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City Council backs recognizing two Muslim holidays

Philadelphia City Council on Thursday called on the city and the school district to officially recognize two Muslim holidays, which would give students and employees those days off.

Philadelphia City Council on Thursday called on the city and the school district to officially recognize two Muslim holidays, which would give students and employees those days off.

Speaking before a chamber packed with Muslim men wearing prayer caps and women wearing hijabs, Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. said the change would impact an estimated 200,000 Philadelphians who practice Islam.

Jones said a friend had questioned his timing, considering the recent shooting of a Philadelphia police officer by a man who said he had acted on behalf of Islam.

"I thought on it and I said words that I'm paraphrasing from another great man. 'If not now, when? If not us, who?' " Jones said, as the advocates, part of an alliance that calls itself the Philadelphia Eid Coalition, recited the quotation with him.

After Council passed the resolution, many of those advocates celebrated with shouts of "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is the greatest."

The resolution is nonbinding and simply urges the city and the school district to make the holidays official. The two are Eid al-Fitr, celebrated after the monthlong observance of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, celebrated at the conclusion of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The date on which the holidays are celebrated changes each year because Islam follows a lunar calendar. But this year Eid al-Fitr will fall in July and Eid al-Adha will take place in September.

Jones said he introduced a nonbinding resolution rather than trying to mandate a change to the city's charter through legislation because adding two holidays would impact the city's municipal unions, and he wants to first begin a dialogue with those groups.

Lauren Hitt, spokeswoman for Mayor Kenney, said the administration was reviewing the proposal and looking forward to more conversations with Jones and other stakeholders.

If the days became city holidays, they would not automatically become school holidays. Jones and a group of advocates planned to attend a School Reform Commission Thursday night to raise the issue there.

Marjorie Neff, chairwoman of the School Reform Commission, could not be reached for comment.

Fernando Gallard, the district's spokesman, said that currently if a Muslim student wants to take off one of the Eid holidays, they can do so, with an excused absence, with a note from a family member. He said teachers can take the holiday off, receiving one-third pay, with a note from the head of the religious institution they attend.

tnadolny@phillynews.com

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@TriciaNadolny