Sisi orders formation of Sharia-compliant Zakat House

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fatah Al-Sisi has ordered the formation of an independent Zakat House to be supervised by Al-Azhar Grand Imam with the purpose of raising charity funds in accordance with Sharia.

According to MENA news agency, Al-Sisi’s spokesman Ihab Badawi said that a presidential decree stipulated the formation of a charity fund called Zakat House, which will have a legal jurisdiction and will be financially and administratively independent, but will be overseen by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar.

The decree, according to Badawi, aims at receiving Zakat, alms, donations, and subventions from Muslim citizens to spend them on “the development of the individual and society” as stipulated by Sharia law.

The board of trustees which will manage the fund will include a number of public figures with backgrounds in Sharia law, economics, finance and business, he added.