الولايات المتحدة: لا عطلة لطلاب كاليفورنيا المسلمين في عيد الأضحى

خبر من مصادر إنجليزية.

تدور حالة من الجدل بين الصفوف الطلابية وإدارة "جامعة كاليفورنيا إيرفين"، بعد تزامُن بدء الفصول الدراسية مع احتفال المسلمين بعيد الأضحى، دون أن يحصل الطلاب المسلمون على عطلة رسمية؛ مما يضطرهم إما لتفويت الفصول الدراسية، وإما عدم التمكن من ممارسة الشعائر أول يوم بعيد الأضحى.

وقد أكد بعض الطلاب أنه في العام الماضي أعلنت الإدارة تأخير بدء الفصول الدراسية أسبوعًا بسبب احتفال اليهود برأس السنة اليهودية، وهذا بالرغم من أن عدد الطلاب اليهود لا يتجاوز عدد الطلاب المسلمين إلا بنحو 1.5% وَفْق إحصاء عام 2010؛ المصدر: شبكة الألوكة.

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الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

Why No Accommodations Made for Eid-ul-Adha?

UC students on the quarter system, Thursday marks the first day of classes for fall quarter. For Muslim students on UC campuses, Thursday also marks the Islamic holiday of Eid-ul-Adha.

Eid-ul-Adha commemorates the story shared amongst the monotheistic religions when, in a dream, God tested Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. When Abraham, with his son’s support, was about to complete the sacrifice, God told him that he had fulfilled the command. Instead, God delivered a sheep for Abraham to sacrifice. The sacrifice is both a spiritual and physical one. Muslims strive to strengthen their obedience to and faith in God, and sacrifice meat to give to the poor.

As a Muslim, I will attend the morning Eid prayer this Thursday with my family, but we will skip our traditional family gatherings in the afternoon and evening as I head to campus for my afternoon classes. It will be a hectic morning as I prepare for prayer and also for classes while simultaneously keeping an eye on the time, listening to the Eid sermon, and rushing to greet family and friends.

Students who have morning classes may have to skip Eid celebrations altogether or risk missing their first day of classes.

Just last year, the scheduled first day of the fall quarter was postponed a week to accommodate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. This was a result of the 2007 UC policy supported by representatives of the Jewish For community that was intended to avoid religious conflicts with move-in days. For now, no similar accommodations are expected to be made for Muslim students wishing to celebrate Eid with their families and communities.

“I didn’t really expect any accommodations,” said Aya Labanieh, a second-year cognitive science major. “But if classes were postponed for the Jewish students just last year, then shouldn’t the same change be made for Muslim students as well?”

According to the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey from 2010, the percentage of Jewish students on UC campuses exceeds Muslim students by 1.5%.