As Ramadan ends, Justin Welby tells Muslims he is praying for all who suffer

AP

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby wished Muslims in the UK and around the world "Eid Mubarak" as they celebrate Eid-al-fitr today, the feast which marks the end of Ramadan.

In the video message he recalled with fondness the conversations he had with a Muslim friend during Lent this year, in which they read the Qur'an and the Bible together.

The video was recorded earlier this month when the Archbishop hosted Lambeth Palace's first Iftar meal, the meal that Muslims eat every evening after sunset to break the day's fast.

Welby acknowledged that many Muslims around the world were celebrating Ramadan amid war and conflict, and said that his prayers were with those of all faiths experiencing suffering.

"In many places, the Iftar meal will be snuck, snatched and hurried, fearful, dangerous even," he said. "Our prayers are daily with those of all faiths who are menaced by war, by kidnap, by violence, by suffering, by poverty."

In contrast with religious struggles around the world, he emphasised the importance of Christians and Muslims in Britain working together, particularly in light of the 'Trojan Horse' scandal, which claimed there was a Muslim plot to take over schools in Birmingham.

The Archbishop said: "That raises some of the issues that we've got to deal with together, not in opposition, but listening to each other, and working out what it means to be a community of communities in this country.

"A single community, joined by our loyalty to one another, to the country in which we live [...] but also to be in reality and with integrity, our own communities, enjoying all the richness that comes from our history."