Press Release
Dar al-Ifta' al-Masriyya Falls Deeper into the Dirty Work of Distorting the Meaning of the Revealed Words, to Please Rulers
(Translated)

Dar al-Ifta' al-Masriyya (The Egyptian House of Religious Edicts) confirmed the permissibility to deal with investment certificated to finance the new Suez Canal project, considering it a financial contract between the subscribers and the state, and it is in no way considered a loan. Dar al-Ifta' al-Masriyya explained that the financial investment contracts between banks or bodies or public associations on one hand, and between individuals or institutions of companies on the other hand are in reality new contracts that serve the interests of its parties, and upon which the fatwa indicates that it is permissible to make new contracts that are not named in the inherited Jurisprudence, as long as it is free from ambiguity and damage, serving the interests of its parties. After the Dar al-Ifta' al-Masriyya finished from twisting its farcical Fatwa, which revealed its biasedness towards the ruling system, and its clear distortion of the meaning of the revealed words. It called upon the Egyptian people to refer to the specialized bodies who are known through the ages for their moderation in presenting the Legislative Rulings, represented in the form of Al-Azhar and the Dar al-Ifta' al-Masriyya, the Ministry of Awqaf has proceeded with the full annexation of the legitimate association mosques to the Awqaf, because one of its Friday Khateeb said in the previous Friday Sermon that those certificates are forbidden and flagrant Riba.

If the Egyptian people responded to that call, they would have found wonders, because Al-Azhar and the Dar al-Ifta' al-Masriyya and their Ulema', have passed Fatawa very recently opposite to what this fabricated Fatwa states:

1. Fatwa no. 413 by Sheikh Bakr Al-Sadafi (may Allah have mercy on him), Mufti of Egypt (died on 1919).

2. Fatwa no. 3252 by Sheikh Abdul Majid Saleem (may Allah have mercy on him), Mufti of Egypt, then Sheikh of Al-Azhar (died on 1954).

3. Fatwa no. 3178 by Sheikh Hasan Mamoun (may Allah have mercy on him), Mufti of Egypt then the Sheikh of Al-Azhar (died on 1973).

4. Fatwa no. 3346 by Sheikh Adbullatif Hamza (may Allah have mercy on him), Mufti of Egypt (died on 1985)

5. Fatwa no. 819 by Sheikh Jadul-Haqq Ali Jadul-Haqq (may Allah have mercy on him), Mufti of Egypt then the Sheikh of Al-Azhar (died on 1996)

The issue here is not about the presence of previous Fatawa that strike this Fatwa across the wall, but the issue is their audacity to the Fatwa in this way, making Riba permissible and being careless about declaring war against Allah and His Messenger, for the sake of obtaining the satisfaction of the ruler who will not profit them in the least against the plan of Allah.

As for what they mentioned in their Fatwa of documents that make the Riba of these certificates permissible, there are several points to mention; most notably:

1. Considering the State as a legal personality, therefore, the rulings relating to it differ from an actual personality.

2. Considering the contract a sponsorship contract and not a loan.

3. Considering the interest agreed upon as a gift or a prize from the State and not an agreed upon Riba.
As for the first point, it is an attempt to convince people that the legal personality has special rulings that are excluded from the texts regarding the prohibition of Riba, without providing any proof on that except some wrangling.

As for saying that this contract is a sponsorship contract, and that it is a new type of contract which did not exist before, this is a rejected saying, because it will still be part of either a loan contract or a speculative contract, so if it was a loan contract, then every increase in it is a definite Riba, and if it was speculative, then it would not be permissible to determine a fixed amount of the profits as a proportion of the capital. And this is not eliminated by their saying: "That the reality we live today has changed with a range of adjusted sciences, like the feasibility studies, operations research, statistics and accounting, which are most likely accurate and work on staying away from the degree of ambiguity and damage". As for the third point, it is ridiculous, because one cannot imagine that a person who bought these certificates had the motivation of helping the State, and if the interest rate on these certificates (13%) were not greater than the interest granted by the banks, then no one would have thought of buying them. How then can it be said that this scheduled interest is a gift or an award from the state?!.

The third bedrock of matters is what the Minister of Awqaf said that the purchase of the funds of workers in Al-Azhar and Awqaf, is an investment certificate in the Suez Canal project with a total amount of 650 million pounds, is a practical and applicable statement and Fatwa to make these certificates permissible (Halal). As if the Azhar and Awqaf actions have become a legislative evidence like the actions and acceptance of the Messenger (saw), what is the matter with you and your judgments?!

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَذَرُواْ مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الرِّبَا إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ، فَإِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلُواْ فَأْذَنُواْ بِحَرْبٍ مِّنَ اللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَإِن تُبْتُمْ فَلَكُمْ رُؤُوسُ أَمْوَالِكُمْ لاَ تَظْلِمُونَ وَلاَ تُظْلَمُونَ]

"O you who believe! Fear Allah, and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if you are indeed believers. And if you do not, then be warned of war (against you) from Allah and His messenger. And if you repent, then you have your principal (without interest). Wrong not, and you shall not be wronged." [Al-Baqara: 278-9]

Sharif Zayed
Head of Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
in Wilayah Egypt