AUSTRALIAN FM JULIE BISHOP EXTENDS RAMADAN GREETINGS TO MUSLIMS

Australia Minister for Foreign Affairs The Hon Julie Bishop MP. (Photo:http://foreignminister.gov.au) — **Australia** **Minister for Foreign Affairs** **The Hon Julie Bishop MP.** (Photo: http://foreignminister.gov.au)

Canberra, 30 Sya’ban 1435/28 June 2014 (MINA) – Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop extended Ramadan greetings to Muslims in Australia and throughout the world. The holy month of Ramadan begins June 29, 2014.

“I extend to Muslims in Australia, and throughout the world, best wishes for the holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week,” the Australian Foreign Minister says in a Ramadan Message published in the official website of the Australian Foreign Ministry: http://foreignminister.gov.au/ on June 27, 2014.

Here is the complete Ramadan message of Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop monitored by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA), Saturday:

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“I extend to Muslims in Australia, and throughout the world, best wishes for the holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week.

Ramadan is a time for reflection, spiritual devotion and renewal. Muslim families around the world come together this month to celebrate their faith and their communities. By fasting, and through acts of charity, Muslims also remember those less fortunate than themselves.

In Australia, this month is an opportunity for us to honour the important contribution our Muslim brothers and sisters make to our nation. Muslim Australians have helped build a more diverse, more productive and more prosperous country for us all.

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Australia’s Muslim citizens belong to over 60 ethnic groups, linking Australia to some 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. These links underpin our trade, and our friendly relations, with Islamic nations.

As Australian Muslims celebrate Ramadan, many will be thinking of relatives suffering displacement, unrest and conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere. My thoughts are with them, and I share their hopes for peace.

Ramadan offers a message of tolerance, compassion and hope – a universal message that everyone can share.”

“Ramadan Mubarak,” Julie Bishop concludes her Ramadan Message. (T/E01/IR)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)