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Quince Orchard High School Celebrates Diversity
People Around the World
Bimonthly Faculty Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 2
January 2008
Religious Diversity at QO: An Islamic Perspective
Members of MSA, the new Muslim Students Association at Quince Orchard High
School, share with us about Islamic traditions, beliefs and holidays.
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GENERAL STATISTICS
Muslims represent about 22% of the world's population. They are the second largest religion in the world. Only
Christianity is larger, with 33% of the world's inhabitants. (ReligiousTolerance.org)
According to ARIS (American Religious Identification Study of 2001), 0.5% in the US identify as Muslim. However this number is estimated to be much higher. (76%- Christians, 1.3%- Jewish, 0.5% Buddhist, 0.4%-Hindu)
In the US, the ethnic origins of Muslims are estimated as follows: South Asian-33%, African-American-30%, Arab
25%, Sub-Saharan African-3.4%, European-2.1%, White American-1.6%, Southeast Asian-1.3%, Carribean-1.2%,
Turkish-1.1%, Iranian-0.7%, Hispanic-0.6% (These figures are based on regular participants at mosques.)
FESTIVITIES of EID
The two main Islamic holidays are Eid-Ul-Fitr and Eid-ulAdha. The word “eid” means
festivity.
Eid-Ul-Fitr is celebrated
right after Ramadan. “Fitr”
means to break the fast. Most
Muslim Americans celebrated
this holiday on October 13,
2007.
Eid-ul-Adha
was celebrated December 20, 2007.
In some countries like India and
Pakistan, this holiday is called
“the Big Eid”. It is a com- Aissatou Barry, 9th
memoration of Ibrahim’s grader from Guinea
(Abraham’s) willingness to
sacrifice his son as ordered by Allah or God. In
the end, Ibrahim sacrificed a goat, once he
proved his devotion. So every Muslim family who
can afford it must sacrifice an animal in the
name of Allah. The preferred animals are goat,
sheep, camel or water buffalo. The meat is distributed to family, friends and the poor.
On this day Muslims pray for forgiveness from
God. They also must forgive others and let go of
bad feelings towards others. Many Muslims exchange greeting cards at this time.
This festival is also the culmination of the annual pilgrimage to
Hajj (see other side).
The Muslim students tell us
about Eid-ul-Adha: “On this holiday, all Muslims get up early in the
morning. We put salt in the water and we drink
that. We take a shower and we do abolutions. We
wear new clothes. We go to the mosque. and
pray at the mosque. Then everybody wishes each
other ‘Eid Mubarak’. After that, there is a big
gathering of family and friends at one house. The
whole family has dinner together. We eat a lot of
food. The girls usually put henna on their hands
and feet, and they dress in their newest, best
clothes. The boys also dress up. Children go to the
homes of family and neighbors and they are gifted
with money. The neighbors and family wish them
a happy holiday.” (A good website about henna
and Eid-ul-Adha is hennapage.com/
henna/encyclopedia/id/)
This holiday is not only a day of
devotion and piety, it is a cheerful
holiday, a time for presents, parties,
feasts, weddings and carnivals.
(Information from religioustolerance.org, wikipedia.org, and QO’s MSA.
For more information about
Islam, try islamicity.com )
To wish Muslim students and staff a happy Eid, you say
Eid Mubarak!
You can send them an e-greeting at eidmubarak.com
Praying at Shahi Jamaa Masjid, New Delhi, India, for Eid-ul Adha (photo from zawaj.com)
PAW links are LIVE when you view this online at http://esol.qohs.org/PAW/PAW.htm.
DIFFERENCES in CELEBRATING EID:
The United States and Our Native
Countries
Our Comfort Zone: Quince Orchard
High School
How do you feel as
a Muslim at QO?
The members of the
In other countries Eid is celebrated for three
We
feel
comfortMuslim Students Asdays but in the US it is only celebrated one day. In
sociation reported
able and free.
our native countries, all shops are closed down and
feeling comfortthe streets are lit up and decorated. Everybody
able at QO.
celebrates it in all Muslim countries, so it’s a big
“The students accept us for who we are and
deal. Here it is not such a big deal.
based on our religion. Some of the girls who
wear scarves might feel a little uncomfortable,
however it is only because they look different.
We have had many good experiences in general
at QO. Maybe our first really good experience as
Muslim students will be our Eid party December
18, 2007.
Well, actually some people have called us
bad names like ‘terrorist’ but overall there
haven’t been many major bad experiences.”
Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudia Arabia) is the largest
annual pilgrimage in the world. (Photo from asdrenzajmi.blogspot.com) Hajj is associated with the life of Muhammad but this ritual predates Islam. (wikipedia.org)
THE CULINARY ASPECT OF EID
Here are some of the favorite dishes you can find in
our students’ homes on Eid:
murgh mussallam, mrouziya, nawabi briyani, briyani,
beef fajita salad, beef stew, tasty beef roast, tabouli,
mutton korma, haleem, and lemon pepper steak.
Aissatou, a student from Guinea (see photo on
front), reports, “After going to the mosque on Eid, all
the women start cooking for like three or four hours.
My favorite dish is ‘soupe de mouton’ (lamb stew pictured below). We put it in a big bowl. All the family
washes their hands and then we all sit in a circle and
eat it together with rice. After
eating, we thank Allah. We
say, “We wish tomorrow will
be better than today. And, we
pray for all the poor people
who don’t have food, that God
will give them some. Then we
say, ‘Amina’ (amen).”
Safa Muaket,
Special Education
paraeducator at
QO and Cosponsor of the
Muslim Students
Association
ABOUT QO’s
Muslim Students Association:
This is our first year at QO.
We currently have six to eight members.
We are from Pakistan, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Algeria and Bangladesh. Mr. Lundquist and
Mrs. Muaket are our sponsors. Ahmed G.
started the club and he is the president.
We meet in room 119 every Friday
at lunch. We meet after school on
Fridays to pray.
ONE THING these Muslim students would
like us to know…
Henna painting
(photo from
newimg.bbc.co.uk)
“We should try to learn more about Islam,
rather than making assumptions without
much knowledge.”
For contributions, ideas and feedback, please contact Elizabeth Fuhrman (ESOL).
PAW issues are now available online at http://esol.qohs.org/PAW/PAW.htm.
A Quince Orchard High School ESOL Department Publication