Islam was born in 1943 in Chandpur, Bangladesh. He is pre-eminently known as a printmaker. He graduated from the East Pakistan College of Arts and Crafts, Dhaka in 1966 and worked there as a teacher from 1966 to 1969. In July of 1969, he went to Spain on a government where he worked for five decades. He set up a printmaking, fresco and mural painting practice in Madrid. He was the first non-Spanish to receive the ‘Nacional Award of printmaking of Spain’ in 1997. Notable among other awards are the 5th International Exhibition of Prints (Ibiza, Spain), Carmen Arozamena Prize (Madrid), International Graphics Exhibition in Yugoslavia, the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award, Accessit National Award of Spain, the Ekushey Padak, National Award, Scholars of Bangladesh and Hamidur Rahman Smriti Puraskar, Dhaka. In 2010, he was conferred the Cross of Officer of the Order of Queen Isabella. In 2018, he received the Royal Award of Merit of Spain and in 2019, the Honorary Fellowship of the Bangla Academy. In the same year he was awarded the Zainul Abedin award by Dhaka Fine Arts Academy. He was a member of international juries in the Cairo Triennale (1999 & 2003), Spanish International Prints Competition (2000), Bharat Bhavan Seventh Biennial of Contemporary Indian Art (2017) and the first Biennale of Indian Printmaking at the Lalit Academy (2019).