California moves to make Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha official state holidays
AB 2017 cleared Assembly 64–1, letting schools recognize two holidays and easing long-standing bind for Muslim students and workers
SACRAMENTO, United States (MNTV) — California is on track to recognize the two most important holidays in Islam as official state holidays, a step toward ending the routine bind in which Muslim students and workers must choose between their faith and their school or job.
Assembly Bill 2017, authored by Assemblyman Matt Haney, passed the Assembly 64–1 and has moved to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
It would designate Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as official state holidays and allow public school districts and community colleges to close in observance. Haney said the aim is simple equity: an estimated 500,000 Muslims live in California, and no student should have to skip a central religious tradition to satisfy an attendance rule.
The bill would also let the State Board of Education develop an optional model curriculum guide using existing resources. The California Family Council’s Greg Burt objected that this nudges public schools from teaching about religion toward sponsoring it.
The bill’s text does the opposite: it requires no religious instruction and compels no school to promote Islam, and a Senate Education Committee review concluded it does not breach the state’s constitutional limits on religious activity.
California law already permits teaching about religion — its literature, music, and art — as part of an academic program, so long as the aim is education rather than conversion.
The measure follows the state’s recognition of Diwali, part of a steady expansion of official acknowledgment for California’s diverse communities. CAIR California and other Muslim advocacy groups back it as a practical fix, giving schools and workplaces a clear basis to accommodate Eid without forcing anyone to trade religious obligation for academic or professional standing.
If the Senate agrees, California would take another step toward treating a growing community’s holidays as it already treats others.
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