Family members and leaders among them Chief Justice Willy Mutunga received the body at the airport before escorting it to his home.
Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and County commissioner Nelson Marwa were among those who received the body.
“Security plans have been put place to ensure he is given a decent send off,” Marwa stated.
The body was later taken to Mbaruk Mosque for final prayers and afterwards to the final resting place at the 900-year old Mazrui family graveyard, near the famous Fort Jesus.
Mazrui who was born in Mombasa in 1933 is survived by two wives who are British and Nigerian nationals respectively and five children.
The scholar was an Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York.
He was a chancellor of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture Technology during former President Mwai Kibaki’s regime.
President Uhuru Kenyatta while paying tribute to the fallen scholar described him as a towering academician whose intellectual contributions played a major role in shaping African scholarship.
The Head of State pointed out that Mazrui was one of the greatest scholars Kenya and the continent have ever produced and that his death has robbed the country of one of the greatest writers.
President Kenyatta stated that the professor’s brilliance raised him to the apex of scholarly distinction and earned him the respect and following among his peers globally.