Muslim leaders in the United States are relieved. They are relieved to know that they won’t be celebrating Eidul Azha indoors, or that they won’t have to celebrate it amid fears of possible hate crime against them. But what’s wrong with Muslims celebrating their festivals? They celebrate Eid every year, whether it’s in the United States or any other part of the world.
Eidul Azha this year, however, might have been different. It might have been different from the Eidul Azhas celebrated in 2015. Had the moon decided to show up at a different time, Muslims in the United States might have had ended in some kind of trouble. International media had reported Eidul Azha could fall on 15th anniversary of 9/11. If that had happened, anti-Muslim bigots would've had a field day.
After all that has been said, thank God! Eidul Azha is not happening on 9/11. My fellow Muslims brothers and sisters living in the United States can celebrate Eid in peace, without any fear of somebody getting an excuse to commit hate crimes against them. There is no need for them to celebrate this solemn occasion indoors.
What baffles me the most is that almost every radical movement, the ones which I have some knowledge of, associates itself with Islamic ideology. Whether it’s Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State, they believe in spreading the ‘message’ of Islam. They have their own twisted interpretation of the sacred words of God. Islamic State has even gone to the extent of justifying rape.
The horrific incident will turn 15 this year. So much has changed since 2001. So much has changed for the Muslims. Middle East is embroiled in crises. There is an exodus of refugees coming to Europe every day. Aylan Kurdi drowned. Omran Daqneesh barely survived the horrors of war in Syria. In Pakistan, hundreds, mostly schoolchildren, were gunned down.
All of those who died, who are being slaughtered mercilessly, who will be blasted into pieces tomorrow, these people do not deserve this. No one deserves such kind of treatment. The saddest part about it is that the state glorifies the dead. And I won’t go into the details of the glorification.
It is true that today, no place on Earth is without pain, bloodshed and misery. The situation has aggravated to such an extent that people are being forced into deciding how they will be able to celebrate their religious festivals or whether, they’ll celebrate it or not. Many suffer at the expense of the few. I guess the world works this brutal, cruel and animalistic way. It must not, but it is.
At the end of it all, I wish a very happy and prosperous Eid Mubarak in advance to all my fellow Muslims living in the United States.