We are experiencing the happiness and excitement of rejoining with Eid al-Adha which carries the emotions of peace, brotherhood, and sharing to the hearts of the believers and becomes the symbol of iman, obedience, and submission.

Sacrifice is the pursuit of being closer to the Almighty Allah and reaching to the good, the beautiful, and the truth. Sacrifice is the symbol of love, loyalty, and self-devotion. Sacrifice is a great worship which strengthens the conscious of bounty that comes from the Creator and the moral of altruism that is shown to the created beings and which gives us the determination of sacrificing the properties we have for the sake of the values we believe in.

On the other hand, religious festivals are the exceptional periods of time in which our bonds with our family, relatives, the members of the same religion, and all humans and our feelings of unity, solidarity, and cooperation dominate over our lives as the manifestation of our determination to be an ummah and a nation.

In addition, Eid al-Adha is a sacred time in which hajj that is one of the fundamental worships of Islam is performed and millions of believers come together in Mecca in submission to the Almighty Allah. However; al-Masjid al-Haram, Mount Arafat, Muzdalifah and the other places that are included in the hajj worship has been deserted this year due to the global epidemic which has affected the entire world today. The fact that we cannot perform this sacred worship which unites Muslims from all parts of the world around a common value with a great love and excitement has deeply saddened the hearts which are burning with the longing of the sacred towns. For this reason, we need the unifying, calming and soothing characteristics of religious festivals more than ever. Within this difficult process through which we are passing along with the entire humanity, the values that are reminded to us by the religious festivals and the beauties they add to our lives should be seen as great blessings and opportunities. 

I would like to express one point proudly that our nation has overcome several hardships with patience, determination, and resolution from past to today. So, the re-opening of the Great Hagia Sophia Mosque, which is the symbol of the great conquest of Istanbul, for worship again after 86 years of longing is the indicator of the unshakable iman, endless hope, and determined standing of our nation. With the help of the Almighty Allah and with the resolution and determination of our nation, I have no doubt that we are going to overcome the global hardships, which we are facing today, and we are going to rejoin with the religious festivals which we are going to celebrate with greater peace and excitement.

Therefore, we should exert effort to celebrate Eid al-Adha with all its beauties despite all these negativities. We should strengthen our conscious of solidarity and cooperation even more by acting with the understanding of taking precautions, trusting in Allah, and submission when we face with hardships and calamities. We should avoid any kind of negligence and carelessness and obey to the health and cleanliness principles at the maximum level for the sake of both our own and others’ health and peace. For peace and safety of our household, we should never forget to be careful, smile to people, give salam to everyone, and have friendly conversations with people. We should exert efforts to solve problems of the orphan, the poor, the sick, the old, and the lonely people who need attention and to turn their troubles into happiness by being their relatives in this Eid al-Adha. We should feel the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in Islamic terms who have this Eid al-Adha under oppression, pressure, terror, disease, hunger, and related threats in several parts of the world and we should strive more for healing their wounds with our material and immaterial aids and our duas. 

With such emotions and thoughts, I would like to congratulate Eid al-Adha of our dear nation and the entire Islamic world. May the Almighty Allah let that the Eid al-Adha conduces to the salvation of the entire humanity from hardships and to the peace and tranquility of the whole world.

Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş

The President of Religious Affairs