As a PhD candidate Faheem looked at industrialization and the continuation of household textile production in the UK and China ca. 1750-1990. His main research question was: Why did household textile production largely continue alongside textile factory production in China’s 20th century industrialization but not on the same scale in 18th-19th century Britain?

Faheem studied his bachelors in Economics and History at Glasgow University. From there he moved to Utrecht for his Masters in History and later his PhD at Utrecht University.