After wrapping up a landmark first state go to to the US, Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi launched into a two-day journey to Egypt on Saturday. Through the go to, Modi will go to the Imam al-Hakim bi Amr Allah Mosque, a 1,000-year-old mosque within the capital metropolis of Cairo.
Why is the mosque vital?
The mosque, mentioned to be the fourth oldest in Egypt, was constructed in the course of the Fatimid dynasty. “It is among the oldest architectural examples of projecting entrances, and was influenced by the good Mosque of Mahdiya in Tunis. The mosque as soon as served as a Shiite middle in Egypt, working as al-Azhar Mosque did within the Fatimid interval,” Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities states on its web site.
The historic construction, which was as soon as utilized by French forces as a barrack with its minarets serving as watch-towers, was renovated by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities over a span of six years. The Imam al-Hakim mosque holds a major place within the hearts of Dawoodi Bohra Muslims because the group co-funded the renovation.
The mosque is a key Islamic website for the Dawoodi Bohra Muslims with whom Modi shares heat relations. The Dawoodi Bohras have a deep reference to Egypt—they adhere to the Fatimi Ismaili Tayyibi faculty of thought which is believed to have originated in Egypt and later shifted to Yemen. A long time later, the seat of the sect was moved from Yemen to India, making an allowance for not simply the variety of followers in India, but additionally the group’s cultural and commerce ties with the nation. Curiously, ‘Bohra’ is derived from the Gujarati phrase for merchants.
Based on studies, the Dawoodi Bohras are current in each a part of Modi’s house state Gujarat and comprise 9 p.c of the state’s inhabitants. Whereas Surat is their base, the Bohra Muslims additionally dwell in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. In 2011, when Modi was Gujarat CM, he joined the group to have a good time the 100th birthday of Syedna Burhanuddin, who was the spiritual chief of the group then. When Burhanuddin died in 2014, Modi went to Mumbai to supply condolences to his son Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin who’s the present head of the group. The Dawoodi Bohras have additionally massively supported Modi’s diaspora occasions within the US.
Modi’s go to to the Islamic website is predicted to additional strengthen his ties with the group.
