A ceremony was held at Uşak University on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

Rector Prof. Dr. Ekrem Savaş, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Kenan Taş, Prof. Dr. Lütfi Özav and Prof. Dr. Osman Birgin, Secretary General Assoc. Dr. Sinan Gürcüoğlu, academic and administrative staff attended the ceremony held in the foyer of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Congress and Culture Centre.

'Prayer starts when you leave the mosque, pilgrimage starts when you return from Mecca and fasting starts when Ramadan ends'

Rector Prof. Dr. Savaş started his speech by congratulating everyone on the past Eid and said, "Ramadan is a month of mercy, kindness and abundance. In Ramadan, first of all, we learnt to be patient and to discipline our ego. I hope we will continue these habits for the rest of our lives. The famous poet Sezai Karakoç says, 'Prayer begins when we leave the mosque, pilgrimage begins when we return from Mecca and fasting begins when Ramadan ends'. How beautifully the poet explained that we should continue the forms of worship in every layer of our lives."

''If we are strong, we will be a light of hope for those who are persecuted in the world.''

Rector Savaş, who also commemorated the persecuted Muslims in his speech, said: "Many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, especially our Palestinian brothers and sisters who have been under bombardment for 6 months, are being persecuted. People in Gaza are struggling to live under hunger and misery in front of the eyes of the world. We should never forget them. Imperialist powers persecute the oppressed under the name of 'democracy'. We are a society that exists to build civilisations. We did not persecute people wherever we went, we left people alone in their beliefs. We did not kill them, we did not leave them hungry or thirsty, we built civilisations wherever we went, we built schools, mosques and madrasahs. They, on the other hand, destroyed people with bombs wherever they went. These are the reasons for all the tears in Africa and the Middle East. Let us not forget that the basis of Western civilisation is Islamic science. Therefore, as the world of science, we need to be individuals who produce serious knowledge and transform it into technology and contribute to the development of our country. Our world of science has a lot of duties. For a better world, we academicians should do science and progress in the field of technology. The stronger we are, the more we will be a beacon of hope for those who are persecuted in the world."

Rector Savaş stated that he wished to meet the next holiday with joy and health from Allah Almighty and concluded his speech by saying "I wish you all health, prosperity and continued success".