{"id":55766,"date":"2015-09-24T14:57:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T11:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sana.sy\/en\/?p=55766"},"modified":"2015-09-29T12:48:33","modified_gmt":"2015-09-29T09:48:33","slug":"president-al-assad-performs-eid-al-adha-prayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.sana.sy\/en\/?p=55766","title":{"rendered":"President al-Assad performs Eid al-Adha prayers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Damascus, SANA \u2013 President Bashar al-Assad performed the prayers of Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) at al-Adel Mosque in Damascus on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Senior Baath Party and state officials and a number of Islamic scholars also observed the prayers, which were led by sheikh Ahmad Samer al-Qabbani, Director of Damascus Directorate of Awqaf (Religious Endowments).<\/p>\n

Eid al-Adha festival, which marks the end of the annual Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj to Mecca, commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (also known as Abraham) to follow God’s command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.<\/p>\n

“While the Eid is linked to happiness in the Muslim nation’s life, it has not been that in our homeland, where the Syrians are banned from performing Hajj and where the enemies have engraved pains in our country,” al-Qabbani said in his sermon.<\/p>\n

He saluted the Syrian army’s members and martyrs “who deserve to be glorified,” stressing that the people of Syria have been making “miracles” having shown a high level of awareness and resilience in the face of the conspiracy targeting the country.<\/p>\n

He called for ringing the alarm bells in the Arab and Islamic world so that they wake up and unify their ranks against what is plotted for the region.<\/p>\n

Sheikh al-Qabbani addressed President al-Assad saying that the Syrian people pledge the latter to continue fighting the enemies along his side.<\/p>\n

Following the prayers, President al-Assad\u00a0congratulated the Syrian people on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/a><\/p>\n

The following are the President’s statements:<\/p>\n

Happy Eid Adha to all the Syrians\u2026to every Syrian who faces the will to kill and destroy with the will to live, survive, work and produce\u2026to every employee who goes to work in the morning to serve every Syrian citizen\u2026to every worker in any field and any domain who wakes up in the morning seeking more production\u2026to every citizen who goes to school or university and seeks more educational attainment.<\/p>\n

Of course and before all of that, to every fighter on the fire line facing terrorism and the terrorists, the murderers and criminals\u2026to the martyrs’ families\u2026to our injured heroes\u2026to all of these great people who have entrenched that will in us, as Syrians.<\/p>\n

It is true that we in Syria have not known what Eid is like for more than four years, yet when we say “happy Eid”, it is because we believe that the Eid blessing; the blessing of belief in God, in homeland and in people and in that we are people with a right, this blessing is the only one by which security and safety can be restored to Syria. That’s why I conclude by saying ‘happy Eid\u2026happy Adha’.<\/p>\n