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As President Obama prepares to unveil his long-deliberated war strategy, the Taliban's supreme commander declared today that U.S.-led forces would find only defeat, dishonor and "a bed of thorns" in Afghanistan. The warning, contained in a statement by Mullah Mohammed Omar , the movement's reclusive leader, was issued on the eve of one of the year's most important Muslim holidays, Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice. It marks the end of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which is made by millions of observant Muslims. In his missive -- punctuated by the flowery phrases and high-flown rhetoric typically...

A group of Muslim men who abducted and raped two teenage girls as part of their Eid celebrations laughed in court yesterday as they were jailed for a total of 38 years. The girls, aged 15 and 16, were lured miles from their home to a dingy hostel. In a horrifying weekend-long ordeal, they were plied with alcohol and repeatedly raped by two men, Shamrez Rashid and Amar Hussain, before being offered to a number of others who also ‘used them for sex’. ... One defendant, Rashid, 20, was said to have claimed the girls had enjoyed the sex, which...

This is the sickening moment a group of men thought to be U.S. soldiers cheer on a man as he beats a sheep to death with a baseball bat. The horrific video, which was posted on YouTube, shows the cowering animal suffer a merciless assault that lasts less than 30 seconds. It is claimed that the footage was shot in Afghanistan last month.

Public school students in Cambridge will get a day off Monday in what officials believe will be the first time in the state that a school district has scheduled a holiday to recognize an Islamic holy day. The district-wide school holiday will recognize Eid Al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, and was approved by the Cambridge School Committee last year. “We’re ecstatic about this,” said Atif Harden, the interim executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. “This is the first year that it’s going to occur. This sort of recognition of our existence and the...

Some Massachusetts public school students have a day off this week, but it has nothing to do with power outages or snow. The Cambridge school system is believed to be the first in Massachusetts to give all students a day off for a Muslim holiday. Students are getting Tuesday off for Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, the Boston Globe reports. "We’re ecstatic about this," Atif Harden, interim executive director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, told the newspaper. "This is the first year that it’s going to occur. This sort of recognition of our...

Michelle and I extend our greetings for a happy Eid al-Adha to Muslims worldwide and congratulate those performing Hajj. Thousands of Muslim Americans are among those who have joined one of the world’s largest and most diverse gatherings in making the pilgrimage to Mecca and nearby sites. As Muslims celebrate this Eid, they will also commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son by distributing food to those less fortunate around the world. They join the United States and the international community in relief efforts to assist those struggling to survive in the Horn of Africa and those recovering from the...

Obama Issued Proclamations for Ramadan, Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, Hajj and Earth Day--But Not Easter Tuesday, April 26, 2011 By Fred Lucas Washington (CNSNews.com) – The White House updated its response to questions Monday to explain why the president did not put out a formal proclamation for Easter--after putting out proclamations for Muslim holidays and Earth Day. Obama attended Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington on Easter Sunday and held a White House prayer breakfast last Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney pointed out. On Friday, the President Barack Obama issued a proclamation on Earth Day. However, two...

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — As a Muslim growing up in East Brunswick, Atiya Aftab missed classes and had to make up school work to be with her family on two important holidays: Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, and Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice. As a mother of three in South Brunswick, Aftab has seen her children go through the same thing. Until now. In a decision that sent ripples of hope across the Muslim community well beyond New Jersey, the South Brunswick Board of Education has approved school closings in the...

This year, the Muslim holiday of Eid El-Adha fell on the same weekend as Black Friday, the famous shopping spree tradition. Best Buy, one of the retailers participating in the event, posted a season’s greeting on one of their flyers: a little circle with “Happy Eid El-Adha” above the giant “Thanksgiving” greeting. It was a gentle nod toward a minority group whose holiday happened to fall on the same day. It was a great gesture toward inclusiveness. No one could possibly spin glad tidings and season greetings into a negative thing, right? Think again. The noble gesture has caused quite...

