About Absar Kazmi – Illustrator & Founder of IslamicComics.org

Assalaam-u-alaikum!

Here’s a little bit about my background and also some interviews (in case you’re interested!).

My Background

I was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1976. Due to my father’s work, I spent much of my early life travelling from country to country. I had the opportunity to live in Kenya, Trinidad, the Bahamas, as well as the United States. I like to think that this experience has given me a decent insight about the languages, customs and traditions cherished by other cultures.

As a child, I loved illustrating. My desk would always be full of pictures of people and animals, superheroes and wrestlers… I would get lost for hours doing this. But soon, I gave it up to pursue ‘higher goals’…

I completed my Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the U.S. in 1998. After this, I spent the next 10 – 11 years working in the IT industry in the U.S. and in Pakistan. I soon got bored… I wanted to do something for myself… something more than a job… I knew this is not for me…

My wife encouraged me to go back to doing what I loved to do since childhood… illustrating. She even got me a few illustrating jobs. Alhamdulillah, even though I hadn’t done any illustrating for over a decade, the clients liked my work.

And I haven’t looked back since!

On IslamicComics.org, you can see lots of my illustrations.

You can also see all the books which I have authored and/or illustrated here!

My Interviews

A few magazines have also interviewed me to discuss my illustration work and my comic series, ‘Life with the Ahmad Family‘. You can read/watch some of those interviews here: