As the school year ends, the majority of people are worried about upcoming assignments, sports, finals, grades, and many more. But, some were worried about another matter: Eid al-Fitr.

Eid is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world for four days after completing a month of fasting from dawn to sunset; this month is known as “Ramadan”. 

Ramadan is the Arabic name for the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. It is considered one of the holiest months for Muslims, and is one of the five pillars of Islam. 

At the end of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate by attending their local mosque in the early morning and wearing traditional clothing. They enjoy time with close family and exchange gifts.

This year, Eid al-Fitr was confirmed to fall on a Friday, based on the Islamic lunar calendar. Following this, Muslim students and parents would have to be forced to choose between missing important lessons or staying home to celebrate this important holiday. Muslims celebrate two Eid holidays: Eid al-Fitr which comes at the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha which marks the end of pilgrimage to Makkha, also known as Hajj. Students often opt for missing school. Although missing one day of school may not be seen as a big deal, it is very stressful because Muslim students end up falling behind all of their classmates. They possibly have to rush to finish assignments or tests that they miss on that day.

People against closing schools on Eid argue that Muslims only take up 2% of the U.S population. Although this number does not seem like a lot, Islam is the third most followed religion in the world, making Muslims the largest minority.

It is not fair to the Islamic community that the school’s calendar cancels school on other religious holidays. Spring break is usually set up to span the week before Easter, and students typically have two full weeks off for Christmas. Making Eid a national holiday would show our countries respect to every Muslim in America and other Muslim countries around the world. If all these school days are missed for Christian holidays, then there should not be a problem with removing at least one or two days from the school calendar for Muslims.

(This is not to mention that this year’s Eid fell on the same day as Prom – poor planning, to say the least.)

The school should think about how Muslim students feel about this issue, and take action, as significant numbers of students are missing school on Eid al-Fitr every year.