Senator Who Once Denigrated Islam Seeks Recognition For Muslim Holidays
After seeing an anti-Muslim tweet by New Jersey state Sen. Ed Durr, Selaedin Maksut set out to explain Islam to the Republican lawmaker.
Maksut, who heads the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ New Jersey chapter, didn’t expect anything would come of the meeting with Durr late last year.
But surprisingly, Durr became an ally helping garner support for one of the group’s major causes — getting the Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha officially recognized.
In his 2019 tweet, Durr denounced Islam as a “false religion” and “cult of hate.”
It was condemned by CAIR as “hate-filled, xenophobic and anti-Muslim.”
Durr later apologized for the tweet.
After meeting with CAIR, he released a statement saying, “I stand against Islamophobia and all forms of hate.”
Last week, Durr introduced a resolution that would make Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha “days of observance” calling for annual proclamations to celebrate them.
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