US Muslims prep for Islamic holiday _ around 9/11
By RACHEL ZOLL (AP) – 11 hours ago
NEW YORK — The lunar calendar that Muslims follow for religious holidays is creating a potential for misunderstandings or worse in a year when American Muslims are already confronting a spike in assaults on their faith and protests against new mosques.
Eid al-Fitr, a joyous holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, this year falls around Sept. 11. Muslim leaders fear that their gatherings for prayer and festivities could be misinterpreted by those unfamiliar with Islam as a celebration of the 2001 terrorist strikes.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group based in Los Angeles, is contacting *************** and the Justice Department civil rights division to alert them to the overlap...
..."The issue I can sense brewing on **** sites on the Internet is, `These Muslims are celebrating on September 11,'" said Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for CAIR. "It's getting really scary out there."
The exact date of Eid al-Fitr this year is not yet known. Muslims follow different authorities on moonsightings and astronomical calculations to decide when a holiday begins. In North America, the eid could fall on Thursday, Sept. 9, Friday, Sept. 10, or Saturday, Sept. 11.
