A First — Schools Closed for Muslim Holiday

By FARAZ T. TOOR

Public schools throughout the city were closed Thursday for Eid al-Adha, the first time they have closed for a Muslim holiday during the school year.

“It’s the best thing to happen not only for Muslims, but also New York City,” said Mohammad Mardah, a Bronx resident and parent. “Our kids no longer have to miss out on the festivities [for school].”

The off day came as promised almost seven months after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced public schools would observe Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr.

The first Muslim holy day, Eid al-Fitr, was July 17. City summer schools were closed that day, but Thursday marked the first time most New York City Muslim students were off from school on one of their religious holidays.

“Now my friends at school know more about my holidays,” said Amani Aboelnour, a Muslim fifth-grader at P.S. 39 on Staten Island.

“I’m absolutely thrilled. Before I used to look at the calendar, and if [Eid] fell on a Saturday or Sunday I’d say, ‘Oh, it’s a good year!’” said Abdelrahman Aboelnour, Amani’s father. “I hoped it would fall on a Saturday or a Sunday, otherwise I would have to make a choice.”

The Coalition for Muslim School Holidays—a collective of more than 100 organizations, including labor unions 32BJ SEIU and the United Federation of Teachers, and several city elected officials—pushed mayoral candidates in the 2013 election to support adding the two holidays to the school calendar.

“Listen to me carefully, young men and women of tomorrow: you don’t have to choose between your faith and your school,” Hesham El-Meligy, the coalition’s coordinator, said at an event Thursday to celebrate the first Eid day off. “This is a chance to show people and teach them about your faith.”

The coalition held the celebratory event at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan in the Upper East Side. NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and numerous elected officials—including City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer—many of whom worked with the coalition to push the agenda, celebrated the occasion with El-Meligy.

“We are not just the heart of capitalism and acquisition,” Brewer said. “We are a spiritual city.”

“Today, Muslim children can turn and ask, ‘Why are we off today?’” Stringer said. “And then you can teach them.”

In the past, many Muslim parents would either send their children to school during the Eid days, or have them skip school to attend the religious festivities, which sometimes would clash with exams. City government says 10 percent of public school students are Muslim.

In 2006, the Coalition for Muslim School Holidays began to gather supporters and petitioned city government to have public schools observe the holidays. Two years later, City Council passed a resolution that called upon the Department of Education to incorporate Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha into the school calendar as observed holidays, and the state legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo to pass it and sign it into law.

But then-mayor Michael Bloomberg did not put the resolution to action. He said students needed more time in the classroom, not less; argued that it would not be possible to observe the bevy of religious holidays that New Yorkers celebrate; and expressed concerns that parents of kids of different religions would need to arrange child care on the off days.

According to El-Meligy, the coalition provided the mayor calendar projections of how the off days could flow into the school year, but Bloomberg gave “silly reasons” for not adopting the resolution and clearly “did not support the Muslim community.”

“I love the sounds of the children here, which represent the growing pains of this coalition, because we had to scream and fight for this,” James said at the museum Thursday.

Some of the religious holidays that are already on the city’s public school calendar include the Christian holidays Good Friday and Christmas and the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Some activists have called upon de Blasio to ensure that city public schools observe other religious holidays, such as the Hindu festival Diwali.

After the March announcement that city schools would observe Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, de Blasio promised to work on giving students the Asian holiday Lunar New Year off as well. Three months later, he confirmed that public schools will now also observe that holiday.

Eid al-Adha commemorates the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son to God. The exact dates for both Eids change every year because they are based on a lunar calendar.