My name is Timothy R. Furnish and I'm a Ph.D. in Islamic history (Ohio State, 2001) who works as
a consultant, researcher and author on the topics of Islam, Mahdism, Jihadism, Shi`ism, other Islamic sects, the Caliphate
and Eschatology in general. During the Reagan years I was an Arabic linguist in the 101st Airborne Division;
later I was commissioned and trained as a (Christian) Army chaplain, although eventually opting for an academic,
rather than a military-pastoral, career. My personal research specializations are Islamic eschatology (end of time
beliefs), Mahdism, Islamic fundamentalism, jihadism, the Hidden Imam and how all of these relate to modern politics. I
am currently also working on a new book on the caliphate, as both a historical institution and as envisioned today by Islamist
groups like Hizb al-Tahrir.
Here's a link to an interview
of me by the editor of the History News Network:
