‘25
In April, Indian Hills’ remaining snow days were given back, allowing the student-staff population to be off on April 21st, an unbeknownst day to many students and faculty members. This day marked the date of Eid al-Fitr, one of Islam’s two biggest holidays. The ruling was a win for Muslim students throughout the school who have been taking excused absences to celebrate the holiday for years, having to make up for the work they missed after the fact.
Millions of Muslims around the world celebrated Eid al-Fitr in late April this year. It is the first of two official Islamic holidays, the second being Eid al-Adha, which was last celebrated in July 2022. Eid al-Fitr—meaning ‘festival of the breaking of the fast’—is a feast celebrated after Ramadan, an Islamic month where many Muslims fast as a devotion to Allah and their faith. The word ‘Eid’ means festival, or a feast, in Arabic. These festivals are based on the Lunar calendar, which is a little over a week shorter than the solar calendar utilized in the United States and the majority of the rest of the world. Because of this, the dates of both Eids change yearly, though Eid al-Adha is always around two months after Eid al-Fitr. This holiday usually begins a day after sighting the new crescent moon, which marks the end of Ramadan. During this day, Muslims will attend prayers at their mosques and then break their fasts amongst friends and family and feast, all the while thanking Allah for their blessings.
Eid al-Fitr was originated by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in 624 CE, to celebrate the Muslim victory in the Battle of Badr. This battle was the first broad clash between Muslims and the Quraysh, a group of Arab clans that controlled the city of Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammad and thereby the holiest city in Islam. The holiday festivities spread after the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.
Though the Muslim population in Indian Hills is a minority, the holiday is just as important as that of Christmas or Yom Kippur. Many Muslim students in the school district argued that the holiday was much less stressful knowing that everyone was off. “The day off,” junior student, Abeer Shuja, says, “was really helpful to let us Muslims celebrate the day without having to worry about making up work.” Luckily, multiple towns throughout the state of New Jersey have begun recognizing Eid al-Fitr as an official holiday. Beyond Oakland, nine other towns in Bergen County gave off for the holiday in 2023. To adapt to this change, Oakland, Franklin Lakes, Ridgefield, and Wycoff all revised for the holiday by giving the schools a snow day.
