The Shura Council, the upper house of Egypt’s parliament has passed the law for sukuk—bonds and shares that allegedly comply with Islamic sharia. The Sukuk Law is the first law passed that completely derives from sharia
The Shura Council, the upper house of Egypt’s parliament has passed the law for sukuk—bonds and shares that allegedly comply with Islamic sharia. The Sukuk Law is the first law passed that completely derives from sharia.
The Shura Council had two days ago held heated discussions on whether or not to refer the Sukuk bill to al-Azhar—the topmost authority on Sunni Islam—for advice on the Islamic legitimacy of the bill. But this move was not taken and the Sukuk Law was passed.
According to MP Gamil Halim, this casts shadows over the law, especially given that al-Azhar had disapproved a previous bill, saying that sukuk had nothing to do with Islam and that the bill jeopardised public property. The law was hence passed and named the Sukuk Law instead of its previous denotation as the Islamic Sukuk Law.
Mr Halim, a secular MP, explained that the law now includes nothing to threaten public property, since the secular MPs in the Shura succeeded in including a clause in the law to ban the issuance of sukuk for public property that has been there before the enactment of the law. But sukuk can be issued for new public property that comes into being after the enactment of the law. Halim also pointed out that the new law does not include clauses that compel the Church to issue sukuk for its endowments.
Watani International
19 March 2013