The holiday has been marked by anti-Muslim attacks.
Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar, this week. Typically a day of great festivity, the holiday has been marked this year by several acts of anti-Muslim violence in the United States. Once again, Muslim Americans are grappling to feel welcome and secure in their home country.
President Obama extended a hand to the Muslim community on Monday to wish the faithful a happy Eid.
“During this time, Muslims from all walks of life join their neighbors and friends at their local mosques, community centers, and homes to pray, give alms, exchange gifts, and recommit to helping others,” the president wrote.
But the holy day was tarnished by violence in the midst of a rising climate of Islamophobia in the U.S., reinforced by anti-Muslim rhetoric from public figures like Donald Trump.
On Sept. 8, several days before Eid al-Adha, a woman allegedly attacked two Muslim women and their babies in Brooklyn, New York, screaming “Get the the f**K out of America, b***hes. This is America — you shouldn’t be different from us.”
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