THE
HAGUE, November 24 (IslamOnline.net) - Students at Muslim primary and
secondary schools in the Netherlands will have an official holiday to
celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a typical work day for everyone else in the
country, including Muslims.
The
schools, which number over 40 and house up to 30,000 students, decided
to grant their students and employees a two-day holiday, so that
Muslims could celebrate the feast which is expected to fall on either
Tuesday or Wednesday.
But
the two-day holiday, which is traditionally given during the two Eids
(Lesser and Great Bairams) is not a panacea for the difference between
Muslims worldwide in marking the first day of the feast. Sometimes,
the difference could be three or four days.
As
far as Muslims in Holland are concerned, they are divided into two
groups: the first goes for following the calendar of their native
country, such as the Turkish and Moroccan communities, while the
second group - mainly Arabs -- follows the calendar of Saudi Arabia.
Turks
make up the majority of the Muslim community in Holland.
But
this year a third group has surfaced, calling for following the
instructions of the Muslim Council in Belgium, which set up an ad hoc
committee to watch the new moon of Shawal using the country's
state-of-the-art observatory.
