Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has on Sunday published a message of gratitude to those that helped to reinforce Islamic beliefs in the hearts of Maldivians.
Commemorating the anniversary of the day Maldives embraced Islam on Sunday, Gayoom took to twitter expressing his heartfelt gratitude to those who worked hard to implant and sustain Islamic principles.
Gayoom wrote that 892 years of the Hijri Calendar ago today, Maldives had embraced the “greatest blessing of Allah, Islam”.
Highlighting that since then, "the nation has been unified by faith", Gayoom congratulated the people on the historic occasion.
Earlier on Sunday morning, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had addressed the day by urging all educational institutions, teachers and Islamic scholars to instill authentic Islamic knowledge in the young hearts of children so as to uphold the true message of Islam at a time religious extremism has become a growing issue in the country.
It is notable that President Gayoom had reinstated celebrating the day in 2000, after a 33-year hiatus since it was first celebrated in 1954, during the rule of Sultan Mohamed Fareed.
While the day, one of religious unity, is celebrated annually on the first day of the Islamic month of Rabi Al-Thani, this year, the day falls on Sunday and is a public holiday in the nation. Maldives, previously dominated by Buddhism, converted to Islam in early 12th century.
