CAIRO: The Ministry of Health announced the establishment of an Islamic waqf, endowment, aimed at gathering LE 5 billion to be invested in health concerns. The idea was introduced by Egypt s top Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, according to Samir Radwan, managing director of the Economic Research Forum. Dr Abdel Rahman Shahid, the media spokesperson of the Ministry of Health told The Daily Star Egypt, that the project is meant to help the people who need it to get better health services. LE 5 billion is our main target and we have faith in the Egyptian public to help us achieve our goal, Shahid added. Radwan told The Daily Star Egypt that the idea is not new and is adopted in different countries around the world but under the authority of NGOs. The concern that the new waqf will restrict the government s efforts in the health sector, as Radwan indicated, is not true. We should take into consideration two issues. The government is indeed required to provide educational and health services and the fact that the government has a limited budget that does not cover all our needs, Radwan said. So when Egypt s top Muslim cleric comes up with that initiative, we should not stand against him, Radwan added. Radwan also said that LE 5 billion is a great amount of money. It is almost half the budget of the Ministry of Health . According to Shahid, the Ministry of Health s budget is LE 8 billion. However the trust issue, according to Radwan, is expected to be the major obstacle that the project will face. People in Egypt have a high tendency to not trust the government in taking care of their money and always blame it for not using their finances, which it gathers through taxes or any other means, efficiently. We need this project to be under an NGO that is neither related to the Ministry of Health nor the waqf, Radwan said. The NGO should have an independent board and program and there should be transparency between it and the public, according to Radwan. On the other hand, Sheikh Abdel Moatie Bayoumy, member of the Islamic Research Center suggested to The Daily Star Egypt that the project be under the Ministry of Endowment. However, according to Shahid, the project will be supervised by a joint committee between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Endowment. Dar Al-Iftaa web site, the official web site that includes all the fatwas, Islamic elicits, authorized by Al-Azhar had a statement about the issue on its home page. The web site had the statement in the form of a proposal to the Egyptian public. The web site indicated that the donors, by investing in the project, would be doing a sadaka garya, a donation which Muslims will get rewarded for by God for as long as it is being used even after their death. The web site had three bank account numbers in three different banks in Egypt which the donors can donate to; account number 5000 in Al-Ahly bank, account number 100100 in Fisal Islamic bank, account number 100100 in Al Masraf Al Motahed, and one currently in process in Misr bank. Bayoumy explicitly explained the necessity that the money be gathered from the Sadakat money, charity donations, and not Al Zakaat money, a yearly obligatory Islamic donation on all financially capable Muslims towards the poor. Al Zakaat money should be given directly to the poor people and they are the ones who decide where and how to use it, Bayoumy said. Bayoumy said that the donation should not be restricted to Muslims. Helping the people who need it is found and praised in all religions. The morals are the same in Islam, Christianity and Judaism, Bayoumy added. Sheikh Mohmoud Ashour, former deputy for Al-Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Center told The Daily Star Egypt that he does not know anything about the issue. Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid, had acknowledged in a press conference organized by the Egyptian-French Business Association at the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel, two months ago, that Egypt faces problems in the education and health sectors. Rachid had stated that the government is not waiting for funds to create development but is trying to undergo changes in the management systems in those sectors, which he believes will lead to progress.
