The Prime Minister will pay a state visit to Egypt from June 24 to 25 where he will discuss strengthening ties between the two countries and expanding cooperation in new areas of business and economic cooperation. “Prime Minister Modi is making this visit at the invitation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,” Quatra said. Al-Sisi attended India’s Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest and at the same time invited the prime minister to visit Egypt. This will be the first visit to Egypt by an Indian Prime Minister since 1997.
Al-Hakim is an 11th-century mosque
The Al Hakeem Mosque in Cairo that Prime Minister Modi will visit dates back to the 11th century. The Shia mosque was reopened in February this year after a six-year renovation work. The development of the Bohra community contributed to the restoration of this mosque. The main residence of the Bohra community of Muslims is India. The President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is particularly impressed by this Indian Muslim community. He had in the past warmly welcomed the people of the Dawoodi Bohra community who had gone to Egypt from India.
Egypt’s President respects Dawoodi Bohra Muslims a lot
According to reports published in the Egyptian media, Al-Sisi praised the openness of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslims of India. He said that this Muslim community has a very liberal attitude towards other sects and religions and believes in increasing dialogue and contact with different communities around the world. There is also an important fact that Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam visited India only last month.
PM Modi’s special connection with Dawoodi Bohra Muslims
Actually, the Dawoodi-Bohra community has a special connection with Egypt and PM Modi. In February this year, the PM inaugurated the new campus of Al Jamia-tus-Saifiyah Arab Academy, an educational institution of this community in Mumbai. Even before that in 2018, he participated in the program of Bohra community in Indore. As far as the Dawoodi Bohra community’s relations with Egypt are concerned, the entry of this community into India is believed to be from Egypt. It is said that a group of Dawoodi Bohra community from Egypt came to India in the 11th century.
Dawoodi Bohra Muslims also have a special connection with Egypt
However, today India is the largest center of the Dawoodi Bohra community. There is a population of about one million of this community worldwide, the largest part of which is in India. The Masjid-e-Moazzam in Surat, Gujarat is the largest mosque of the Dawoodi Bohra community. There is a lot of emphasis on education in the Dawoodi Bohra community and they are also the richest among Muslims. The Dawoodi Bohra community had established Al-Azhar University in Egypt. It is still counted among the oldest surviving universities in the world.
PM Modi will also visit martyr’s memorial in Egypt
However, before meeting President al-Sisi in Egypt, PM Modi will hold talks with the India Unit formed by a group of ministers there. The President of Egypt has formed a group of senior ministers of his cabinet to strengthen relations with India. He will also visit the Martyr’s Memorial at Heliopolis where he will pay homage to the Indian soldiers who died in the First World War.