Egypt dials up for spiritual help

Four sheikhs are trained to tackle the phone queries

By Caroline Hawley in Cairo

A new privately-run telephone service has been set up in Egypt to give 24-hour religious advice for any problem raised by callers.

Answers are given the next day by one of four sheikhs, all trained at al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest religious authority.

Calling 09000-700 costs around 50 US cents per minute.

And since it was set up exactly a week ago, the founders of the "Islamic Line" say it has received on average 500 calls a day.

'Dial-a-Fatwa'

The line, which has already been dubbed "Dial-a-Fatwa," comes hard on the heels of telephone services offering recipes and horoscopes.

The new service has already found a market

Nearly 80% of the questions so far have either been about masturbation or the veil - when to wear it and how important it is as a religious obligation.

Sheikh Khalid el-Guindi is one of the founders of the new service.

He says the advantage is that it can all be done at the touch of a button, answering modern demands for fast information and using technology in the service of Islam.

Mr Khalid says the new telephone line also means Egyptians can get religious advice anonymously on issues they would be embarrassed to raise face-to-face with a sheikh at their local mosque.

Some may be uncomfortable about the commercialisation of religion, but the new service has clearly found a market.