Associate Professor Zulfikar Hirji (DPhil, Oxford) launched his book Islam: An Illustrated Journey (2018) hosted by University of Western Australia, University of Melbourne and University of Western Sydney respectively. The book launch included lectures covering topics such as “Representing Islam and Muslims Post 9/11: Images, Words and Refusals” and “Positioning and Articulation in an Islamophobic Environment”.
Islam: An Illustrated Journey (2018) is a book co-authored by Dr Zulfikar Hirji and Dr Farhad Daftary which explores the diverse histories of Islam and Muslims over more than 1400 years.
Beginning in the world of late antiquity and the pre-Islamic period, the book takes the reader through Islam's formative era and early development in the Arabian Peninsula, the rise and decline of major Muslim dynasties and finally into its place in the modern world. Lavishly illustrated and written in an accessible style, Islam: An Illustrated Journey tells the story of Islam, a faith that is today practiced by more than a billion people and is the fastest growing religion in the world. The book contains a multitude of images, graphics, maps and charts, features many of the masterpieces of art, architecture and literature produced by Muslims along with an easy-to-use glossary and a detailed bibliography that will appeal to both general audiences and enthusiasts of Islamic societies and cultures and world civilizations.
Dr. Zulfikar Hirji (DPhil, Oxford) Associate Professor York University, Toronto, scholarly interests are on Islam and Muslims in historical and contemporary contexts and on issues of knowledge production, representation and identity, visual and material culture, and critical pedagogy.
His publications include The Ismailis: An Illustrated History (2008), Diversity and Pluralism in Muslim Contexts (2010), Between Empires (2012), Islam: An Illustrated Journey (2018), and Approaches to the Qur’an in sub-Saharan Africa (2019) co-directed by Dr Farhad Daftary head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications at the Institute of Ismaili Studies.
