VOL. XXXIX

No. 13/14

25-December-1995/1 January 1996

EGYPT

Mufti Of Cairo Sanctions Receipt Of Interest

The Mufti of Cairo has said that he sees no difference between a conventional and an Islamic bank. Shaikh Muhammed Sayyid Tantawi said in a meeting with female students from Cairo University on 18 December that depositors' receiving interest from banks was "halal", or permitted under Islamic law. He did however differentiate between riba, which is usually translated as usury and which...