Volunteer faith leader given top royal honour by Princess Anne
A police faith leader and community champion has been given a royal honour in recognition for his work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mohammad Asad, a Muslim chaplain for West Midlands Police, has received his MBE medal for his volunteer work throughout the pandemic, helping hospital workers and members of his community and running community projects.
He was presented with the honour by HRH Princess Anne at a ceremony in Windsor Castle on March 8.
As well as being a faith advisor for the force, Mr Asad is also an imam at Birmingham Central Mosque.
During the pandemic he helped to distribute hundreds of much-needed items to hospital workers on the frontline battling Covid.
He also played a key role in running outreach projects at Birmingham Central Mosque and the community, including delivering iftar meals for the homeless and refugees during Ramadan.
Some of the projects included Qur'an cubes for hospital patients and delivering iftar and toiletry packs to NHS workers.
Mr Asad also helped with food donations to victims of domestic violence and food packs for those isolated in the pandemic.
Khadija Sulaiman, the force's new multi-faith lead chaplain, who joined in January and is the first Muslim to be appointed this role in a UK police force, said: “Mohammed Asad is a great asset to the team.
"He is a perfect example of the representation of the multi-faith chaplaincy team of WMP.
“One of our objectives is the integration into the communities, which I think is imperative to support WMP.
"When I see what Mr Asad has showcased, it makes me feel so proud to lead a fantastic team.”
