Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo has said that livestock are sacrificed during the Qurbani ritual on Eid al-Adha to express gratitude for all the blessings given by the Almighty God.
"Doing Qurbani is one of our expressions of thankfulness and sincerity to the blessings from Allah the Almighty," he said in a post on his official Instagram account @jokowi here on Monday.Through the social media post that had garnered more than 140 thousand likes as of Monday evening, Widodo also conveyed Eid al-Adha greetings to all Muslims.
"I hope the spirit of Eid al-Adha will strengthen the unity for a peaceful and advanced Indonesia," he said.
Widodo spent Eid al-Adha morning in Semarang, Central Java. He performed the Eid prayers at the city square, organized by the nearby Baiturrahman Mosque. During the Eid prayers, the President was accompanied by First Lady Iriana and officials, including Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and Central Java acting governor Nana Sudjana.
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Meanwhile, General Elections Commission (KPU) chairperson Hasyim Asy'ari delivered the sermon after the Eid prayer at Semarang city square. The Presidential Secretariat earlier confirmed that the President donated 68 sacrificial cows, including 38 cows for each of the 38 provinces in Indonesia and one for the new capital, Nusantara.
He also donated 27 cows for local and religious figures in East Kalimantan, as well as for mosques and Islamic boarding schools (pesantrens) near the new capital. He further donated one cow each to Baiturrahman Mosque, the mosque near the location where he performed the Eid al-Adha prayer, and Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque.