March 17, 2020
Khaled Abou El Fadl, Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor in Islamic Law at the UCLA School of Law and Chair of the Islamic Studies Interdepartmental Program at UCLA, is the recipient of the 2020 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion.
In announcing the award, Evan Berry, chair of the AAR’s Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion (CPUR) acknowledged the award “identifies extraordinary, relevant, broad-reaching contributions to the public understanding of religion. We recognize Dr. Abou El Fadl’s influences inside and outside of the academy.”
At the UCLA School of Law, Abou El Fadl teaches International Human Rights, Islamic Jurisprudence, National Security Law, Law and Terrorism, Islam and Human Rights, Political Asylum, and Political Crimes and Legal Systems. The committee cited and commended his intellectual courage, ability to write for non-specialist audiences, longstanding commitment to human rights, and willingness to bring academic expertise to bear on the complex religious and political dynamics that have characterized the post-9/11 era.
The AAR Marty Award celebrates individuals whose work has a relevance and eloquence that speaks, not just to scholars, but more broadly to other publics as well. Founded in 1909, the AAR is the world’s largest association of religion scholars with some 8,000 members in North America and abroad. The AAR’s mission is to foster excellence in the academic study of religion and enhance the public understanding of religion.