PM Modi to visit Cairo's historic Al-Hakim Mosque restored with help of Dawoodi Bohra community

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently on his first state visit to Egypt, will visit Cairo's historic Al-Hakim Mosque, restored with the help of India's Dawoodi Bohra community.

Modi's visit to the mosque scheduled on Sunday holds special significance for India.

The Mosque has been restored with the help of India's Dawoodi Bohra community, the Egyptian government's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said. The latest restoration was completed about three months ago.

The mosque mainly performs Friday prayers and all five obligatory prayers.

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"Our Prime Minister will also be visiting the historic Al-Hakim Mosque which was built in the 11th century when the Fatimid dynasty was ruling Egypt," India's Ambassador to Egypt, Ajit Gupte said.

The Bohra community which is settled in India originated from the Fatimids. They renovated the Mosque from 1970 onwards and have been maintaining it since then, he told PTI.

"So, the Prime Minister has a very close attachment to the Bohra community who have also been in Gujarat for many years and it will be an occasion for him to again visit a very important religious site for the Bohra community," Gupte said.

The historic Mosque has been named after Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the 16th Fatimid caliph and is an important religious and cultural site for the Dawoodi Bohra community.

The Dawoodi Bohra Muslims are a sect of followers of Islam who adhere to the Fatimi Ismaili Tayyibi school of thought. They are known to have originated from Egypt and later shifted to Yemen, before establishing a presence in India in the 11th century.

Prime Minister Modi has a long-standing and warm relationship with the Dawoodi Bohras even before he became Prime Minister.