Eboo Patel wins Religion Award

Post by **sauronsfinger** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 4:14 pm

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 4492.story

The most lucrative prize in the field of religion - the 2010 Louisville Grawemeter Award - was awarded to Eboo Patel of Chicago, Illinois. Patel is an advisor to President Barack Obama. He is notable for his work to interest young people in religion and the emphasis he places on diversity in religious thinking. Patel, who is only 34 years of age, receives $200,000.00 as part of his prize.

Post by **MithLuin** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:43 pm

He won it for his autobiography. Part of me is very amused that a 32-year-old would write and publish an autobiography, but I remember C.S. Lewis commenting that the most interesting part of a biography was always the beginning (childhood, growing up, etc), so even though he wrote Surprised by Joy (his own autobiography) as an older man, it only covers those years.

HERE is the link to the book on Amazon.

To be fair, few people his age can claim to have interviewed the Dalai Lama or stood in the Oval Office for a meeting with the President. The reviews on Amazon suggest it is well written and engaging, though not really about his religion per se. Maybe more about religious identity? Still, it's supposed to be a very hopeful book.

I was curious if he was the first Muslim to win the award (it is given by a Presbyterian Seminary), and the list of previous winners turns out to include a rabbi, a Catholic nun and a novelist. (Actually, two nuns and two Jews, at least one black man, and some (few) non-Americans) Though many of the recipients have focused on interfaith dialogue and religions other than Christianity, he is indeed the first Muslim recipient. Interestingly, the selection committee must include at least one non-Christian and one non-American. The award has been given out since 1990, and they do occasionally skip a year.

Also, the deadline for submissions was Dec. 1st. I'm surprised they were able to deliberate so quickly!

Post by **sauronsfinger** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 8:27 pm

MithLuin - yes, he is rather young and that was one of things that caught my attention about this story. Here is a four minute radio story on him from NPR today.

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121374147

Post by **Inanna** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:33 pm

Am just surprised a "Patel" is a Muslim.

Post by **vison** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 9:47 pm

Me, too.

Post by **River** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 10:08 pm

Maybe he converted, or his family did.

Post by **MithLuin** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 10:21 pm

He was raised Muslim in America; if his family converted, it was before they left India. I don't get the impression they were particularly devout, but they weren't nonpracticing, either. One of the anecdotes (presumably from the book he wrote) tells how, as a 6 year old, he had to bring halal hot dogs to a party with him. And then he found out that the Jewish kids were bringing their own kosher hot dogs as well, so he wasn't so singled out

.

Post by **Inanna** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:24 pm

And here I thought my comment would sail over y'all heads.

Post by **MithLuin** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:36 pm

I have to admit that I wouldn't know what part of India one would 'typically' find Muslims, or what their last names would be. I mean, that was the whole point of Pakistan and Bangladesh becoming their own nations...

I only know you can find the Catholics in Kerala, because when I meet Indian Catholics in the US, that's where they're all from

.

And I suppose the cities would be more likely to have religious minorities, as well.

So, while it didn't completely go over my head...I couldn't have made the same comment myself. I didn't guess he was Muslim til after I saw the title of his book, though

.

Post by **River** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 6:03 pm

Mahima wrote:And here I thought my comment would sail over y'all heads.

There was a relatively large South Asian population at my college and they liked to educate. There are plenty of things I don't know, but I do know that certain last names go with certain religions and, if the religion has castes, certain castes (couldn't tell you which goes where, necessarily, other than Singhs are usually Sikh, the higher caste last names tend to be longer, and Eboo is the first Patel I've even heard of that wasn't Hindu).

Post by **Inanna** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 6:06 pm

couldn't tell you which goes where, necessarily, other than Singhs are usually Sikh, the higher caste last names tend to be longer

Shows you have been educated by South Indians, not North Indians. And now, I will shut up.

Post by **River** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 6:54 pm

You're probably right, though I did have a Kashmiri roommate one summer. But her family lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and she mostly talked about how, if you're a woman in Saudi Arabia, you want to be completely covered up because the men look at you like you're naked.

Post by **Inanna** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 7:05 pm

Better than having to wear a burkha, I guess. Sigh

Post by **superwizard** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:07 am

Nice to see a thread about this! I've read his book and talked with Eboo a few times; he's a really a smart, eloquent, nice guy.

We awarded him the Muslim American Contribution Award (http://msan.stanford.edu/maca/past_recipients.html) a few months ago and he was gracious enough to accept it.

In case anyone was wondering he was born muslim (Ismaili muslim in fact). That said, though he identifies himself and Ismaili he calls himself muslim and tries to bridge gaps between different sects of Islam as well. That was another source of pride for our Muslim organizations at Stanford because in other places there is a good amount of tension between ismailies and the more dominant muslim groups (sunni and shi'i) who tend to dismiss ismailis as 'out of the fold' of islam.

Post by **Inanna** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:20 am

Hey sw!!

Nice to see you here.

You've met him? That is so cool. I didn't even know about Ismaili Muslims... but then my religious knowledge is woefully weak.

Post by **vison** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:09 am

I knew an Ismaili family, friends of neighbours of ours. Lovely people. I remember when the Aga Khan visited here, Sarah and her husband were so excited.

Our neighbours moved away and I don't see Sarah and her family any more. But I remember how we used to laugh at the kids calling them "Smiley Muslims".

Post by **Lalaith** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:20 am

I've never heard of an Ismaili Muslim. ?? I know I could go look it up, but it might be more fun for someone (superwizard??) to fill me in. I also think it's neat that you've met him, sw.

(And I was also surprised that a Patel was Muslim.)

Post by **superwizard** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:11 pm

Ismailis only make up about 2% of the total Muslim population (~15-20 million in total). They have several different beliefs then Sunnis and mainstream Shi'is. When people say Shi'i they usually refer to a branch of Shi'ism-Twelver Shi'ism which is by far the largest and the one that's on the news. Technically Ismailis are are Shi'i but they are rarely referred to as that.

As Vison briefly mentioned Ismailis main religious figure is the Aga Khan. I don't want to bore anyone with too much detail but, in short, the main difference between Sunnis and Shi'is (in this case I mean both twelvers and ismailis) is that Shi'is believe that after Mohammad his descendants were meant to be the rulers of the Muslim Empire and that they should have been the Khalifas (they refer to those who they believe should have been the rulers as the holy Imams). The Twelver Shi'is believe that the first twelve Imams were divine and that their words should be held in reverence. They believe the twelfth one went into hiding and will reappear at the end of days and so no more appeared after that. Ismailis, on the other hand, believe that the line still continues and currently the descendant that they follow is the Aga Khan.

It's good to see you all too