PRESIDENT PRESENTS SACRIFICIAL ANIMAL TO ISTIQLAL MOSQUE

Jakarta, Dec 8 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono handed a sacrificial animal to the Istiqlal Mosque after performing prayers in observance of Idul Adha (Moslem Day of Sacrifice) prayers at the mosque here on Monday.
The president, accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, presented the cow weighing 1.4 tons to Mubarok, the head of Istiqlal Mosque's Idul Adha sacrificial affairs committee.
On the occasion, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, accompanied by Mrs Mufidah Kalla, also handed a 1.4-ton sacrificial cow to the committee.
The two sacrifical cows from the president and vice president were tied to a pole under a red-and-white tent on the mosque's premises.
After the handover of the state leaders' sacrificial animals, the grand imam of Istiqlal Mosque, Ali Mustafa Yaqub, offered a prayer.
Earlier in the morning, the president and vice president attended an Idul Adha prayer service in the mosque together with thousands of people.
The service was led by Syarifuddin Muhammad, deputy chairman of the mosque, while Communications and Informatics Minister M Nuh acted as preacher.
In his sermon, the minister reminded the congregation that the sacrifice offered by the Prophet Ibrahim was not for nothing but for a far-reaching and supreme purpose.
He said the lesson that could be learned from Ibrahim's sacrifice was that human beings' ability to think rationaly in exploring truth must always end with submission and obedience to God whose existence transcended all of man's ratinal understanding.