Assad attended morning prayers at the al-Hamad mosque in northwest Damascus on Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, the SANA news agency reported.
Assad was accompanied by "high-ranking officials from the [ruling Baath] party and from the state" as well as the Grand Mufti of Syria, Badr al-Din Hassoun, it added.
The grand mufti is the supreme Islamic scholar in the regime-controlled Sunni religious establishment.
| The al-Hamad mosque is relatively isolated and secure, located on the slopes of Mount Qasyoun to the north of the city. |
Assad and his father, former President Hafez al-Assad before him, members of Syria's minority Alawi sect, were both patrons of the mainstream Sunni religious establishment in Syria, which in return supported them and granted a veneer of legitimacy to their rule.
Eid prayers in a Sunni mosque
Assad usually attends prayers on the first day of Eid in a Sunni mosque. His wife, Asma al-Assad, is also Sunni.
In his sermon, the mosque's imam, Sheikh Mohammad Sharif al-Sawaf, stressed Assad's Islamic credentials, describing him as a believer of the true Islam and a defender of Arabism.
Assad has made few appearances in public since the Sunni-led uprising against his rule erupted in March 2011. However, many Sunnis still support Assad or at least acquiesce to his rule.
The al-Hamad mosque is relatively isolated and secure, located on the slopes of Mount Qasyoun to the north of the city.
The mosque's imam, Sawaf, "prayed to God to save Syria, its leader, its army and its people, and to bring victory against its enemies".
"The Syrian army will continue to defend the country," Sawaf said in his sermon, SANA reported.
Photographs published by the news agency showed a smiling Assad surrounded by religious figures.
An image published by the president's official Twitter account showed him kneeling in prayer beside other officials.
Damascus has been largely spared the devastation wrought on other Syrian cities by more than four years of civil war, although there has been periodic mortar and rocket fire by rebels entrenched in the suburbs.