American Muslim

New York stories

Asalaam Alaikum Folks,

Sorry for the lack in updating this blog. I will be posting a lot of interesting stuff in the next two days, but I thought I'd start off with some interesting education news from New York.

FIRST, it seems that New York State Senator John Sabini (D-13th) introduced a bill (S. 3142) earlier in the legislative session to make Eid-ul-Adha [Festival of Sacrifice to commemorate Ibrahim (alayhi salaam)'s desire to sacrifice his son, Ishmael] and Eid-ul-Fitr [Festival to mark end of Ramadan] official school holidays in New York state. This new bill piggybacks a 2006 bill he introduced - now law - that prevents the State Education Department from enforcing mandatory testing during religious holidays (originally conceived of for Muslim students only, but then more broadly defined for all religious communities).

Unfortunately, the Sabini bill never made it out of the Education committee. But, I think this is a heartening piece of news and a step in the right direction because it illustrates pretty clearly the need for states with high Muslim populations to change with the times and allow students to have these days off. I am also a realist - Sen. Sabini represents a very diverse constituency - Jackson Heights, Corona, Elhmurst, East Elmhurst and Woodside - and was no doubt bowing to constituency pressure. But, so what? Legislators have two goals, each linked to the other - make public policy and get re-elected. As political scientist David Mayhew (1974) famously wrote, "Members of Congress are single-minded seekers of re-election." Even though Mayhew (1974) as talking about Congressmen, I think it's a safe bet that it applies in whole to state legislators as well. All legislators serve the public good and their constituents, but let's be honest - they do all of this to also get re-elected. This is the fundamental principle behind running for office, whether you're a Democrat, Republican or Independent.

Regardless, I think it's about time a legislator introduced something like this in New York and insha'allah, we will see more and more states making Eid-ul-Fitr (the end of Ramadan) a mandatory school holiday. Just as Hanukkah and Christmas are recognized by states as holidays for Jews and Christians respectively, so too should states acquiesce to the religious beliefs of Muslims and make Eid a school holiday.
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The SECOND issue is even more controversial, yet in my opinion, highly beneficial. Last fall, it was announced that the New York Board of Education was floating an idea of starting a public school in Brooklyn with an emphasis on Arabic and Arabic culture. The "Khalil Gibran International Academy," named after the Lebanese-American poet, was immediately slammed by the Right, especially by Daniel Pipes in the New York Sun ("A Madrassa Grows in Brooklyn"), who eloquently wrote that although it was a marvelous idea because New York "needs native born Arabic speakers," it was a bad idea in practice because the school would no doubt promote Islamic theology and culture, thus making it a "madrassa." In response to Pipes, Alicia Colon also wrote a stinging accompaniment ("Madrassa Plan is Montrosity").

I think the school is a fantastic idea and like the Senator Sabini bill, is a really great progressive move by folks in New York to provide services for the Muslim families and more broadly, in this case, the Arab population. I mean Khalil Gibran was't Muslim - he was Christian, so the idea of such a school is not only provide pedagogy in the subjects other kids are taking, but an emphasis in Arabic, Arab culture, Middle Eastern history and politics, etc.

The school is set to open next month and will start with only a 6th grade with plans to expand up to the 12th grade. According to Campus Watch, only 45 students have registered with the inaugural class set at 60. Of these 45, only six are native Arabic speakers. There has been some other problems too, the biggest being the recent resignation of Debbie Almontaser, an Arab-American, the original principal. She quit aftering being involved in a controversy where she was linked to a group that sold t-shirts emblazoned with "NYC Intifada." And the new interim principal, though a famed educator, does not even speak Arabic!

Regardless, may Allah (SWT) bless this endeavor and may the residents of New York realize that all will benefit from this school. There will always be critics, but insha'allah, no one will do anything to harm these families, students and teachers.