Hilal Ahmed is interested in two broad areas of research: political Islam and the evolution of multiple Muslim modernities in South Asia and politics of symbols in relation to visual culture. He has done his PhD on Politics of Monument and Memory in North India: A Study of Muslim Political Discourse on Jama Masjid and Babri Masjid from School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (2007).

Ahmed has recently finished a study on Conservation of Indo-Islamic Historic Buildings in India: An Evaluation of the Postcolonial Indian Conservation Policy and Legal Framework, which is a part of a World Bank project on Policies and Financial Mechanisms for Culture in Sustainable Development Learning Initiative (2008). He is currently working on three projects: A monograph based on his PhD thesis, which has been accepted for publication (along with a Hindi version); a related project on Monuments, Monumentalization and the Idea of Muslim Heritage of Pakistan, which is an extension of his PhD work, and the Politics of Muslim Political Representation, which looks at the issues and debates on Muslim political representation in postcolonial India.

Ahmed has designed a course on Contemporary Challenges of Muslim Societies for Syracuse University's Muslim Cultures: Historical Diversity and Contemporary Realities program (2007). He has also conducted a training course Basic Islamic Awareness Training for NGO professionals working in London (2006). He was the co-convenor for an undergraduate course on Colonial and Nationalism in India for University of Delhi (2008). He has taught Political Science at the University of Delhi.

Ahmed has published essays, articles and commentaries in national and international journals, newspapers and websites. He writes in Hindi and English. In addition, he has produced a short documentary video entitled Encountering the Political Jama Masjid (18m, Colour, 2006) on different images of the Jama Masjid of Delhi.

Ahmed was awarded the Ford Foundation IFP Fellowship for his doctoral work (2002-05). He was also selected for the Asia Fellow Award (2007-08) and the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies Fellowship (2008-09). Ahmed was the recipient of the Association for Third Sector Research- Charities Aid Foundation Fellowship 2001-2002 and the UGC Junior/Senior Research Fellowship (1997-2001). A film Beacons of Hope, based on the works of four selected IFP India Alumni (Moving Images, /the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program Production, 2008, colour 25Min. English) has documented the struggles and achievements of Ahmed.