How religious convictions influence business culture in Egypt
Recent fatwas remind Egyptian Muslims that receiving interest on a savings account is permitted, but profiteering from scarce supplies is not.
A recent interest rate hike by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has sparked a public debate about whether returns on bank deposits are halal (lawful) or not, according to Islamic sharia law. Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta, the country’s authority for issuing fatwas (religious edicts based on sharia), has reiterated that yields on certificates of deposits (CDs) are halal.
The repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the supply chain crisis have driven the religious authorities to issue another fatwa on March 22 clearly declaring that monopoly of food items and supplies for profiteering is prohibited according to sharia.
Such fatwas reflect the extent to which Islam influences the business culture in Egypt . A Quranic verse says “Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury” [Surat al-Baqarah 2:275], according to Yusuf Ali’s translation.
Price gouging "is banned in Islam because Prophet Mohamed described the one who does that as an accursed sinner," sheikh Abdel Hamid el-Atrash, former head of Al-Azhar’s Fatwa Committee, told Al-Monitor. "In a hadith, the Prophet said the merchants would be resurrected on the Day of Judgement as sinners, except for the righteous and truthful who fear God.”
