His research areas included applied mathematics, theoretical physics, mathematical physics, the theories of gravitation, general relativity, mathematical cosmology, and quantum field theory. Islam authored, coauthored or edited more than 50 scientific articles, books and some popular articles published in various scientific journals. Besides this he has also written books in Bengali. Particularly noteworthy are Black Hole, published by the Bangla Academy, "The Mother Tongue, Scientific Research and other Articles" and "Art, Literature and Society". The latter two are compilations.