For the Dawoodi Bohra community, the Al-Hakim Mosque is a significant cultural landmark that exhibits Cairo’s Fatimid architecture and history. The visit from PM Modi will last over 30 minutes. On his second day in Egypt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a visit to the Al-Hakim Mosque, which dates back to the eleventh century.
The Prime Minister will spend close to 30 minutes at the Al-Hakim Mosque, a famous and historic building in Cairo that bears the name of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the 16th Fatimid caliph (985–1021). For the Dawoodi Bohra community in Cairo, the mosque of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is a significant cultural landmark. Prime Minister Modi has a history with the community dating back to his time as Gujarat’s chief minister. PM Modi will pay respects to the Indian soldiers who gave their lives fighting for Egypt in the First World War by visiting the Heliopolis War Grave cemetery while he is in Egypt.
About Al Hakim Mosque
A approximately 1,000-year-old building, the al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah Mosque is located in the centre of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, on the east side of al-Mu’izz Street, just south of Bab al-Futuh (one of the northern city gates of Fatimid Cairo). The Al-Hakim Mosque depicts Cairo’s Fatimid history and architecture. The vast courtyard, or sahn, at the core of the rectangular mosque, which has a 13,560-meter square footprint, is only 5000 square metres in size. The remaining space is divided into four covered rooms, one on each side of the mosque. The Bayt al salat, or sanctuary area and prayer hall, is the largest of these, measuring 4,000 square metres and including five bays.
The most significant of the mosque’s eleven gates is the stone one in the centre of the main facade. The gate resembles the Mahdiyah Mosque in Tunisia in that it has a prominent portico with squares and niches carved onto its top. It reopened on February 27 this year after major repairs that took six years to complete. The 2017 remodelling project started with the repair of water damage and wall fissures. According to news agency ANI, wooden fixtures including the mosque’s doors, pulpit and distinctive ornate hardwood tiles that line the base of its ceilings have all been fixed.