Egypt's state-controlled Dar al-Ifta has issued almost half a million fatwas this year, according to its annual report.

"The edicts pertained to modern-day issues, such as a widow’s in vitro fertilisation, fetal gender determination, abortions, artificial heart valves made of pig tissue, and real estate loan interest," a 
news item in al-Masry al-Youm says.

Out of the 464,321 religious rulings issued by Dar al-Ifta, 2,316 were given in writing, 88,133 verbally and 255,058 over the phone. A further 113,468 were posted on the internet and 5,346 were issued in response to requests from abroad.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 21 Dec 2010