There has been a lot of people freaking out about Eid al-Adha this month.
For those who don’t know, Eid is an Islamic holiday that comes around twice a year. Because Islam follows the lunar calendar, the date changes each year. The first Eid, Eid al-Fitr, is the one following a month of fasting. Eid al-Adha is the celebration that comes after the yearly pilgrimage, or Hajj. This year, early calculations estimated Eid to be on September 11th
Now even though you probably already understand the dilemma, I’m still going to lay it out. Many Muslims are worried that because this celebration might land on 9/11, American’s will assume the Muslim community in their area is celebrated the attacks. This caused a level of fear to rise within local communities; fear of backlash; fear of protests, and fear of violence towards those celebrating.
Because of the 9/11 attacks, every year Eid al-Adha falls in September, Muslims in America began to pray it doesn’t line up anywhere near this fateful day. Every year, they fear the repercussions of someone else’s actions, and it is a hard thing to grow up on.
Who is really celebrating Labor day, and what are they celebrating? Why does it warrant a day of work/school? Memorial day? Someone please explain to me, why Columbus day is even a thing when he so very blatantly did not discover anything… Why do I have to use up personal days at work, or one of my three free days at school to celebrate a religious holiday?
The usual response to this question is: “It’s because it changes every year” or “we can’t take days of for everyone’s holiday, then we’ll never work!” Here’s the thing. Don’t take labor day, memorial day, or Columbus day off. Don’t take two weeks for Christmas/New Years and one week for thanksgiving.
Give me, and the other 3.3 million Muslims living in this country, two out of the three hundred and fifty-five days you have left.
p.s. Don’t worry, Eid’s on the 12th…
