Posted on 04/15/2004 11:20:32 AM PDT by ambrose
City of Dearborn asked to close on Muslim holidays
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Good Friday and Christmas are city holidays. Now, with a large Muslim population living in Dearborn, local leaders of the faith are asking: Why not shut down for our holidays as well?
The western Detroit suburb of 88,000 has been a magnet for immigrants from the Mideast for decades and has one of the nation's largest concentration of Arabs.
Nearly 40 percent of Dearborn public school students are Muslim. The city also serves as a cultural and religious center for the estimated 300,000 members of the Arab-American community in southeastern Michigan.
The two major Muslims holidays in question are Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the monthlong Ramadan fast, and Eid al-Adha, which marks the annual completion of the pilgrimage to Mecca. The dates of the holidays change each year because they are determined by a lunar calendar.
"You do have a large Arab-American population in the city of Dearborn, and it is time for people of the Muslim faith to feel equally important," said Ahmed Chebbani, chairman of the American-Arab Chamber of Commerce.
The American Muslim Society on April 6 asked the City Council to make both days city holidays. The council referred the request to the city's legal department. Each of the Muslim holidays last for several days.
One city councilman expressed doubt.
"The city of Dearborn will follow the state and federal holiday calendar, and until that changes, that's where I stand," Thomas Tafelski said.
Hey now! This is America -- where everyone can practice whatever they want. Me, I'm a member of the Fartusian Synod. We celebrate every Thursday as the holy day of our prophet Ralph. The celebrations last three days, with, of course, the church-supplied holy water Daniels of the Jack and we have to reverently consume the rib-bones of a consecrated cow.
We call to prayer at 2:00 am daily with our holy crier Jimmy Page.
Naturally, I'll be asking the government to repect my religion (and underwrite/subsidise its purchase of holy water and accomanying holy food) since they will respect anyone's.
If numbers are an issue, how long until I have hundreds of thousands of worshippers with holy rituals like these?
Deerborn, here I come!
....as will many areas of Old Europe.
Which is one of many reasons why I stay west of US-23 and north of M-36(Which turns into 9 mile)
Cinco de Mayo is not a religious holiday. But I would rather not get Christmas and Good Friday off work than allow days off for Muslim holidays.
....as will many areas of Old Europe
I understand how Islamics got to Europe, many European nations had colonies in the Arabic world, and some migrated from those colonies to the colonial master, but how did it come to be that Dearborn, Michigan, of all places, got so heavily Islamic? I could understand if thise story took place in New York City, or Los Angeles, or any one of the nation's top ten cities, but why little Dearborn?
I've asked this question before on other threads, but nobody's ever supplied an answer. What is it about Dearborn, did Henry Ford hire a bunch of them many years ago?
Hey . . . Watch that stuff! I live in Dearborn, too -- as do many of my family. Our area used to be a strongly Polish area and still has many of the same businesses (good restaurants) in the neighborhood.
Yes, we now have many Arab neighbors. Yes, they have many different habits than what I was used to when I grew up locally. For instance, many of the bars in the area closed for lack of business. But, at least close to me, all the neighbors are very nice, take great care of their property and are law abiding almost to the extreme. Fact is, although a few short blocks from Detroit, this is a crime free area and everyone (including single women) feels free to take a jog/walk anytime 24/7 in this neighborhood. On the other hand, it could be decisively unhealthy to cause problems around here because everyone (including me) would come out to help.
Locally, there are Arabs in City government and one is even assistant police chief. Two of my Arab neighbors are Dearborn Police Officers. As a population, they are striving to learn English quickly and one of the local Arab cable TV channels teaches a well received English class for Arabs which replays (I think) four times a day.
One friendly local business proprietor asked me once why I don't learn Arabic. (I know a few words.) I just looked at him and smiled, replying: "Why don't you learn Polish?" Everyone around got a big laugh out of that cause they know -- we speak English here. English is our common bond. And, I am happy to report, all the kids in the area speak English without an accent.
So, Dearborn is still Dearborn: a nice place to live. Yes, with the "newcomers," it changed somewhat. But, they seem to be conforming to the local community quickly. Sure, they have a few religious needs that are different. Fact is, though, all that stuff seems to be getting worked out nicely and does not seem to be bothering anyone (anymore).
One other point: Their kids act a lot like the kids around here did when I grew up here in the 1950s. That is, they address adults as "sir" or "ma'am," always say hello and I have never seen even a hint of any trouble. I'm out there walking a few miles every evening, too, and so see a lot of people every day.
Anyway, that's my point of view -- from someone on the inside of Dearborn, Michigan looking out.
You ain't seen nothing yet.
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