President al-Assad observes Eid al-Fitr prayers

Damascus – President Bashar al-Assad observed on Friday the prayers of Eid al-Fitr (the Festival of Fast-Breaking at the end of Ramadan) at al-Hamad Mosque in Damascus.

Senior state and Baath Party officials, Minister of Awqaf (Religious Endowments), Grand Mufti and a number of Islamic scholars performed the prayers at the Mosque, along with a crowd of people.

 Following the prayers, President al-Assad listened to the Eid sermon delivered by Sheikh Mohammad Sharif al-Sawwaf, who led the prayers.

“Our country, the Levant, has been blessed by God, and it has remained present and kept being renewed over more than ten thousand years despite the events and calamities it went through,” said al-Sawwaf.

“It is this same blessing that has kept Syria firm and proud today after almost five years during which it faced the fiercest barbaric attack,” he added.

The land of Syria, he said, is “the land of prophets and holy messages” and Damascus is where Islamic civilization “shone in all its glory”.

Sheikh al-Sawwaf went on saying in his sermon that the Syrians today are “writing a glorious history with them sticking firmly to their land and defending their religion and civilization.”

The people of Syria, he added, are fending off from the entire humanity the guile of those who have wished it ill, and the Syrian army is fighting the “battles of honor in defense of the sanctities.”

Al-Sawwaf referred to various Islamic projects that have been recently initiated in Syria, including publishing “Crisis Jurisprudence” book to face the “sedition jurisprudence”, developing the religious discourse and launching the “Virtue Project” to promote and consolidate the real national and religious values.

He also referred to an ongoing project to develop the curricula of Religious Education secondary schools, and most recently the launching of a new standard version of Holy Quran which President al-Assad ordered its formation.

Al-Sawwaf noted in his sermon that President al-Assad is a believer of the true Islam and a defender of Arabism, guided by a clear vision, an unshakable adherence to genuine values and a strong confidence in his army and people.

SANA