كتب : Ahmad Saied
Mohamed Abou-Treika put Ahli ahead in the 27th minute with an opportunist strike but the visitors grabbed a deserved equalizer through Joetex Frimpong's tap-in after the break.
Sfaxien will enter the second leg in Tunis after two weeks as favorites as they need a goalless draw to be crowned African champions for the first time in history.
International winger Mohamed Barakat made his first start for Ahli in this season's Champions League and was deployed on the right-hand side.
Ahmed Shedid played on the left flank instead of injured Tarek Al-Saied while holding midfielder Hassan Mustafa and defender Mohamed Abdullah were ruled out of the game.
Some 76000 fans packed the Cairo international Stadium, chanting supporting slogans for the African Champions who started in explosive style and rocked the visitors on their heels.
Ahli almost took the lead as early as the eighth minute through a brilliant header from Emad Meteb.
The international striker beat his challenger to connect with Shedid's cross and steered a powerful header but saw his effort denied by the post.
Sfaxien playmaker Abdelkrim Nafti, who is linked with Paris St Germain, was a thorn in the hosts' side almost allover the game and could have provided the opener in the 19th minute.
He danced his way past Ahli defenders before releasing Tarak Ziadi with a lofted ball but keeper Essam Al-Hadari rushed out of his goal to catch the ball before the anticipated striker.
Ahli appealed for a penalty-kick in the 22nd minute when Barakat's shot appeared to be handled by a Tunisian defender inside the area but the referee waved the play on.
Shortly after, Ahli broke the deadlock from another set-piece but 35 meters far from goal.
Abou-Treika stepped up to curl a free-kick inside the area to Flavio Amado who missed the ball by a hair.
However, the Angolan's try bamboozled Sfaxien goalie Ahmed Jaouachi who failed to clear the ball that hit the post and settled into the back of the net.
Frimpong wasted a rare scoring chance six minutes from the interval when he opted to shoot into the body of his marker instead of squaring for unmarked Ziadi inside the box.
But the Ghanaian striker made up for his mistake in the 53rd minute and gave an estimated 1000-strong Tunisian crowd wearing stripped black-and-white kits something to cheer about.
Fateh Garbi's cross from the left beat two Ahli defenders and Al-Hadari only for Frimpong to poke it home at full stretch.
Nafti could have added the second only six minutes later when he sidestepped marker Hossam Ashour brilliantly before shooting inches wide.