President Maithripala Sirisena said the period of fasting practiced in Islam could be described as a noble quality of self-sacrifice.

“This is, indeed a universal declaration of equality”, he further stated.

Full text of the Message:

With a deep understanding about the good living standards endowed to the human society by the Islam devotees who are disciplined by the practices of their noble religion, I extend my best wishes to them as they celebrate the Id-Ul Fithar at the conclusion of the Ramalan fast.

The Ramalan fast comes with sighting of the moon, which is a gentle inheritance of the nature and ends with the dawn of a new moon. The devotees engage in an exemplary observance by coming into a spiritual life from a material life with a pure mind and good practices. They fast during the day in order to physically undergo the pangs of hunger suffered by the poor brethren, thus displaying a noble quality of self-sacrifice. This is, indeed a universal declaration of equality.

The Islam community the world over, collectively shelve the feelings of greed and undertake a common mission of compassion and love towards the human kind displaying mutual respect, peace, reconciliation, generosity and helping the needy adding a rich, vivid multihued to the humanity.

I extend my best wishes to the Islam brethren on this Id-Ul-Fithar, which marks an event of purification that brings divinity closer to the human being and wish for the attainment of their prayers.