Egypt honors India Bohras for preserving country's Fatimid mosques

Egypt has always appreciated and praised the Dawoodi Bohra community for its efforts to renovate historic Fatimid mosques in the country. The two peoples have long enjoyed a strong relationship, dating back to the 1970s, when the first Bohras arrived and settled in Egypt. The Dawoodi Bohras originate from India and Pakistan, most of them concentrated in Gujarat state, in western India. A sect of the Ismaili Shiite branch of Islam, they claim direct descent from the Fatimids, who ruled Egypt from 969 to 1171.

On Aug. 8 in Cairo, Sultan Mufaddal Saifuddin, the Indian leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, joined Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in inaugurating the historic mosque of Sayida Nafisa, Prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter, after restoration work funded by the community.

A day earlier, Sisi had honored the Bohra sultan with the Nile Sash, one of Egypt’s highest orders, in recognition of the Bohra’s community’s financial support of the restoration of the shrines of Ahl al-Bayt, the family of the Prophet Muhammad, and several Fatimid mosques in Cairo.

Restoration of the Sayida Nafisa mosque began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The exact amount the Bohras contributed to the renovation remains unclear.