As an anthropologist and social historian I am interested in how human societies articulate, represent and perform understandings of self, community and other. My research focuses on Muslim societies in a range of historical and contemporary contexts. I am particularly concerned with the diverse ways in which Muslims express and articulate issues of deep human concern as well as matters of daily life. More.
The social, religious, artistic and culturally rich history of the Ismailis, a major branch of Shi’a Islam, is detailed in a new book The Ismailis: An Illustrated History, co-authored and co-edited by York Professor Zulfikar Hirji. Told as much through images as words, it is a sweeping history of a highly diverse Shi’a Muslim community that stretches back more than 14 centuries to the formative period of Islam.
“The Ismaili Muslims are incredibly diverse and yet share so much in common,” says Hirji, an anthropology professor at York and social historian of Muslim societies and cultures. Today, the Ismailis live in over 25 countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. Hirji, a former research associate at The Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, England, and junior research fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford, says “the history of the Ismailis is not unlike many other Muslim communities.”
“One of the reasons for the book is to illustrate that Muslims are diverse; they live in different places, speak many languages, vary in terms of their social institutions and express their faith in many different ways,” says Hirji.
Ismailimail 
My husband and I met Zulfikar Hirji at the launch of this book at the London padhramni in July, this year.A very pleasant person who kindly signed a copy for us.
May Mawla reward Zulfikar with all the success in his research and studies.
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