Right on Muslim holidays

It isn’t easy to be a Muslim-American. The headlines are filled with extremists who falsely invoke Islam and contribute to a distorted image of the religion. Recent years have seen anti-Muslim sentiment erupt into incidents like last month’s fatal shooting of three Muslim students in North Carolina in a suspected hate crime. 

Difficulties for Muslim-Americans are also built into daily life, with students in New York City and much of the rest of the country at times having to choose between practicing their religion and following the rules. It is not surprising that 52 percent of Muslim-Americans reported feeling that western societies do not respect them, according to a Gallup poll.

One student at the Bronx High School of Science said missing class in order to pray during Eid-al-Adha, one of Islam’s main holidays, put him at a disadvantage academically.

“Kids are going hardcore on academics — just missing one test is so crucial,” said Sadique Rahman, 18. “They’re conflicted between their faith and possibly not getting into college.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent decision to designate Eid-al-Adha and Eid-al-Fitr as school holidays is thus a welcome one. In solving a practical problem for Muslim students and strengthening the spirit of inclusion in the city, the move should inspire us to seek more ways to build ties between Muslim New Yorkers and people of other faiths.

The Department of Education (DOE) does not track its 1.1 million students by religion. But most estimates place the number of Muslim pupils in the system at around 10 percent. That means for years, more than 100,000 students have faced the lose-lose situation of either praying and coming late to school or being on time and neglecting a stipulation of two of their main holidays. Thanks to the change in policy, that scenario is a thing of the past.