Islamic Approaches to Development: A case study of Zakat, Sadaqa and Qurd al Hassan in Contemporary Egypt

Hundreds of verses of the Quran deal with the spending of money, trade, social class, charity and other forms of economic transactions. While ideals and debates about the role of Islamic economics in the development process abound, this paper presents a case study of the role of Islamic economic practices in the development process in Egypt. Islamic economic practices are diverse and have distinct roles to play in society when aligned with requisite institutions. Based on one year of qualitative fieldwork in Egypt, I discuss the administration and regulation over Islamic economic entities in Egypt and then analyze the role played by Islamic practices of zakat, sadaqa, and el qurd al hassan in poverty alleviation and the project of development. In order for Islamic economic practices to be inclusive and sustainable, these practices need to be coordinated and specific goal must be attached to each form of Islamic economic practice. I discuss each economic practice as it is being executed