DILI, 02 may 2022 (TATOLI) – President of the Republic, Francisco Guterres ‘Lu Olo’ and Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, congratulated thousands of the Muslim community in Timor-Leste amid the celebration of monday `Eid Al-Fitr holiday.
Both national leaders shared their warm messages of congratulations through their representatives during the celebration of the `Eid Al-Fitr, which marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
“I take this special opportunity to call on the Muslim community and other religious communities to work together in promoting the value of unity in our beloved country because we are one people and one Timor-Leste,” President Lu Olo said in a statement, delivered by his representative, Domingos Amaral, at the commemoration of the `Eid Al-Fitr, at Mosque An’nur, today.
He said with the celebration of the `Eid Al-Fitr, each family of the Muslim community would spread love, kindness, and respect among each other in Timorese society.
On the same day, in his message on the commemoration of the day, Ruak called on the Muslim community to be good citizens in Timor-Leste: “I hope that Timorese Muslims will become good Muslims in the future. Being a good Muslim means you are a good citizen.”
Ruak said good citizens are those who love Timor-Leste by contributing to the national development, adding, therefore, the Muslim community in Timor-Leste needed to pray for the nation, and its democracy to keep the peace and stability.
“On behalf of the Government of Timor-Leste and my family, I wish a blessed and peaceful Eid to all those celebrating here in Timor-Leste,” said Ruak.
In addition, the Vice President of the Muslim Community in Timor-Leste (CONISTIL), Abdullah Inácio António Soares said the religious holiday was celebrated by Muslims in Timor-Leste as it marked the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan: “It is a month of fasting and spiritual reflection. It’s also a special day for us as Muslims to sustain our two relationships, the Vertical with Almighty God and the Horizontal with our family, friends, and communities.”
“I call on the Timorese Muslim community to promote religious, ethnic, and political tolerance in the country to maintain peace and stability,” he said.
“As a Muslim citizen, I am certainly proud to be a Timorese citizen and I am happy to live in a very peaceful democratic country like Timor-Leste,” said Soares.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
