He holds a PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo on the metaphysics and cosmology of process according to Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsāʾī (d. 1826). His research focuses on Islamic cosmology, philosophy, metaphysics, and mysticism, specifically within a Shīʿī context. He has published a number of articles and books, including Islām, Stations, and Process: the Spirituality of Walāyah (New York, 2011), Sign and Creation: the Cosmology of Walāyah (New York, 2011), and, with Mirrakor Abbas, Islam and Development: The Institutional Framework (New York, 2009). Professor Idris Hamid has been a Fellow of the Shīʿah Institute since October 2012.