Pascal Held's research is primarily concerned with medieval Islamic mysticism and piety, especially in the 5^th/11^th and 6^th/12^th centuries. Beyond that, he is interested in the cultural and intellectual history of medieval Iran and Iraq. Currently, he is working on a project that revolves around the question of how diverse forms of medieval Islamic piety and mysticism relate to local culture and identity.

Held completed a doctorate in Islamic thought at the University of Chicago. His PhD thesis explored the connections between the Ḥanbalī law school and mysticism, by comparing the ideas of ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (d. 1166) and Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 1201). Before coming to AUC, he taught Islamic studies at the University of Oxford (2016-17).