Falcon Flyer SPRING 2021-2022 | Page 18

Every year, there is a girl who goes to Saddle Brook High School that takes a variety of challenging classes. From Honors Physics, to AP English, to running the track, she tried her best, while keeping up with her friends. This year particularly, she was taking extra steps getting hours for the National Honors Society. She signed up for volunteer events after school, all while completing her studies. During this busy schedule each week, for a period of thirty continuous days each year, she also celebrated a special religious holiday, Ramadan. In her religion of Islam, it asks muslims to fast from sunrise to sunset, ingesting no food or water. She loves the holiday, but it also requires a sacrifice. During her lunch period, she leaves her table to go to the library to do her homework, because she does not want to watch her friends eat. When coming back home, she starts to feel the hunger a little more, the rumble in her stomach a little louder, but her homework and chores keep her busy, until it's time to eat at sundown. Her schedule becomes a little more difficult to get through, but she loves it, because it is a festive month of fun and togetherness, celebrating with her family. 

Finally, after the 30th day, the fast has gotten significantly easier, but she is fatigued, and is excited to bring the religious month to an end, for it to start later again next year. To officially end Ramadan, a day of family, friends, delicious dishes, and bright lights are what follows for the special celebration: Eid. In the morning, everyone gathers early to read a special prayer, like families coming to Church in their elegant sunday dresses, on Easter morning. Girls wear beautiful henna designs on their hands, and men wear their traditional kurtas, while entering their local mosque. Afterward, families come together and feast, giving small amounts of money to the younger nieces and nephews as gifts to enjoy, and cheery encounters filling every corner of every room. 

All neighboring towns, Saddle Brook included, give a district-wide day off for holidays pertaining to different groups that go to their schools: Yom Kippur, Roshashana, Good Friday, and Christmas. If we get off for these holidays, why not Eid? Families count on their children being home from school, so they can embrace the feeling of joy their holidays bring.

Why Not Eid?

By Alishba Khan