Dr. Gavin Picken is Professor of Islamic Studies at the College of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). Prior to joining HBKU, Dr. Picken taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge and the American University of Sharjah. His field of competence and research focus has been classical Islamic literature in Arabic, as it relates to Islamic jurisprudence and theology, within the context of the evolution of Muslim intellectual history. More specifically his field of specialism is Sufism, in both its historical context and contemporary expression, including its social movements, mystical prose and devotional poetry. 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).
