As my colleague, Dr. Hillal, suggested, ethics in Egypt is generally joined with religion. Rights and wrongs seem clear to most Egyptian professionals (and non-professionals). This clarity comes from the Sacred Book. Issues not dealt with in the Sacred Book are the business of the lawmakers. In Egypt, philosophical debates about professional ethics are the "hobby" of philosophers who got their education in the West. One example tells the story.

Some years ago the late President Sadat introduced a new style of court called the "Ethics Court:' The Ethics Court was designed to try high officials and important investors who caused great damage to the country or to people's finances. When Sadat announced the court, journalists, conservative people, and even laymen criticized the concept sharply. Sadat was accused of blindly borrowing from the West. Egyptian society (almost everyone agreed) had no need of ethics.

For more on professions in Egypt, I recommend Donald Reid's article in Comparative Studies in Society and History 16:1 (1974). Reid reports that the Teaching Professional Society was established in 1891, followed by Law (1897), journalism (1909), and Engineering (1920). Although these societies represented the interests of their members, political interference kept interrupting their work and hindered progress toward professionalism.