After five years of lobbying by the American Muslims, the U.S. Postal Service releases the first American stamp celebrating Muslim holidays on the first day of September, 2001. A blue stamp featuring gold calligraphy was released to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, along with the English words “EID GREETINGS,” the stamp is included alongside stamps celebrating other religious holidays, a victory for Muslim representation in America.
Over the years, many American Muslims had pushed for the creation of a holiday stamp of their own, arguing that their two holiest days (Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of Ramadan fasting, while Eid al-Adha marks the culmination of the haj) deserved the same level of recognition as Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. After a letter-writing campaign in which over 5,000 Muslim children sent messages to the Postmaster General, the Postal Service finally announced the new stamp designed by Calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya in August 2001 and it was released as part of the Postal Service's “Holiday Celebration Series.”
The Eid stamp would receive unwelcome attention, due largely to the 9/11 attacks which took place just ten days after its release. In the wake of the attacks and the subsequent wave of anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States, activists lobbied to make the stamp permanent, symbolizing the right of American Muslims to live peacefully and on equal footing with their fellow Americans. The stamp was reissued in October of 2001 and many times after that—its re-issuing in 2009 sparked rumors among right-wing reactionaries that new President Barack Obama, whom many falsely believed to be Muslim, had ordered its creation. Despite the unfortunate coincidence of its original release, the stamp is a mainstay of the U.S. Postal Service's holiday series, and an updated version is currently available as a Forever stamp.
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