Sophomore Yossra Hamid said when she was younger, her mother would cook one atypical dish almost every night of Ramadan.
“There was always one weird staple food that my mom would add, like egg rolls or [chicken wings] or something, that just had nothing to do with where we’re from or our cultural food,” Hamid said. “But [we’d] have loads of it.”
Celebrated at the end of the hajj, Eid-al-adha commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael in his obedience to God, who then told him to kill a lamb instead.
“As a testament to that, Muslims sort of celebrate slaughtering goats every year,” Noor said. “On average, I think four million something goats [are killed] just from Saudi Arabia, so the goat business probably does really well in those months.”
Hamid said her parents usually ironically end up fighting on Eid morning, a day on which people are supposed to be happy and thankful.
“They’re like ‘Are we going to take two cars to the mosque?’ ‘No! We have to take one car because we’re a family and it’s Eid and we’re supposed to celebrate together!’ It’s always that madness,” Hamid said. “I love it, and me and my siblings are always laughing so hard every morning when we wake up because it’s funny.”
A third holiday that is sometimes celebrated is the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, during which Muslims gather in mosques, feast, sing hymns and generally celebrate his life.
Ebrahim Moosa, professor of religion and Islamic studies, said some Muslims believe Muhammad’s birthday should not be a holiday.
“There’ s a more puritanical opinion that says no, that should not be done because it’s not authorized by the prophet,” Moosa said. “But many Muslims still celebrate it anyway, and the community is divided by the legitimacy of that action.”
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