Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi asserted, on Thursday, the need to develop and manage money received as religious endowments, whilst taking urgent measures to remove any infringements on this form of financing. The President said that all documentary items related to religious endowments transactions should be issued by the Complex for Secured And Smart Documents. He added that any financial transactions regarding all religious endowments should be carried out in accordance with the market value. Al-Sisi's remarks came during a meeting with Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa. Presidency Spokesperson Bassam Rady said that, during the meeting, Al-Sisi reviewed the Ministry of Religious Endowments' efforts to develop the Religious Endowments Authority, the training of imams, and itsactivities in the field of authorship, translation, and publishing. Gomaa reviewed his ministry's efforts in managing the Religious Endowments Authority's funds, noting that the authority has achieved the highest annual return in its history during fiscal year (FY) 2020/21. In this period, it received about EGP 1.8bn, in addition to about EGP 1.170bn that was gathered from allowances and owned assets. Meanwhile, Gomaa said that his ministry has also translated "The Meanings of the Noble Qur'an" into a number of languages, including Urdu and English. This is in addition to several other publications in the ministry's "Vision" series for enlightened thought, which is being undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture to spread rational and moderate thought, the principles of true religion, and correct misconception. In this regard, Al-Sisi has also ordered for the Ministry of Religious Endowments to increase the number of its publications related to religious culture aimed at children and youth, which are aimed at raising awareness on correct religion practices. Moreover, Gomaa presented his ministry's plan to train imams, including courses for the effective use of social networking sites. Al-Sisi also directed for financial support to be given to imams, in addition to developing high-level training programmes to refine their abilities.
