About Us

Researchers

Scholars, fellows, and associates working across CSR India's councils and projects. The roster is updated as new appointments are confirmed.

Current

Researchers at the Centre

Postdoctoral fellows, associates, and assistants carrying the Centre's research, writing, and editorial work.

Dr Mujtaba Farooq

Postdoctoral Researcher

Jabir K

Research Assistant

Khushhal Ahmed

Research Associate

Obaidur Rahman Naufal

Research Associate

Profiles

Dr Mujtaba Farooq

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr. Mujtaba Farooq is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Study and Research (CSR), New Delhi. He holds a two-year diploma in Comparative Religions, B.Ed., Masters and PhD (Islamic Studies) from the Indian Institute of Islamic Studies and Research, University of Kashmir Srinagar, and Maulana Azad National Urdu University Hyderabad respectively.

His special areas of interest are Orientalism and Qur’an, Women Scholarship in Islam, and Islamization of Knowledge. He is the author of Maryam Jameelah: Magrbi fiker-o-tehzeib ki bebak naqid; Uloom Islami ki Tadween Jadeed; and Contemporary Issues of Muslim Youth: Analysis and Solutions. He has also published a large number of articles in reputed journals and magazines.

Jabir K

Research Assistant

Jabir K holds a master’s in Psychology from Aligarh Muslim University and is currently a Research Assistant at the Centre for Study and Research (CSR India), New Delhi. He has research experience across social identity theory, affect theory, and the study of emotions. His primary research interest includes the ethical and affective aspects of the performative traditions of Mappila Muslims.

At CSR, Jabir’s research centres on the formation of political subjectivity and the articulations of religiosity among Indian Muslim youth. He has delivered eight research papers at national and international conferences and authored articles on religion, cinema, sports, and history in magazines such as Madhyamam, Deshabhimani, Drishyathalam, and PeoplesDispatch.

Khushhal Ahmed

Research Associate

Khushhal Ahmed is a Research Associate at the Centre for Study and Research (CSR), New Delhi, and a doctoral scholar in the Department of Psychology at Aligarh Muslim University. His doctoral research examines media violence and its impact on youth social behaviour and well-being, engaging with questions at the intersection of social and political psychology. His broader interests encompass religion, decolonial psychology, anthropology, and philosophy.

Having completed his BSc with Zoology majors, Khushhal pursued a Master’s in Psychology from AMU, where he received the University Merit Financial Award for two consecutive sessions (2021–22 and 2022–23). Since 2022 he has also served as an Editor at The Companion. At CSR he contributes to the Centre’s research, writing, and editorial initiatives.

Obaidur Rahman Naufal

Research Associate

Obaidur Rahman Naufal was a Research Assistant at the Centre for Study and Research (CSR) and is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Ibn Haldun University, Turkey. He completed his M.A. in Political Science and B.A. in History from Aligarh Muslim University, India.

His research interests include Islam and Islamic movements, anthropology of the state, sociology of religion, modernity and postmodernity, power and knowledge, political violence, and contemporary India.

Alumni

Former researchers and fellows

Dr Owais Manzoor Dar

Former Post-doc Fellow at CSR

Owais Manzoor Dar is currently serving as Guest Faculty in the Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He earned his PhD in Islamic Studies from the same department, with a dissertation on the question of ulū al-amr (authority) in South Asian Muslim intellectual history.

He examines how Muslim intellectuals and ʻUlamāʾ have conceptualised and interpreted authority, and how these interpretations continue to shape intra-Muslim debates. His work has appeared in the Australian Journal of Islamic Studies, Analisa: Journal of Social Science and Religion, the American Journal of Islam and Society, and The Maydan (George Mason University).

Dr. Waseem Naser

Former Post-doc Fellow at CSR

Dr Waseem Naser completed his doctorate in anthropology in 2023 at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. His research sat within the Emmy Noether Project ‘Bureaucratisation of Islam in Southeast Asia and its Socio-Legal Dimensions’ and examined notions of emotions, senses, and personhood.

Prior to his doctorate he obtained a postgraduate degree in Economics at the International Islamic University Malaysia, with a dissertation on the moral philosophy of Adam Smith — later expanded into the monograph ‘Adam Smith and Islam: Reconsidering the Moral Foundations of Economics’. Before his stint with CSR in New Delhi in 2024, he was a research fellow at the International Islamic University Indonesia.

Syed Ahmed Muzakkir

Former Research Associate

Syed Ahmed Muzakkir hails from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University, USA. He graduated in Economics from the University of Madras and completed his post-graduation in Economics at the International Islamic University Malaysia. His areas of interest include civil society, social movements, and the application of Islamic thought to contemporary society. He is also a Hafiz of the Qur’an.

He has participated in numerous academic conferences and published over half a dozen research papers in academic journals, alongside opinion pieces in various magazines. He previously served as Director, Centre for Educational Research and Training (2019–20), and as Secretary General of SIO India (2021–22).