Brooklyn

CAIRO, October 14 (IslamOnline.net) – Students at Brooklyn International High School have asked for taking time off to attend Friday mosque services in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan due to begin this week, a leading American newspaper reported Thursday, October 14.

New York Times said that 20 to 30 Muslim students at the school were denied permission to attend the same Friday services last year, even though Department of Education policy states that students can be excused “to attend a program of religious instruction/education.”

School officials have not granted permission to attend services this year, either, the paper added, as the move risks the wrath of Muslim students who said they planned to sign a petition to the Board of Education asking for the time off.

“It is really important to us as Muslim students,” said Mugeeb Sweileh, a Muslim student at the school.

“Why can't we get two hours off only on Fridays during Ramadan?”

Ramadan, a month marked by fasting during daylight hours and prayer, is the holiest time of the year in Islam.

Surprised

The refusal to allow them time off left many Muslim students surprised, as they have had days off from school for Christmas, the Jewish new year and assorted national holidays.

Several city schools accommodate Muslim students throughout the year, dismissing them early on Fridays with a letter from a parent or the mosque.

“I was in another school when I was a freshman, and I was allowed to leave the school at 11:30 every Friday," said Maneef Hassan, 17, a senior at Brooklyn International.

Hassan said he drew up a petition to the Board of Education and began circulating it on Wednesday, October 13, according to the NY Times.

“Fridays are the holiest days of the week,” said Hassan's 25 year-old brother and guardian, Faroqu Hassan.

“Of course I want him to go to the mosque. Please.”

“Going to the mosque on Friday is obligatory for every Muslim male during the year,” Wissam Nasr, executive director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, was quoted by the American daily.

“Now that it's Ramadan, we expect that the attendance would rise.”

The New York Times said a spokeswoman who answered the phone at the Department of Education referred all questions to the department's Web site.

The Department of Education's Web site states that a child may be excused if written permission from the parent and “a copy of the student's registration in the religious instruction program” are provided.

Last year students said they had a letter from an imam asking them to be excused for Friday services, but were told they needed the approval of the Board of Education, to which the students sent the petition.

The principal who students said made that decision is no longer at the high school. Kathy Fine, who is in her first year as principal at Brooklyn International, declined to comment.

Some of the students, claiming discrimination, are threatening to skip classes if they do not receive permission to leave to the mosque.

But Hassan said he opposed plans by some students to skip classes.

“It will make us look really bad,” he said.

“It's simply lying just to leave, and I don't want to lie any more. We should have permission.”