His research focuses mainly on the themes of violent conflict, Islam and interfaith relations, non-state political authority, and citizenship. He has conducted extensive mixed-methods fieldwork in northern Nigeria, particularly in Kano, as well as in the Netherlands. David earned his graduate degrees at Oxford (M.Phil 2007, D.Phil 2012) at Queen Elizabeth House, where he also worked as research officer and principal investigator of the Nigerian chapter of Leiden’s Islam Research Project