Obama Offers 'Best Wishes to Muslim Communities' as Ramadan Starts

Libyan men perform the evening prayer at the end of the first fasting day of Islam's holy month of Ramadan in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi on August 1, 2011. GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- As Ramadan begins, President Obama and the first lady have sent their “best wishes to Muslim communities in the United States and around the world.”

In a written statement Obama says that, while Ramadan is a festive occasion, it’s also a time of “deep reflection and sacrifice” and he urges people to come together and offer assistance for the humanitarian crisis in Somalia.

“[Ramadan] is also a reminder of the importance of reaching out to those less fortunate,”  Obama says. “The heartbreaking accounts of lost lives and the images of families and children in Somalia and the Horn of Africa struggling to survive remind us of our common humanity and compel us to act.  Now is the time for nations and peoples to come together to avert an even worse catastrophe by offering support and assistance to on-going relief efforts.”

The president also says he looks forward to again hosting an iftar dinner at the White House.

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