"Halal
Thanksgiving” Holiday
By Kaleem Kawaja
Washington, DC
Only
10 years ago a large number of Muslims in America
thought of the "Thanksgiving" holiday
on the last Thursday in November as an alien holiday
to which they could not relate. Even though they
knew that it was a non-religious holiday, they
had acquired American citizenship, and they were
thankful to Allah for a comfortable life in US,
they still could not embrace this holiday.
With three-fourths of the American Muslims being
immigrants they had no background of this holiday
which revolves around families getting together,
cooking turkey - an American bird - and sharing
the meal. The fact that in their home countries
they had never tasted turkey, a bird not found
in Asia, Middle-East and Africa, also contributed
significantly to their lack of enthusiasm towards
Turkey Day that the Thanksgiving holiday is nicknamed
in America. For Muslims, chicken, lamb and beef
are the normal fare for meals. Until a few years
ago most of the halal meat stores that the Muslims
buy meat from, did not sell turkey.
Not any more.
The most visible change is that now an increasingly
large number of the same immigrant Muslims have
developed a custom and taste to have special turkey
feasts on Thanksgiving Day. Almost all of the
community's meat stores now sell a large number
of whole turkeys prepared "halal" in
the weeks just before the Thanksgiving Day. In
Baltimore, MD, to Norfolk, VA, region, this year
the American Halal Meats, a wholesaler of halal
meat that distributes its product through 150
stores, sold 1400 turkeys in the weeks preceding
the Thanksgiving Day, a ten-fold jump from about
five years ago.
During my visit to Bismillah Halal Meats in Washington
DC - the local halal meat store - a few days before
Thanksgiving Day, the owner told me that in the
last three years the traditional Thanksgiving
turkey bird has been a big seller. He also told
me that in these three years almost all halal
meat stores have started selling halal turkey
in the week preceding the Thasnksgiving day. When
I asked him why he thinks this change has occurred,
he said, " After 9/11, Muslim people - because
of the remorse that they felt for what had happened
in America - truly began to embrace Thanksgiving
holiday even though it is not a Muslim holiday.
Everyone has something to be thankful for".
In addition to accepting the turkey feast, now
most Muslim families have embraced the unique
American tradition of annual Thanksgiving Day
family reunion. Siblings and cousins and uncles
traveling up to 400 miles to congregate in one
place to observe the Thanksgiving reunion and
feast is becoming commonplace. I had an opportunity
to participate in one such typical Muslim family
Thanksgiving and reunion feast in Baltimore this
Thanksgiving Day. Many cousins, nephews, nieces
of the Muslim gentleman in whose house the feast
and reunion was held, traveled long distances
for this event. Before starting the sumptuous
turkey dinner a young man recited the Azaan prayer
and read several passages from the Holy Qur’an.
The head of the family recited verses from the
Qur’an and prayed to Allah to shower His
Rahmat on all Muslims.
Indeed, Thanksgiving has become a Halal holiday
for the American Muslim community. A very positive
development for the entire Ummah, indeed.
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