This is a response to this ad from mega-retailer Best Buy: and to this holiday greeting from President Barack H. Obama (mmm, mmm, mmm):Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions. During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will...

As you can see here (via TechCrunch) a few people are mad that BestBuy’s thanksgiving advertisement features a 14-letter phrase (or 15 if you count the hyphen). Who’s going to BestBuy this weekend?

The war on Christmas continues. Here is a picture of the national Best Buy ad inviting folks to celebrate Thanksgiving and . . . Eid al-Adha, which is a Muslim festival of sacrifice. It’s actually a festival that sacrifices of goats in similitude of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. Best Buy adNow, I have nothing against Best Buy celebrating a Muslim holiday, in fact I think it’s a wonderfully inclusive thing to do. No, the problem I have is that in 2006 Best Buy discontinued the use of “Merry Christmas” in their holiday advertising. Here is a posting from...

Happy Eid al-Adna, America Pagan Holiday Upstages Thanksgiving & Christmas Electronics Giant Celebrates Islam thelastcrusade.org Is America becoming a Muslim nation? Has the tide of history turned against the Christians and Jews living in the land of the free and the home of the brave? Will Islamic law eventually become the law of the land?The answer to all of the above is yes.Proof comes with the holiday ads from Best Buy that will be inserted in every leading newspaper throughout the country this Thanksgiving.The ad makes scant mention of Thanksgiving, other than to urge people to “Shop Thanksgiving Day”....

Here it comes: Best Buy ran a national Black Friday ad inviting the world to celebrate Thanksgiving and Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice. Fair enough, right? Happy Eid!

Shop Thanksgiving Day at Bestbuy.com

Police used pepper spray Monday night to dispel up to 300 Muslim young people who caused disturbances outside Fisketorvet mall in downtown Copenhagen. The youths had gathered at the shopping centre in connection with the celebration of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. But several of those present got out of hand, according to police. Bicycles were thrown onto the nearby S-train tracks, shoppers at the mall were harassed and rocks were thrown at police who arrived on the scene. Officers managed to split the group in two and drive them away from the mall. Five youths were eventually arrested...

SPOKANE, Wash. - They made a list, but they should have checked it twice. In a December newsletter to the families of elementary school students, Spokane Public Schools' list of "important dates" didn't include Christmas. Hanukkah, Human Rights Day, winter break, the Islamic holy day Eid al-Adha, first day of winter and Kwanzaa all made the list. But no Christmas. "It was absolutely an error of omission," district spokeswoman Terren Roloff said. "In our efforts to be inclusive, we missed the obvious." The omission drew complaints from some parents that in an age of political correctness, Christians are being overlooked...

BRUSSELS -- At a slaughterhouse here last week, Mohamed Mimoun wrestled a sheep between his legs and took a number. He gasped: It was a two-hour wait to sacrifice his animal for Eid al-Adha, an important Islamic religious festival. "I should have done this at home, like everyone else," he moaned. That would have saved Mr. Mimoun a long wait in drenching rain, but it would have been against the law. Killing an animal at home to eat it is legal in Belgium. But a 1988 law expressly forbids the ritual slaughter of animals at home. Living cheek by jowl...

The Muslim faithful are supposed to sacrifice sheep or other livestock for the Eid al-Adha festival, but in Turkey more than 1,600 people cut themselves and two died of heart attacks on Tuesday. Turkey's streets annually run with blood as sheep and cattle have their throats cut on pavements and waste ground to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God. The scenes are decried by the secular media which every year calls for an end to the public slaughter. Three people suffered heart attacks and two of them died while carrying out sacrifices, state-run Anatolian news agency said,...

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's interim defense minister said on Friday the government would arrest Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi after the Eid al-Adha holiday for allegedly maligning the defense ministry. "We will arrest him and hand him over to Interpol. We will arrest him based on facts that he wanted to malign the reputation of the defense ministry and defense minister," Hazim al-Shaalan told Al Jazeera television, adding the measures would start after the Muslim holiday which began on Jan. 20.