Eid-Ul-Adha Excuse Letter

I was trying to write an excuse letter for my daughter. I browsed in the Internet and here is what I came up with :)

Dear Mrs. Murtha,

My name is Arkhadi Pustaka, father of Najwa Arifah who is in your 2nd grade class.

As Najwa’s parent, we would like to inform you that Najwa will be absent for school on Thursday, September 24, 2015, due to religious observance of Eid-ul-Adha.

Eid-ul-Adha is one of the two most important holidays observed by muslim community. This holiday falls on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar calendar month of Dhul-hijjah. It happens to fall on Thursday, September 24, this year. This holiday is also known as the “feast of the sacrifice” to commemorate the life of the great prophet Abraham (pbuh). Some of the muslim go for pilgrimage to Mecca on this religious holiday. For those who cannot go for pilgrimage, muslim families are required to attend morning mass congregation at the mosque. Thus, we would like to take Najwa to the mosque on that day.

However, we are fully aware that September is the Attendance Awareness Month. We are also aware that attendance is really important for Najwa to be successful in school. We will try our best to help Najwa to catch up with her schoolwork during her absent on that day.

If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [insert e-mail] or by phone at [insert-phone-number].

Thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely yours,

[insert-signature]

Arkhadi Pustaka

Kiblat

Pada suatu hari, seorang jamaah masjid As-Salaam Lexington Market bertanya kenapa kiblat kita menghadap "North East" (Timut Laut) padahal kalau lihat di peta/atlas harusnya menghadap "South East" (Tenggara) karena Baltimore itu letaknya di utara Mekah. Pertanyaannya cukup masuk akal.

Pertanyaan yang sama juga bisa muncul dari pengalaman terbang dari Dulles Airport ke Dubai, misalnya. Pesawat selalu terbang ke arah timur laut ...

Saya tidak bisa menjelaskan panjang lebar mengapa ... lebih baik dilihat sendiri pada tiga foto berikut:

Foto 1

Foto 2

Foto 3

Kalau kita punya sebuah bola dunia mini dan karet gelang, karet yang dilingkarkan pada bola dunia akan menunjukkan garis terlurus dan terpendek di antara dua lokasi. Dan ternyata kalau dari Baltimore terbang ke arah timur laut memang sampainya ke Mekah di semenanjung Arab.

Atlas yang biasa kita punya adalah proyeksi 2D dari bumi yang berbentuk bola. Jadi mungkin agak sulit membayangkan bahwa jarak terpendek dan terlurus antara Baltimore-Mekah itu memang benar sesuai kiblat timur laut, bukan ke arah tenggara kalau acuannya atlas. Representasi 3D membantu kita memahami permasalahan ini dengan lebih jelas.