A meatpacking company Wednesday laid off about 100 Muslim immigrant workers who walked off the job last week in protest of the firm’s refusal to give them time to pray during the holy month of Ramadan.
Non-Muslim workers complained they had to do additional work when Muslims went to pray, which devout followers do five times a day.
Ramadan begins the day after the sighting of the crescent moon that marks the beginning of a new lunar month.
Some Muslim countries use astronomical calculations and observatories, while others and particular sects in some countries rely on the naked eye alone, leading to different starting times.