seen as an opportunity rather than as a burden – something that we need to do, rather than an exercise in box-ticking.”

He’s also very keen that Yorkshire does more to promote itself and attract investment, and takes every opportunity to promote the region when he travels abroad to South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

“Sometimes I do feel that Yorkshire suffers from a lack of profile. We in Yorkshire need to promote ourselves and build links and relationships with those countries where the investment is coming from.

“If we have a cohesive, integrated approach to our businesses in Yorkshire I think we have a great story to tell in terms of bringing investment into our region, but also sharing some of the success stories we’ve had in the past.

“I’m very proud of my Yorkshire identity. Yorkshire has amazing people and amazing scenery.

“People in Yorkshire also tend to be honest, have integrity and are caring – which is all very important in terms of business.”