Khaled al-Khatib, head of Egypt's emergency services, said 40 others were wounded in the fighting that broke out after the main weekly prayers in the capital and other parts of the country.
"Four people were killed in Cairo. The dead do not include members of the police or security forces," Khatib said, without giving causes for the deaths.
Cairo saw the fiercest clashes, largely centred around the iconic Tahrir Square, epicentre of the 2011 revolt which toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak.