A Brief History

Who Am I?

My name is Ammār ibn Aziz Ahmed and I currently reside in Birmingham, United Kingdom. I am a Muslim of Indian Gujarati origin, was born in West Yorkshire (UK), and moved to as a young child and grew up in the Caribbean island of Barbados, where I completed my entire schooling from primary level all the way to tertiary.

Let’s just say that I am probably one of the definitions of international 🙂.

Moreover, I am an Islamic history enthusiast, course creator and instructor, blogger and researcher as well as an aspiring nasheed artist.

Why I blog and research Islamic history

Whilst at school, history was one of my favourite subjects and growing up in Barbados meant that our focus was Caribbean history and particularly the Transatlantic Slave Trade. There were occasions where we stepped outside this topic like touching on the people living in the Caribbean prior to the slave trade (the Amerindians) as well as very briefly looking at some West African history (the vast majority of those made slaves in the Transatlantic Slave Trade were from this region).

When we touched on West Africa, there was a very (and I mean very) brief mentioning of Islam in West Africa and till this day I recall the exact classroom I was in, the day itself and the three empires mentioned: The Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires.

This left a mark on me and this was the first real moment that Islamic history as an idea stood out to me because even though I had studied the Seerah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ at a brief level, anything past our beloved Prophet’s ﷺ time I knew nothing about, and even being of Indian Gujarati descent I knew next to nothing about Islam in India/the Indian subcontinent.

Later on, this idea of Islamic history developed into a passion and this was furthered directly as a result of coming across the social media pages (and consequently his book) run by historian and author Firas Alkhateeb: Lost Islamic History.

Read more about my passion for Islamic history here.

I have been in the Islamic history space for more than 3 years and have had the pleasure of attending courses and classes by respected Muslim historians like Dr. Yakoob Ahmed and Professor Ovamir Anjum.

Through a mixture of learning with teachers and conducting my own independent research, it is unfortunate to say that the average Muslim either has no real knowledge of Muslim history or is unwilling to learn it. Hence my aim is two-fold:

(1) To bridge the gap between academics and the layperson when it comes to the study of Islamic history, and

(2) To lit a fire if you will in the average Muslim so that he/she at least takes a very basic interest in what is basically their own history.

How Long Have I Been Blogging & Researching?

I first started blogging and researching in February of 2019 and used to previously blog at www.islamichistoryenthusiast.home.blog but ultimately decided on getting my own blog/website by the end of 2019.

In addition to blogging about Islamic history, I also share some of my other hobbies/interests like giving dawah (inviting others to Islam) and my passion for nasheeds.

My Passion For Nasheeds

In addition to being hugely passionate about Islamic history, reciting nasheeds is also something that I have always loved doing.

Whilst growing up (in Barbados), I was asked on a few occasions to recite a nasheed at a program in the mosque or at a gathering; I’m constantly told by my peers that I’m always humming 😄.

Alhumdulillah, I have posted some recordings on my YouTube channel. You can find my playlist of nasheeds here on my website as well.

Any Questions/Queries?

If you have any questions or queries for me, then don’t hesitate to let me know.

I’d also appreciate if you subscribed to my newsletter (below) whereby you’d get an email anytime I publish a new blog post.

Support My Work

If you wish to support my work, you can do so by becoming a Patron. You can also support my work by purchasing my course on the Historical Accuracy of Dirilis Ertugrul.

Support Ibn Rushd Centre Of Excellence For Islamic Research

If you wish to support Ibn Rushd Centre, you can do so by clicking here.

Jazak’Allah Khayr and Thank You!

Ammar ibn Aziz Ahmed.