CAIRO: Magdy Hussein, head of the Islamic Labor Party, said that the stock market is usury, a kind of gambling, has nothing to do with economics, and Muslims do not need it. At the Democratic Alliance Conference in the Haram neighborhood of Giza, Hussein said that the global financial crisis in the West happened because the stock market does not exist in reality. Hussein highlighted that we can do without the stock market through an Islamic economy based on production and not brokerage. He said that calls for separating religion from politics are futile. “Religion has organized our affairs economically and politically and left us a big space,” he said. He asserted that all Islamists are pro-democracy that it does not contradict Islamic principles. Islam Abdel Atty, a financial analyst, said that those who say that the stock market is usury and not important in the economy is ignorant. He said all religious entities in the whole world do not consider it usury. Abdel Atty added that by analyzing the results, one would find that 80 percent of the companies registered in the stock market make a profit. He said that the stock market has provided job opportunities, funded projects, and added to the total gross domestic product, and that it includes 1.7 million investors and 24,000 employees. Abdel Atty had no comment for those that insult the stock market. He said that the Egyptian economy could improve its position and achieve progress in the coming period, adding that decision makers should support capital markets.
