Islam is a human rights lawyer and activist and independent researcher. He has four academic qualifications in law. He studied international law and human rights at undergraduate and graduate levels. Islam has been in the field of human rights since 1998 and is a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. His previous engagements include, among others, the contribution to the preparation of a report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the contribution to the preparation of a report of UN Working group on the use of mercenaries, filing of amicus curiae briefs before the Inter American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR). The United Nations Security Council Affairs Division enlisted Islam as a member of the sanctions ‘Roster of Experts’ (From March 2018 to October 2022) and the area of expertise was: international law.