As the Christmas season is coming up, lots of students are getting ready for the holidays: wrapping gifts, drinking hot chocolate, and putting ornaments on the Christmas tree. However, not everyone enjoys the general christmas traditions, or even celebrates the holiday at all. 

        Only 93% of Americans today celebrate Christmas. But what about the 7% who choose not to or who celebrate another holiday? An example of this is people who celebrate Eid al-Adha. Similar to Christmas, Eid al-Adha also represents a time of giving.

  “It’s a time when we all gather around with our family and give gifts to one another. Kids usually get gifts or money, it’s the same with adults,” said Retaj Alrikabi, a junior at Karns High school.  

“There’s no specific date for the holiday; each year is different,” commented Alrikabi. 

Eid al-Adha has no specific date as Christmas does, it changes every year depending on the slighting of the new moon that signals the start of the month. The date changes every year since Islam uses the lunar calendar.

Eid al-Adha is celebrated to commemorate the prophet of Ibrahim who was commanded by God to sacrifice Ismail, his son. It is believed that God commanded the prophet to sacrifice Ismail, to test how committed he was to his faith. 

“I’ve never felt like I’ve missed out by not celebrating Christmas,” commented Alrikabi. 

        Christmas is one of the biggest celebrated holidays, but that does not mean it is celebrated by everyone. The students of Karns High have their very own traditions that they enjoy just the same.