Dr. Gavin N. Picken

Assistant Professor in the Department of Arabic Studies

Dr. Gavin Picken completed his undergraduate studies in the field of Biology, graduating from Manchester, in 1991. He changed direction, however, by studying Arabic Language at the International Islamic University in Medina. He furthered his academic pursuit of Islamic Studies via an undergraduate program in Universiti Brunei Darussalam, majoring in Islamic Law (al-shari’a) and then, by completing an MA degree in Arabic Studies by research at the University of Leeds. He continued his PhD studies at the same institute and graduated in June 2005. Dr. Picken taught at the University of Leeds, Cambridge University and was a Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London for four years before joining AUS.

Research Interests:

The Islamic tradition in the formative period, including Islamic jurisprudence (al-fiqh), theology (al-kalam), Qur’anic studies, hadith studies Islamic spirituality and mysticism (al-tasawwuf), as part of the evolution of Islamic intellectual history.

Publications:

Articles

An article entitled, “Tazkiyat al-Nafs: the Qur’ānic Paradigm”, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, volume vii, issue 2, 2005, pp. 101-127.
An article entitled, “Ibn Hanbal and al-Muhasib ‏i: A Study of Early Conflicting Scholarly Methodologies”, Arabica (Revue d'études arabes et islamiques), volume 55, issue 3, 2008, pp. 337-361.

Encyclopaedia Entries

Twenty four entries in Netton, I. R. (ed.) Encyclopaedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion (New York: Routledge, 2008): 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.

Book Reviews

Westerlund, David and Svanberg, Ingvar (eds.), Islam Outside the Arab World (Richmond: Curzon, 1999) 476 pp. BJMES, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Nov., 2001), pp. 247-249.
El-Hibri, Tayeb, Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate, Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999) 236 pp. BJMES, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Nov., 2001), pp. 234-236.
Sirriyeh, Elizabeth, Sufis and Anti-Sufi: the Defence, Rethinking and Rejection of Sufism in the Modern World, Curzon Sufi Series (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1999) 188 pp. BJMES, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Nov., 2003), pp. 261-262.
Chittick, William C., Sufism: a Short Introduction (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2000) 180 pp. BJMES, Vol. 30, No. 1 (May, 2003), pp. 109-110.
Kamali,Mohammad Hashim, A Textbook of Hadith Studies, Authenticity, Compilation, Classification and Criticism of Hadith (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 2005) 257 pp. Journal of Qur’anic Studies, vol. viii, issue 1, pp. 131-138.

Works in Progress

Invited to author a chapter as a supplement to conference proceedings entitled, “Hanbali Sufism from its formation to the Internet” for the two volume work, Fundamentalism in the Modern World, I. B. Tauris, forthcoming 2009.
Proposal submitted to Routledge as part of their Sufi series for a monograph to be published with the provisional title of “Master of the Wayfarers: al-Harith al-Muhasibi and Purification of the Soul in Islam.”
Contract received for a Routledge Major Work - Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies: Islamic Law, which is a selection of approximately seventy previously published articles that will make up a four-volume essential reference work for both the general public and the academic audience, forthcoming 2009.

Conferences and Seminars

A seminar for the Centre Islamic Studies Lecture Series entitled “Sufism: Its Meaning and Concept” (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, January 26th 2005).
A paper for the International Association of Muslim Psychologists’ Conference entitled, “The Science of the Human Soul: An Islamic Perspective” (London, September 24th, 2005).
A seminar for the Centre Islamic Studies Lecture Series entitled “Purification of the Soul: The Qur’anic Paradigm” (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, January 18th 2006).
A seminar for the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Lent Lecture Series entitled “Purification of the Soul in the Classical Period: al-Harith al-Muhasibi’s Methodology of Tazkiyat al-Nafs” (CMEIS, University of Cambridge, March 2nd 2006).
A paper for the Conference of the School of Abbasid Studies entitled, “A Scholar of the Holy Precincts: The life, works and methodology of Ibn al-Mundhir al-Naysaburi (d. 318/930)” (University of Cambridge, July 2008).