{"id":222869,"date":"2026-03-17T00:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T00:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/222869\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T00:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T00:14:07","slug":"california-dems-push-to-make-two-muslim-holy-days-state-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/222869\/","title":{"rendered":"California Dems push to make two Muslim holy days state holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

A California Democratic lawmaker<\/a> introduced legislation last week that would recognize two Muslim holidays as official state holidays.<\/p>\n

AB 2017 would designate Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays, a move that Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) said would guarantee Muslims in California are \u201cseen, valued and treated with the same dignity as every other community in our state,\u201d according to FOX 11<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker said the California Muslim community<\/a> is one largest in the country, yet they do not have major holidays recognized by the state in the way other religions do \u2014 like Christmas or Easter.<\/p>\n

Muslims perform the Eid al-Fitr prayer and celebrate each other\u2019s Eid during the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

California Assembly member Matt Haney said the California Muslim community is one largest in the country, yet they do not have major holidays recognized by the state in the way other religions do \u2014 like Christmas or Easter. Getty Images for Demand Justice<\/p>\n

\u201cNo student should have to choose between celebrating one of the holiest days of their faith and showing up to school, and no worker should feel they have to sacrifice their religious observance,\u201d Haney said in a news release, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n

Eid al-Adha is one of the most important holidays in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan \u2014 the month in which Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.<\/p>\n

Leaders in the Muslim community applauded the bill, which would allow excused absences for students observing the holidays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a historic moment for California\u2019s over one million Muslims. The climate of heightened fear and anti-Muslim hostility in our country\u00a0remains\u00a0a daily reality,\u201d CAIR-CA Legislative & Government Affairs Director Oussama\u00a0Mokeddem, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this environment, publicly celebrating these holidays is a powerful way for California to show Muslim constituents that their joy, traditions, and presence in our state are deeply valued and protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muslims gather for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara under a banner reading \u201cEid Mubarak.\u201d Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Two women embrace and smile at an Eid al-Fitr celebration in Santa Clara. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations<\/a> (CAIR-CA), the nation\u2019s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, co-sponsored the bill.<\/p>\n

The Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs in California also sponsored the bill, calling it a \u201cstep toward ensuring that California\u2019s policies reflect the diversity of the communities that call this state home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill will be heard in the Assembly Governmental Organization and Assembly Public Employment committees over the next few weeks, the outlet reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A California Democratic lawmaker introduced legislation last week that would recognize two Muslim holidays as official state holidays.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,1751,2646,36697,28222,13,3586],"class_list":["post-222869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-democrats","tag-holidays","tag-islam","tag-muslims","tag-politics","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}