United Bank’s Sharia Board Fears Sukuk Investments May Violate Islamic Principles
Mohamed Nabil Ghanayem, head of the Sharia board at the United Bank, opposes the omitting of the word “Islamic” from the Sukuk law as he fears the financing instrument could be used in violation to the Islamic sharia law.
On the sidelines of the conference titled “Islamic Sukuk Finance between Reality and Expectations (Advantages and Caveats)” held at Ain Shams University, Ghanayem affirmed that the most challenging difficulty facing the law is opposing it by non-experts without having full knowledge of it.
Dr. Abbas Shoman, deputy head of the Sharia board at the United Bank, stated that the idea of introducing sukuk was not prompted by the Muslim Brotherhood and it is not related to politics. Sukuk are applied in the largest eight countries in the world and other non-Islamic countries.
The name of the financial instrument is not that important as there is no big difference between “sukuk” and “Islamic sukuk” as long as it applies the Islamic sharia law and that a sharia board will be established to monitor the sukuk investments to ensure that they do not violate the sharia principles.
“Ignorance and politicization are the main difficulties facing the approval of the law as any other problems can be solved by dialogue, “he continued.
As there are fears from directing the yields of sukuk to financing the budget deficit, Shoman suggested the separation of the sukuk administration from the budget administration as well as fostering the role of Sharia supervisory and announcing the results of each issue by the end of each transaction.
Dr. Reda El-Maghawry, head of Islamic Economics Center at the United Bank, stated that introducing sukuk is the only way out for Egypt to overcome the current economic crisis as it will boost production, create thousands of job opportunities and attract local and foreign investments to the country.
The name “Islamic Sukuk” shall not have been changed so as to tap into the broad jurisprudential principles and the multiple sharia solutions, she noted. The idea of introducing sukuk is prompted by the need for a sharia-compliant financial instrument; therefore, the word “Islamic” shall not have been omitted.
