Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah is an army general and the current Chief of Army Staff. A descendant of a religious and scholarly family, Asim is also known as the first army chief in the history of Pakistan to be a Hafiz Qur’an (memorized the entire Qur’an). He served as chief of both premier military intelligence agencies of Pakistan although his tenure at ISI was short-lived after a falling out with then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, whom he has subsequently had imprisoned. He must navigate unprecedented national criticism of the army’s influence on Pakistan’s democracy as the country goes through turbulent times politically and economically.