The shifting political setting in North Africa after the so-called «Arab Spring» has given rise to a huge interest in the possibilities of Islamic finance. The developments in Egypt between the revolution of January 2011, which overturned the Mubarak regime, and the defenestration of the Islamist-led government in July 2013, have borne witness to a lively debate between the legalistic and socio-economic perspectives underlying these types of finance. Although legalistic considerations have prevailed in Egypt since the 1970s, during a brief period from 2011 to 2013 numerous unrestricted initiatives surfaced and sought to redefine socio-economic approaches. After putting forward an overview of the history of Islamic finance in Egypt, we will present and analyse the said initiatives, contextualising them within each perspective.
Islamic finance, Islamic microfinance, collective Islamic financing, socio-economic perspective, legalistic perspective, Egypt.