Ali Usman Qasmi, Associate Professor (History) at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, joined LUMS in January 2012. He received his PhD from the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University in March 2009. Before joining LUMS, he was a Newton Fellow for post doctoral research at Royal Holloway College, University of London. He has published extensively in reputed academic journals such as Modern Asian Studies and Journal of Islamic Studies. He is the author of Questioning the Authority of the Past: The Ahl al-Qur’an Movements in the Punjab (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2011). His second monograph, The Ahmadis and the Politics of Religious Exclusion in Pakistan (London: Anthem Press, 2014), was the recipient of Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) Peace Prize in 2015. Dr. Qasmi has co-edited several edited volumes as well, which include Revisioning Iqbal as a Poet and Muslim Political Thinker (Heidelberg: Draupadi, 2010), The Shi‘a in Modern South Asia: Religion, History and Politics (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2015) and Muslims against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Ideas of Pakistan (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2017).
"A Master Narrative for the History of Pakistan: Tracing the Origins of an Ideological Agenda", in: Modern Asian Studies 53, 4 (2019).
"Identity Formation through National Calendar: Holidays and Commemorations in Pakistan", in: Nations and Nationalism 23, 3 (July 2017).
"Textbooks for History and Urdu in Punjab: Transiting from the Colonial to the Post?Colonial Period", in: South Asia Chronicle, Volume 6 (2016).
"Towards a New Prophetology: Maulvi Abdullah Chakralavi s Ahl al-Quran Movement", in: Muslim World 99 (January 2009).
"Sorry for what? The Historiography of the Bangladeshi Liberation War and Pakistan s Military Operation in 1971", in: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 33, 4 (August 2023).
"Islamic Universalism: the "Amritsari" Version of Ahl al-Quran", in: Journal for Islamic Studies 20, 2 (2009).
"God s Kingdom on Earth?: The Politics of Islam in Pakistan, 1947-69", in: Modern Asian Studies 44, 6 (June 2010).
With Megan Eaton Robb, eds. Muslims Against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Idea ofPakistan (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2017).
With Justin Jones, eds. The Shi a in Modern South Asia: Religion, History and Politics (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2015).
With Gita Dharampal-Frick and Katia Rotstetter, eds. Revisioning Iqbal as a Poet and MuslimPolitical Thinker (Heidelberg: Draupadi Verlag, 2010; Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2011).
"Differentiating between Pakistan and Napak-istan: Maulana Abul Ala Maududi s Critique of the Muslim League and Muhammad Ali Jinnah", in: Ali Usman Qasmi and Megan Eaton Robb, eds. Muslims Against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Idea of Pakistan (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2017).
"Where the Twain Did Meet: The Genealogy of Muhammad Iqbal s Intellectual and Poetic Genius", in: Gita Dharampal-Frick, Ali Usman Qasmi, Katia Rostetter, eds., Revisioning Iqbal as a Poet and Muslim Political Thinker (Heidelberg: Draupadi Verlag, 2010; Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2011).
(With Megan Eaton Robb) "Introduction", in: Ali Usman Qasmi and Megan Eaton Robb, eds. Muslims Against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Idea of Pakistan (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2017).
"Rightwing Decoloniality and Civilizational Discourses: A Critical Analysis" (manuscript ready for submission)
"Portraying Jinnah - A Brief History", in: Finding Jinnah: Contemporary Art from Pakistan (Karachi: The Furqaan Ahmed Collection, 2021).
"Nation and its Discontents", Cambridge History of the Modern Indian Subcontinent (forthcoming December 2025).
The Ahmadis and the Politics of Religious Exclusion in Pakistan (London/New York: Anthem Press, 2014). Winner of the Karachi Literary Festival (KLF) Peace Prize for 2015.
Qaum, Mulk, Sultanat: Citizenship and National Belonging in Pakistan (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, December 2023). Winner of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) Book Prize 2024.
Questioning the Authority of the Past: The Ahl al-Quran Movements in the Punjab (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Lahore - A History of the City through Ten Events (Manuscript under preparation; commissioned by Cambridge University Press for its new series on urban histories)
Buhay khulay rakhi - documentary film on partition violence (forthcoming January 2025)
Guest Editor (with Justin Jones) Special Issue of Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society titled "Isna Ashari and Ismaili Shiism in Modern South Asia" (July 2014).
Walking in the City: Mapping Lahore s Cultural and Social History https://archive.lums.edu.pk/interactives/home
Dastan-i-Urdu: Story of Urdu Literature in Pakistan https://lbfvirtualmuseum.org/daastan-i-urdu/
"Identity Formation through National Calendar: Holidays and Commemorations in Pakistan", An Intellectual History for Pakistan, St. Antony College, University of Oxford, 1 March, 2016
"Qaum, Mulk, Sultanat: The Ideas of Citizenship and Belonging in Pakistan", Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 18 March 2022
"Quilting Islam: Making of Pakistan as an Islamic Republic", Colloquium at the Department of Religion, University of Pennsylvania, 27 October 2022.
"State Violence vs Street Violence: Punjab Disturbances of 1953", Punjab Research Group, University of Cambridge, October 2010.
"What s in a name? Debates about Pakistan as an Islamic Republic", Democracy, Violence, and Constitutional Order in South Asia and beyond, South Asian Studies Annual Conference, Yale University, 29-30 April 2022.
"A National History for Pakistan: Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi (1903-81) and the Genealogy of the "Master Narrative"", St. Antony College, University of Oxford, 24 November 2015.
"The History of Historiography in Pakistan", Reimagining Muslim Pasts, organized by Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations (ISMC), 18-19 March, 2016, Sabanci University Centre, Istanbul.
"Nations and Commemorations: Public Holidays in Pakistan", From Subjects to Citizens: Society and the Everyday State in Indian and Pakistan, 1947-1964, Royal Asiatic Society, 9-10 September 2010.
"Tracing the Origins of an Ideological Agenda: Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi and the Writing of History in Pakistan", The Postcolonial Moment, Princeton University, 14-15 November 2015.
"Mullahs and the Modernists: Munir Report s (1954) Discourse on an Islamic State in Pakistan", Research Seminar Series, Royal Holloway College, 26 October 2010.
"Making Ahmadis Legible: Texts and Practices of State and Law in Pakistan", Entanglements of Law and Religion in South Asia, South Asian Studies Annual Conference, Yale University, 28-30 April 2017.
"Shariat or Liberalism? Adjudicating the Ahmadi Question in Pakistan" (manuscript in preparation)
(With Ilyas Chattha) "Crime as Political Performance: The Life and Times of Bhupat Daku in India and Pakistan (manuscript submitted for review)