Prime Minister’s Eid-ul-Adha Message 2020

My fellow citizens, I wish on this auspicious occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, to extend Eid Mubarak to the Muslim community.

Eid-ul-Adha is the festival of sacrifice. It renews the memory of that great sacrifice when Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) was willing to sacrifice that which he loved dearly, his beloved son Prophet Ismail (Ishmael) to honour the command of Almighty God.

It marks a time of great introspection and personal sacrifice for our Muslim brothers and sisters. It is the culmination of a very sacred period of prayer and fasting with the aim of elevating one’s level of righteousness and God consciousness. These are values that we would all do well to strive for in order to enhance our personal and spiritual development and connection with our Creator. I therefore pray that God Almighty would accept your prayers and good deeds done during this period and that it would redound to the benefit of our great country as a whole.

Around this time also, Muslims around the world would usually perform the Hajj. This year, the Hajj is only being allowed in a limited way and so this is a cause for sadness. The tradition however of Muslims giving charity to the poor at the time of Eid still continues and I have seen firsthand the charitable spirit of the Muslim community.

In this critical time of our nation’s history, I urge all of our citizens to strive to strengthen our connection with God Almighty and to take on board the message of personal sacrifice for the greater good. I appreciate that it is truly tough when people aren’t able to celebrate important occasions together with their friends and families but our priority remains to keep our loved ones and our communities safe.

Indeed, one of the important lessons from Eid-ul-Adha is about overcoming challenges through personal sacrifice. Muslim communities have made great sacrifices during this crisis. We have all learned to come together in these unpredictable and challenging times. And I hope we can continue to do this, so that we may overcome whatever challenges the future holds for us.

Once again on behalf of my family and staff, I wish our Muslim brothers and sisters in Trinidad and Tobago and across the world Eid-ul-Adha Mubarak.