Egypt celebrated Martyrs’ Day by releasing the sermon of Friday Muslim prayers in ten different languages. President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi performed the weekly prayer at the El-Mosheer Tantawy mosque in Cairo on the occasion. He was accompanied by Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff Mohammed Zaki, Air Force commander Mohammed Farid and various commanders of the police forces. The Ministry of Awqaf, which oversees mosques, released Friday’s sermon in German, French, Swahili, Hausa, Russian, Spanish, English, Greek, Turkish and Urdu. The sermon was also broadcast on television for the people with disabilities. The release of the sermon in different languages is part of efforts to raise awareness and promote ethics and humanitarian morals, as well as combat extremist ideology, said the ministry. Egypt commemorates Martyrs’ Day on March 9 of every year in memory of Chief of Staff General Abdul Munim Riad, who was killed in an Israeli attack in Suez in 1969. In delivering the Friday sermon at the El-Mosheer Tantawy mosque, Dr. Usama al-Azhari urged Sisi to continue to hold to account all individuals whose “negligence brings harm to Egypt.” Minister of Awqaf Dr. Mohammed Mokhtar Jomaa said that all mosque imams in Egypt were requested to deliver sermons about martyrdom and to clarify any discrepancies about the issue. In releasing the sermon in different languages, the ministry is seeking to demonstrate the virtue of martyrs, who sacrifice themselves in defense of their nation and land. In an address to the armed forces, Grant Mufti Sheikh Shawki Allam said that the entire Egyptian population recognizes and values “your great sacrifices in defending the security and stability of the nation.” “You have the honor of protecting the nation against terrorist and extremist groups that seek to bring chaos and destruction,” he added, saying that backing the “heroes of the armed forces” is a national duty.