Why the Eid public holiday petition doesn't make sense

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

There's currently a petition online that you may have come across calling for Eid bank/public holidays because of the (large) number of Muslims in the UK.

Here are a few reasons why signing the petition doesn't make sense:

  1. Firstly, we have 2 Eids, not one. Are we asking for 2 holidays here?
  2. Let's say we choose one. The actual date is based on the lunar calendar, so we can't fix a date in advance, especially if it's Eid ul-Fitr (straight after Ramadhân).
  3. Even if we choose Eid ul-Adhâ where we know the date around 10 days in advance, we have the moonsighting issue, so we could never agree a date anyway.
  4. Where do you draw the line? We have enough bank holidays. Every other minority will want one. In fact, the petition itself asks for a Diwali holiday too, so by signing it, the signee is asking for at least 2 extra holidays.
  5. Most Muslims don't have problems taking time off for Eid. We can easily take 2 days off in the year from our annual leave.

If that doesn't convince you, perhaps this will.

Step back one moment and consider the implications. Let's be realistic about this. How likely is it that a government would be brave enough to agree to this. Even if it did, can you imagine the backlash? Let's not forget we're a minority. Why ruffle feathers unnecessarily?

We can generally practise Islam freely, probably better than many Muslim-majority countries. As you'll be well aware, there's ever-increasing animosity towards Muslims. Why bring up something which provides almost no benefit and potentially causes harm? Even if, as is most likely, it doesn't get approval, just to bring it out into the open is to invite trouble.

Let's be clear about one thing here. This is not about some inferiority complex, but about being practical and sensible. Why not target our efforts towards the issues that really matter? For example, filling in a survey or signing a petition that could potentially benefit thousands of Muslim students.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

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Comments

For me it was not jut about being a minority in UK but a significantly small minority. In the US you have holidays representing African Americans personalities that have impacted the history of the country i.e. civil rights movement. But the African Americans are a large percent in comparison and as minorities hosted in a land that initially treated them as slaves and then a struggle lasting for 400 years before meriting any rights.

I chuckled when I first saw the request. I guess some people are just that slightly over-optimistic or naive about how the real world works

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Sikhs have their Vaskhi celebration on 13th April every year.

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Some good points there. We need to be realistic.

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