Timing of Eid celebration poses difficult choice for Muslims
Fasting on Thanksgiving and not shopping on Black Friday may be retailers' worst nightmare and seem almost sacrilegious to some Americans.
Yet, it's a decision millions of Muslims in the United States face this year as they juggle the holiday period most noted for gorging and splurging with a somber observance today for the Day of Arafah - the final day of Hajj or annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca - and Eid al-Adha, the celebration marking its end Friday.
Some see the coincidence as an opportunity to blend the two holiday traditions together.
"It's a great opportunity to show how there's no dichotomy and how a person can be an American and a Muslim at the same time," said Kiran Ansari of Roselle, interim executive director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.
Muslim Americans have adopted Thanksgiving traditions and customized them. "Zabiha halal" turkeys - those slaughtered in the Islamic way - will be prepared in many households today. But believers who are fasting would consume the traditional meal after breaking the fast at sundown.
Since the days are shorter now, it's not such a hardship to resist devouring pumpkin pies until sunset about 4:30 p.m., said Khalid Abdus Sami of Roselle, an executive board member of the Clergy Association of Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates.
Eid al-Adha, or "festival of the sacrifice," commemorates the Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command, according to Muslim belief. The holiday is celebrated with prayers, gifts for children, distribution of meat to the needy and social gatherings.
While shopping on Eid is not forbidden, Sami said many of his friends have pledged not to go hunting for deals.
"Eid is more important than shopping," Sami said. "People who usually do not pray around the year, they make it a point to pray on Eid. It is part of the culture. If you do not pray, you are looked down (upon) as something not accepted in society."
Attending communal prayers on Eid is a big deal. Area Muslims usually have mass gatherings for prayers in shifts starting as early as 7 a.m. Muslims also are encouraged to participate in Friday afternoon prayers at mosques.
Some say it's a no-brainer choosing between staking out Best Buy at 4 a.m. for a chance to snag a $197 laptop and preparing for Eid prayers.
"I'm going to go to the prayer," said 40-year-old Jihad Shoshara, a Naperville pediatrician who lives in LaGrange. "I think the stores will be busy and crazy all day. I'm willing to put the buying frenzy on hold to be able to celebrate Eid properly. I do plan to go out with my family and kids afterward. We're going to let (the kids) choose their Eid gifts."
Yet retailers like Best Buy, which came out with a Black Friday advertisement with the message "Happy Eid al-Adha," are likely counting on Muslims to do some of their Eid shopping in stores.
"The die-hard shoppers are still going to be lining up at 4 or 5 a.m., as they do," Ansari said. "Eid is not going to stop them. The procrastinators who haven't bought their Eid gifts may be getting their last-minute shopping done."