Cairo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday visited Egypt’s historic 11th century Al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo, restored with the help of India’s Dawoodi Bohra community.
On the second day of his state visit to Egypt, Modi was shown around the mosque whose latest restoration was completed about three months ago.
The mosque mainly performs Friday prayers and all five obligatory prayers.
The Prime Minister was seen appreciating the intricate carved inscriptions on the walls and doorways of the mosque which was built in 1012.
Over a thousand years old, al-Hakim is the fourth oldest mosque in Cairo, and the second Fatimid mosque to be built in the city. The mosque covers an area of 13,560 square metres, with the iconic central courtyard occupying 5,000 square metres.
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.
“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,” India’s Ambassador to Egypt Ajit Gupte earlier 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.
Modi visits Heliopolis War Cemetery
Modi also visited the Heliopolis Commonwealth War Cemetery here and offered tributes to the Indian soldiers who bravely fought and laid down their lives in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War.
Modi offered floral tributes and signed the visitor’s book at the Cemetery that comprises the Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial and the Heliopolis (Aden) Memorial.
The Heliopolis (Port Tewfik) Memorial commemorates nearly 4,000 Indian soldiers who died fighting in Egypt and Palestine in the First World War.
The Heliopolis (Aden) Memorial pays tribute to more than 600 men of the Commonwealth forces who sacrificed their lives for Aden during the First World War.
The Cemetery is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It also houses 1,700 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War as well as several war graves of other nationalities, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
Located at the south end of the Suez Canal, the original Port Tewfik memorial was unveiled in 1926.
Designed by Sir John Burnet, the original memorial sustained damages during the 1967-1973 Israeli-Egyptian conflict and was eventually demolished, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
In October 1980, a new memorial with panels bearing the names of the martyred Indian soldiers was unveiled by the Indian Ambassador to Egypt in the Heliopolis Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery.
Last October, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar paid tributes at Heliopolis Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery.
The Prime Minister is on a two-day state visit to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. This is the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 26 years.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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