Tharik is an author, travel writer and journalist specialising in Muslim heritage and culture.
His debut book, Minarets in the Mountains; A Journey into Muslim Europe was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize in Non Fiction and shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award. It was also one of the Books of the Year for the TLS, the New Statesman and Prospect magazine and a Travel Book of the Year for the Washington Post and Newsweek. It is the first travelogue to explore Muslim Europe through the eyes of a Muslim writer.
Tharik is also the author of several travel guides for Lonely Planet, including Saudi Arabia (shortlisted for the 2020 Travel Media Awards), Bahrain, Thailand, London and Great Britain. In July 2019, Tharik created Britain's first Muslim heritage trails, in Surrey, England; in 2017 he was named one of the UK's most inspiring British Bangladeshis and in 2016 his BBC World Service radio documentary, America's Mosques; a story of integration, won Best Religious Program at the New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs Awards.
Tharik is a Fellow of the Centre of Religion and Heritage at the University of Groningen, an advisor to the Institute of Islamic Art Thailand and has an MA in Islamic Studies. He possesses two decades of experience in media and education, and is a leading consultant on global Muslim culture and travel.