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Profile
College / Department
Teaching areas
Introduction to Arabic Heritage; Arab-Islamic Culture and Civilization; Islamic Texts in Translation; Sufism: Readings in Mystical Islam; Qur'anic Studies; Islamic Law and Jurisprudence.
Research areas
Sufism Islamic Law and Jurisprudence Islamic Theology Translation of Classical Arabic-Islamic Texts
Education
PhD, Arabic And Middle Eastern Studies, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, 2005
Professional experience
Lecturer In Islamic Studies, Department Of The Near And Middle East, School Of Oriental And African Studies, University Of London, London, Uk., 2003 - 2007
Memberships
American Academy of Religion, February 2014
Contact
Professor Gavin Nicholas Picken
Visiting Professor
Dr. Gavin Picken is Visiting Professor in the Department of Arabic and Translation Studies at the American University of Sharjah. Previously he taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh. He has authored several articles and book chapters on Islamic law, Sufism and the translation of Islamic literature. More specifically, 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).
Publications
Gavin Picken. “Islamic Bioethics: Sufi Ethics.”, November 2024
Gavin Picken And Lloyd Ridgeon. “al-Harith al-Muhasibi and spiritual purification between asceticism and mysticism.”, 2020
Gavin Picken And Said Faiq. “Translation as the instigator of a new Arabic discourse in Islamic intellectual history.”, 2019
Gavin Picken, Adis Duderija And Adis Duderija. The concept of sunna in the early Shafi'i madhhab, November 2015
Gavin Picken. Ijtihad, Ikhtilaf and the Evolution of a Legal Genre, Encounters: An International Journal For The Study Of Culture And Society, 1 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2015
Gavin Picken, Elizabeth Kendall, Ewan Stein, Elizabeth Kendall And Ewan Stein. The "greater" jihad in classical Islam: the Sufi concept of combating the soul, June 2015
Gavin Picken, A. Almanna, O. Carbonell, S. Faiq, A. Almanna, O. Carbonell And S. Faiq. Interpreting the Transcendent Experience: Translating Classical Sufi Texts, August 2014
Gavin Picken, Coeli Fitzpatrick, Adam Walker, Coeli Fitzpatrick And Adam Walker. Mawlid, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2014
Gavin Picken, Coeli Fitzpatrick, Adam Walker, Coeli Fitzpatrick And Adam Walker. Shadhiliyya, April (2nd Quarter/Spring) 2014
Gavin Picken, U. Martensson, J. Bailey, P. Ringrose, A Dyrendal., U. Martensson, J. Bailey, P. Ringrose And A Dyrendal.. The quest for orthodoxy and tradition in Islam: Hanbali responses to Sufism, June 2011
Gavin Picken. Spiritual Purification in Islam: The Life and Works of al-Muhasibi, March 2011
Gavin Picken. A scholar of the holy precincts: the life, works and methodology of Ibn al-Mundhir al-Naysaburi (d. 318/930), Oriens, 1 December 2010
Gavin Picken, Gavin Picken And Gavin Picken. Islamic Law, October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2010
Gavin Picken. Ibn Hanbal and al-Muhasibi: A study of early conflicting scholarly methodologies, Arabica, 1 September 2008
Gavin Picken, Ian Netton And Ian Netton. 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; Zaydism, pp. 698-9., May 2007
Gavin Picken. Tazkiyat al-nafs: the Qur'anic paradigm, Journal Of Qur'anic Studies, 1 October (4th Quarter/Autumn) 2005
Conference Presentations
“Beyond Creed: Prophethood and Miracles in Sufi Exegesis.”, Islamic Theology - Uniting Diverse Voices, 18 January 2024
“Synthesizing Tradition and Spiritual Purification: The Role of Hadith in the Works of al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī.”, Taṣawwuf And Traditionalism In Medieval Islam: Texts, Authors And Discourse, 30 October 2023
“Traversing the Nexus of the Physical and the Metaphysical: Negotiating Travel and Travel Writing in Sufism.”, Annual Conference Of The British Association For Islamic Studies, 15 May 2023
“Spiritual and Mystical Voices from the Periphery: The Marginalization of Sufism and Stambeli in Contemporary Tunisia.”, Symposium On Discourses Of Hate, Tolerance And Co-existence, 17 February 2022
“al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī and the 'Baghdad School': Reflections from the Oeuvre of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī.”, The Legacy Of Abū ʿabd Al-raḥmān Al-sulamī: On The Occasion Of The Millenary Of His Death, 9 December 2021
Sufi Biographical Literature: The Case of the Shadhiliyya Tariqa, Third International Conference On Arabic Studies And Islamic Civilization, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, March 2016
The Prophetic Night Journey and Heavenly Ascension in the Qur'an: the Mystical Interpretation of the Isra' and Mi'raj in Ibn 'Ajiba's al-Bahr al-Madid, Oxford Symposium Of Religious Studies, Oxford University, Oxford, December 2014
Plumbing the Depths of the 'Immense Ocean': the Mystical Interpretation of the Prophet in Ibn ʿAjība's al-Baḥr al-Madīd, Joint Ats-brismes Conference: Mapping Arabic Heritage: Language, Literature And Culture, Past And Present, American University Of Sharjah, May 2014
Travelling Companions: Joseph, the Sufis and Mystical Wayfaring on the Path to God., Oxford Symposium Of Religious Studies, Oxford, Oxfordshire, December 2013
Interpreting the Transcendent Experience: Translating Classical Sufi Texts, Texts In Contexts: New Cultural Constellations In Translation Studies, Fourth Annual Translation Conference, Translation And Interpreting Institute (tii), Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar, April 2013
Is there really a 'spiritual jihad' or are the Sufis 'faking it'?, Cambridge In Sharjah Symposium, American University Of Sharjah, Sharjah, March 2013
Islamic Law in the Gulf: Past and Present, International Faculty Development Seminar, Council On International Educational Exchange (ciee), American University Of Sharjah, Sharjah, January 2012
Spirituality for the past and present: al-Harith al-Muhasibi and the path of sincerity, Solas Foundation Seminar Series, University Of Glasgow, April 2010
The 'greater' jihad in classical Islam: the Sufi concept of combating the soul, Rethinking Jihad, Centre For The Advanced Study Of The Arab World, University Of Edinburgh, September 2009
A Scholar of the Holy Precincts: The life, works and methodology of Ibn al-Mundhir al-Naysaburi (d. 318/930), Conference Of The School Of Abbasid Studies, University Of Cambridge, July 2008
Purification of the Soul in the Classical Period: al-Harith al-Muhasibi's Methodology of Tazkiyat al-Nafs, Centre Of Middle Eastern And Islamic Studies Lent Lecture Series, University Of Cambridge, March 2006
Purification of the Soul: The Qur'anic Paradigm, Centre Of Islamic Studies Lecture Series, School Of Oriental And African Studies, University Of London., January 2006
The Science of the Human Soul: An Islamic Perspective, International Association Of Muslim Psychologists' Conference, London., September 2005
Sufism: Its Meaning and Concept, Centre Of Islamic Studies Lecture Series, School Of Oriental And African Studies, University Of London, January 2005
Grants and sponsorships
Faculty Research Grant (FRG 2), Office of Research and Graduate Studies, American University of Sharjah, 2 May 2013 - 2 May 2013
National Research Foundation Award, National Research Foundation, 3 May 2010 - 3 May 2010
