First time in history; American students going for holiday to celebrate Eid il Kabir

New York City public schools were scheduled to close Thursday for their first time recognizing the Muslim holiday Eid il Kabir celebration. The district, which serves about 1.1 million students, was due to become the largest school system in the United States to shut down for the observance.

 Local Muslims welcomed the move as a symbol of the community's acceptance and shift toward inclusion, Agence France Presse reported.

They said they hoped it would become an example others would follow. “As an imam as well as a parent I am very happy,” Jamaica Muslim Center director Imam Shamsi Ali told AFP. “I’m sure this kind of policy from the government side will push Muslims further to feel a sense of belonging."

New York City has an estimated 600,000 to 1 million Muslim residents, and between 10 and 12 percent of its public school students identify as Muslim. That means that holy days tended to devastate attendance -- for example, the last time Eid al-Adha (Eid il Kabir) was on a school day, more than one-third of PS/IS 30 in Brooklyn was absent, according to a news release.