Gavin Picken | Hamad Bin Khalifa University
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Dr. Gavin Picken

Professor of Islamic Studies

Email

gpicken@hbku.edu.qa

Phone

+974 44540174

Office location

C.01.046

Dr. Gavin Picken

Professor of Islamic Studies

Educational Qualifications

PhD in Islamic Studies

MA in Research in Arabic Studies

Entity

College of Islamic Studies

Program

Master of Arts in Contemporary Islamic Studies

Divison

Islamic Studies

Biography

Dr. Gavin Picken is a Professor at the College of Islamic Studies. He previously taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge, and the American University of Sharjah. 

Dr. Picken’s specialization and research focus is classical Islamic literature in Arabic, within the evolution of Muslim intellectual history. More specifically he focuses on Islamic mysticism, or Sufism, in both its historical context and contemporary expression, including its social movements, mystical prose, and devotional poetry. 

He has authored several articles and chapters on Islamic law, Sufism, and the translation of Islamic literature. He is the author of Spiritual Purification in Islam: The Life and Works of Al-Muhasibi (London; New York: Routledge, 2011) and the editor of a four-volume compendium of selected articles titled Islamic Law (London; New York: Routledge, 2010).

 

PhD in Islamic Studies

University of Leeds

2005

MA in Research in Arabic Studies

University of Leeds

2000

BA in Islamic Studies

University Brunei Darussalam, Brunei

1998

Diploma in Modern Standard Arabic

International Islamic University of Medina

1996

BSc (Hons.) in Applied Biological Sciences

Manchester Metropolitan University

1991

  • Sufism
  • Islamic Law
  • Islamic Theology
  • Translation Studies

Program Coordinator of MA Program in Islamic Studies

CIS, HBKU

Aug 2018 – June 2022

Professor of Islamic Studies

CIS, HBKU

Aug 2018 – Present

Professor

Department of Arabic and Translation Studies, American University of Sharjah

Aug 2017 – Aug 2018

Associate Professor

Department of Arabic and Translation Studies, American University of Sharjah

Aug 2011 – Aug 2017

Assistant Professor

Department of Arabic and Translation Studies, American University of Sharjah

Aug 2007 – Aug 2011

Lecturer In Islamic Studies

Department of the Near and Middle East, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London

Oct 2003 – Aug 2007

BOOKS
  • Routledge Sufi Series. London: Routledge. [ISBN: 978-0-41554-822-9].
  • Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies, 4 vols. London: Routledge. [ISBN: 978-0-41547-076-6].
BOOK CHAPTERS
  • In Faiq, S. (Ed.), Arabic Translation Across Discourses. London, New York: Routledge. [ISBN: 978-1-13829-816-3].
  • In Duderija, A. (Ed.), The Sunna and Status in Islamic Law: The Search for a Sound Hadith. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. 139-62. [ISBN: 978-1-13737-645-9].
  • In Kendall, E., & Stein, E. (Eds.), Twenty First Century Jihad: Law, Society and Military Action. London: I.B. Taurus. 126-38. [ISBN: 978-1-78076-916-5].
  • In Almanna, A., Carbonell, O., & Faiq, S. (Eds.), Culguage in/of Translation from Arabic. LINCOM Studies in Translation 07. Munich: LINCOM GmbH. 154-78. [ISBN: 978-3-86228-584-8].
  • In Martensson, U., Bailey, J., Ringrose, P., & Dyrendal, A. (Eds.), Fundamentalism in the Modern World, 2 vols. London: I. B. Tauris. Vol. 2. 237-63. [ISBN: 978-1-84885-361-4].
JOURNAL ARTICLES
  • Encounters: An International Journal for the Study of Culture and Society, 6. 65-93.
  • Oriens, 38. 185-215.
  • Arabica (Revue d'Études Arabes et Islamiques), 55 (3). 337-361.
  • Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 7 (2). 101-127.
OTHERS
  • In Shabana, A. (Ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of Islamic Bioethics. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • al-ʿIzz ʿAbd al-Salām (d. 660/1261); al-Kalabādhī, Abū Bakr (d. 380/990); al-Muhasibī, al-Hārith ibn Asad (d. 243/857); al-Nawawī (d. 767/1277); al-Sulamī, Abū ʿAbd al-Rahmān (d. 412/1021); al-Tūsī, Abū Nasr al-Sarrāj (d. 378/988); Chishtī, Muhyī al-Dīn (d. 633/1236); Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463/1071); Ibn al-Mundhir (d. 319/930); Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd (620-702/1223-1302); Zarrūq, Ahmad (d. 899/1493). In Abdel Haleem, M. A. S., & Shah, M. (Eds.), The I.B. Tauris Biographical Dictionary of Islamic Civilization. London: I.B. Taurus. [ISBN: 978-1-84885-311-9].
  • In Fitzpatrick, C., & Walker, A. (Eds.), Muhammad in History, Thought and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Vol. 1, 365-9. [ISBN: 978-1-61069-177-2].
  • In Fitzpatrick, C., & Walker, A. (Eds.), Muhammad in History, Thought and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Vol. 2, 542-8. [ISBN: 978-1-61069-177-2].
  • Ahmadis, p. 31; Ash‘arism, pp. 67-8; Babism, p. 79; Barelwia, pp. 86-7; Bohoras, p. 106; Deobandis, pp. 139-40 ; Druze, p. 151; Hashimiyya, p. 220; Ibadism, p. 245; Ibn al-Mundhir, pp. 249-50; Isma‘ilism/Batinism, p. 315; Ithna‘asharism, p. 318; Jahmism, p. 325; Kharijism, pp. 346-7; Maturidism, p. 398; al-Muhasibi, pp. 440-3; Murji’ism, p. 454; Mustalians, p. 464; Mu‘tazilism, pp. 472-3; Nizaris, p. 491; Nusayris/‘Alawis, p. 492; Qadarism, p. 519; Salafis, p. 576; Shi‘ism, pp. 596-7; Sunnism, pp. 625-6 and Zaydism, pp. 698-9. In Netton, I. R. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion. New York: Routledge. [ISBN: 978-0-7007-1588-6].

  • Principal Investigator, Faculty Research Grant (Frg 2) — American University of Sharjah, 2013–2015
  • King Faisal Foundation Scholarship — King Faisal Foundation, 2001-2002
  • Arts And Humanities Research Board (AHRB) Doctoral Scholarship — Arts And Humanities Research Board, 2000-2005