Egypt’s religious authorities have issued a decision banning direct donations in mosques nationwide, ending the long-time practice of putting charity in “donation boxes” at the worship houses.
Citizens can now donate directly to two-official accounts at the Central Bank of Egypt opened by the Religious Endowment Ministry. One of the accounts is dedicated to mosque maintenance while the other is for social charity.
Many Muslim worshipers like to donate cash at mosques, as a good deed, for the repairing of mosques or social services, including holding Quran recitation lessons or providing charity services for the surrounding community.
The country’s Ministry of Religious Endowment had ordered the mosques, particularly those that are not under its supervision, to remove the donations boxes within ten days.
There are more than 140,000 officially registered mosques nationwide, Minister of Religious Endowment Mokhtar Gomaa said in September 2020.
However, the decision does not apply to mosques run by the Sufi orders.
2021-11-15