Cairo, Jun 24: 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.
"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.
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Manchester (England) (AP): Rayan Cherki kept Manchester City's Premier League title challenge powering on with a late winner at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The France forward's 83rd minute strike secured a 2-1 victory at the City Ground to make it six league wins in a row for Pep Guardiola's team.
City is on an eight-game winning run in all and provisionally moved to the top of the standings — one point ahead of Arsenal, which was playing Brighton later on Saturday.
“Today is a big win,” Cherki told TNT Sports. “I'm proud of the team because this game is very complicated to win.”
It was Cherki's second goal in three games and fifth over all. He also provided an assist with an intricate pass to Tijjani Reijnders to put City ahead three minutes into the second half.
Omari Hutchinson equalized for relegation-fighting Forest, which was holding out for a crucial point until Cherki fired through a crowded box for the winner.
Guardiola looks like a man who believes his team is ready to regain the title it surrendered to Liverpool last season. He joined in the celebrations with the traveling fans after the final whistle — acting conductor as they celebrated wildly after another win.
