School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures
The University of Edinburgh School of Literatures, Languages & Cultures

Dr. Gavin N Picken

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, the School of Oriental and African Studies and the American University of Sharjah, before joining the University of Edinburgh.

Research Interests

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

Publications

Works in Progress

A Routledge Major Work - Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies: Islamic Law, which is a selection of sixty previously published articles that will make up a four-volume essential reference work for both the general public and the academic audience. Forthcoming January 2010.

Invited chapter entitled, ‘The quest for orthodoxy and tradition in Islam: Hanbali responses to Sufism’ for a two-volume work edited by Ulrika Martensson, Jennifer Bailey, Priscilla Ringrose and Asbjorn Dyrendal, Fundamentalism in the Modern World, and published by I. B. Tauris. Forthcoming May 2010.

A monograph to be published by Routledge as part of their Sufi series with the title Spiritual Purification in Islam: The Life and works of al-Muhasibi. Forthcoming June 2010.

An article for the Occasional Papers 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).’ Forthcoming 2010.

 

Journal Articles

An article entitled, “Tazkiyat al-Nafs: the Qur’anic Paradigm”, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, volume vii, issue 2, 2005, pp. 101-127.

An article entitled, “Ibn Hanbal and al-Muhasib‏i: A Study of Early Conflicting Scholarly Methodologies”, Arabica (Revue d'études arabes et islamiques), volume 55, issue 3, 2008, pp. 337-361.

 

Encyclopedia 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.

 

Conferences & 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).

A paper for the “Rethinking Jihad” conference entitled ‘The ‘greater’ jihad in classical Islam: the Sufi concept of combating the soul’ convened by the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World (University of Edinburgh, September 2009).