Biography
After receiving his education in Arabic and Islamic Studies from seminaries in the UK and India, Waseem subsequently read BA (Honours) in Arabic with Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies from the University of Durham (2002); MA in Library and Information Studies at UCL (2012); MA in Historical Research Methods at SOAS University of London (2014). Formerly, he began his career in librarianship as an Arabic Cataloguer and Leading Library Assistant at the British Library in 2002. He then joined the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) as an Assistant Librarian in 2005 and became Librarian in 2010. Until 2020, he was primarily responsible for the acquisitions of printed books, eBooks and providing information literacy trainings. Since 2021, he is responsible for organising and delivering information literacy and library research skills’ trainings and promoting the reference resources and services offered by the Aga Khan Library, London. His research interests include history of Sufism in South Asia; early and medieval Arabic diplomatic sources; dialectical theology, principles of fiqh and hadith studies. He is available to offer reference consultations in the above areas and historical or contemporary Islam in general.
