Boris Johnson and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan today joined Muslims around the world in celebrating Eid Al Adha.
In a message to the UK’s estimated 3.3 million Muslims, the Prime Minister said: "The story of Eid al-Adha is one of sacrifice, about doing your duty and doing what’s right.
"And that is something we see daily from Muslims right across the UK – men and women who, in all kinds of different ways, make such a huge contribution to modern British life.
"In business, in our public services, in culture and the media, at the highest levels of government and of course in England’s World Cup-winning cricket team, British Muslims are helping to make this country the success it is today.
Sadiq Khan posted online: "To everyone celebrating Eid al-Adha in London and across the world: #EidMubarak!"
Almost 2.5 million pilgrims have taken part in a symbolic stoning of the devil in the final days of the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, as Muslims around the world marked the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations today.
In Mina, pilgrims threw pebbles at a pillar in a symbolic casting away of evil.
To mark the completion of the hajj, male pilgrims shaved their hair and women trimmed theirs on Saturday to represent a spiritual renewal and rebirth.
Muslims around the world are commemorating the end of hajj with Eid celebrations, including distributing meat to the poor.
"I came from Sudan to Mecca where I performed the pilgrimage," Mohammed Saleh said as he performed the final rites of hajj in Mina. "We hope all pilgrims will be successful in their hajj."
Saudi Arabia said 1.85 million pilgrims from more than 160 different countries travelled to the kingdom for the hajj this year. Another 634,000 joined from within Saudi Arabia, nearly 70% of them non-Saudi residents of the kingdom.
The hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings on earth and a massive logistical challenge for the Saudi government to oversee each year. The kingdom provides pilgrims with health care and buses for transportation, as well as meals, snacks and water along the route.
Saudi media reported King Salman visited Mina on Sunday to supervise the services provided during the hajj.
He included among his guests for the hajj this year 200 survivors and relatives of victims of the mosque attacks in New Zealand, where a gunman opened fire and killed 51 people in March.
