Give ’em a Break

Last month, the Cambridge Public School district announced that it will cancel school not only for Jewish and Christian holidays, but also on either Eid al-Fitr or Eid al-Adha, both Islamic holidays. This decision was a step toward cultural inclusion and conveys positive recognition of the needs of Muslim students. At a time when anti-Islamic sentiments and fear of Islam are pervasive throughout American society, Cambridge’s demonstration of acceptance and tolerance is a significant and positive step toward making sure all citizens feel accepted.

Eid al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice at the end of the Hajj, involve traditions of visiting relatives, exchanging gifts and giving to charity, and going to mosques for prayer services. Now students who observe the holidays will not have to choose between their religious duties and keeping up with their schoolwork; instead, they can celebrate their faith without the fear of missing class hanging over their heads.

Yet the idea itself of closing schools on Islamic holidays is not completely radical. Cambridge public schools will not be the first to do so, as public schools in Dearborn, Mich., and Burlington, Vt., have already closed schools for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in response to demands from the Muslim populations in their respective areas. Moreover, Cambridge will not close for both days; whichever falls within the school calendar will be the one observed, and if both happen to be on school days, only one will be chosen.

In addition, the practice for canceling school for other religious holidays is already well established: Many schools do not meet on Christian holidays such as Easter, Good Friday, or Christmas, as well as some Jewish holidays, such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Even as America becomes increasingly less religious, these cultural days are treated as mainstays of American society on which it is appropriate to give students a day off. It seems only fair to similarly recognize Islamic holidays and allow Muslim students to observe according to their customs, just as Christians—and often Jews—are allowed to do on their holidays.

Additionally, many students already have no school on national holidays such as Columbus Day and Labor Day, which, generally speaking, serve only to prolong the weekend. If granting this holiday actually benefits of benefiting those who practice religion and reflects the religious tolerance that America defends as a First Amendment right, then other public schools ought to follow suit in recognizing Islamic holidays as worthy of canceling school.

Still, as this trend of increased Muslim presence continues, the decision regarding Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha should continue to be made on a district-by-district basis instead of by state or federal mandate. Right now, school districts have the best sense of the needs of their neighborhoods and have relative ownership of their calendars. That reasoning, although recognizing the Muslim holidays is about more than just the existence of a Muslim population in an area, in the event that there is no Muslim population in the school district, a school district should necessarily give students the day off. Ultimately, it is a judgment call for each school district, and we hope those with Muslim students trend toward inclusion.

One argument against recognizing the Islamic holidays is that Christians and Jews would not receive similar treatment in Muslim nations. Yet this line of reasoning is flawed: The political systems in America are quite different from the political systems in place in many Muslim nations. America prides itself on tolerance—specifically, religious tolerance—and so should be ahead of the curve in recognizing cultural traditions. In that regard, we applaud the Cambridge Public School System for demonstrating a spirit of cultural inclusion and religious tolerance by including an Islamic cultural mainstay in its calendar.