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California is now officially recognizing two Islamic holidays after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation making Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha official state holidays.
The law gives Muslim state workers the right to take those days off, and public schools may choose to close in observance of the holidays.
Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, while Eid al-Adha commemorates the conclusion of the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
"This is really disconcerting," Rabbi Michael Barclay told CBN News.
"Ramadan is not a month of peace; in fact, al-Qaida calls it the month of conquests," he explained. "And it's a horrible statement about California and about our politicians who are pandering for whatever money or votes they think they can get from the Islamic community."
Commentators like Barclay argue that recognizing these Muslim holidays puts Islamic traditions on a special tier above Christian and Jewish holidays. The push to elevate Islam appears to result from a growing alliance between Muslim advocacy groups and political progressives.
The aspect of the new law that allows individual public school districts to determine their own closures for the Muslim holidays is a specific concern for critics because they say it's a step toward allowing Islamic areas to implement Islamic rules that are separate from the rest of the state.
"The state of California doesn't honor any other religion. But now suddenly they're kowtowing and catering to what is effectively Sharia law," Barclay said.
The California Family Council is also concerned about efforts to teach Islamic beliefs as part of the state's recognition of these holidays.
"Our objection is to the state authorizing and promoting the celebration of specific religious holidays inside public school classrooms," the organization states. "Students should be free to observe their own religious holidays, but the state should not commission curriculum guides telling schools to acknowledge and celebrate the theological meaning of religious observances. That crosses a line from accommodation into state-sponsored religious promotion."
California has a smaller percentage of Muslims compared to Christians and Jews, and yet major Islamic holidays have now received state-level recognition without equivalent status for other faith traditions, critics note.
Meanwhile, Newsom has now signed a separate bill recognizing the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in state law. However, that measure would not grant the same status that has been awarded to the Muslim holidays. Instead, the law only requires public schools and universities to make reasonable efforts to avoid scheduling public meetings or major events on those Jewish holy days.
California does not officially recognize Christian holidays like Good Friday or Easter as paid state holidays. Christmas is a recognized state holiday.
Muslims make up about 1% of California's population, Christians are 55%, and Jews are closer to 3%.
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