“Michelle (Obama) and I would like to congratulate Muslims in the US and the rest of the world on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, particularly the pilgrims who have carried out one of the basic rites of Islam. We are proud of the fact that thousands of US pilgrims have joined the approximately 3 million Muslims in Haj this year,” Obama said in his message. 

The president said Eid Al-Adha revived the memory of the readiness of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) to sacrifice his son. He pointed to pilgrims offering sacrifices and donating the meat to the poor, including those who are suffering from severe drought in the Horn of Africa.

“While such a huge number of people from various racial and economic backgrounds overcome their differences for a greater cause, in it there is a lesson for the entire mankind that differences of people are a source of strength and is a blessing of God that should be celebrated,” Obama said.

“We would like to in these blessed days and on behalf of the American people to offer our sincerest greetings to the Muslim world on Eid Al-Adha and also to everyone who completed the Haj,” the president said.