Police have been chided on social media for wishing Muslims a happy Eid on the Islamic new year.
New South Wales’ chief law enforcers attempted some cultural goodwill, only to be ridiculed on their Facebook page.
‘The NSW Police Force would like to wish the Muslim community a happy New Year,’ they said on Thursday. ‘Eid Mubarak.’
The police wished Muslims ‘Eid Mubarak’ for their new year (Eid al-Fitr festival in Lakemba, in western Sydney during June pictured)
Several Facebook followers of the NSW Police Force pointed out their greeting was wrong
The term ‘Eid Mubarak’, which is Arabic for ‘blessed celebration’, is usually associated more with two holy Islamic festivals held in June and September.
Several Facebook followers politely pointed this out.
‘Happy new lslamic year but it’s not Eid. Thanks,’ one man said.
Another man saw the funny side of the post.
‘A Christian wrote the post clearly. It’s nice they tried to be polite,’ he said.
The NSW Police have been panned on Facebook for using a term associated for an Islamic festival held in June to mark the end of Ramadan (Lakemba in Sydney pictured)
However, a NSW police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the term ‘Eid Mubarak’ was correct.
Muslims observe two holy Eid festivals.
Eid al-Fitr was celebrated on June 24 and 25 to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Unbowed: the NSW Police insist the term ‘Eid Mubarak’ can be used to wish Muslims a happy new year
This year, it included a festival outside the Lakemba Mosque, in Sydney’s west, attended by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Iranian-born Labor senator Sam Dastyari.
Another holy festival, Eid al-Adha, was held in early September over five days to commemorate the sacrifice of Ibrahim’s son to show his obedience to God.
It also coincided with Muslims making a pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The NSW Police also published a Facebook post on Thursday wishing the Jewish community a happy new year.