A petition started by three students asking for recognition of Muslim religious holidays in public schools failed to get enough signatures.
(Jan 16, 2014 – Southern California)
A petition started by three middle-school students asking for recognition of Muslim religious holidays in public schools failed to garner enough signatures by its deadline today.
Last month, three Virginia teenaged girls posted the petition on WhiteHouse.gov’s “We the People” page, asking for the recognition of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
Eid, which is the Arabic word for festival, is a day that involves prayer, time with family and close friends – and plenty of gifts.
Eid al-Fitr, signifies the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid al-Adha, which translates to “festival of sacrifice,” comes after the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Because the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle, the holidays fall on a different date each year.
“It’s a happy day,” said Fatimah, a seventh-grader and one of the petition authors. “If you’re worrying you’re going to have to miss school, then it just ruins the entire day.”
Another girl, eighth-grader Sumayyah, said she didn’t want to have to choose between celebrating Eid and going to class. “We would like it that in every county where there is a substantial number of Muslims, schools take the day off,” she said.
READ MORE: SCPR