Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Back in 1991, when I was a 16-year-old junior at Glenbard South High School in suburban Glen Ellyn, my mother suggested to our family that we have biryani for Thanksgiving instead of turkey.

Her reasoning was sound: Thanksgiving is a national holiday about gratitude celebrated with feast foods. America is a nation of immigrants, and we have made the country stronger by contributing the gifts of our various cultures to the greater whole.

As Ismaili Muslims from South Asia, it was natural for our family to celebrate Thanksgiving because our faith views gratitude as a core value. In Sura 93 of the Holy Quran, we are taught to “constantly recount the favors of your Lord.”

Turkey was the feast food of some cultural groups; biryani was the feast f

See Full Page