Update March 10th: Atlas Shrugs has more on this story here.
Shariah finance is something we haven’t touched on very often at RRW, mostly because this author (I’m not speaking for Judy) is a dunce when it comes to understanding this sort of special financing for Muslims. Today the Associated Press tells us that Shariah finance, an important component of Shariah law, is creeping into the US through none other than a state government program. Hat tip: Mars
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – For many Minnesota Muslims, it’s been virtually impossible to buy a home, because Islamic law forbids the paying or charging of interest. To help close the home ownership gap among Muslim immigrants, the state’s housing agency has launched a new program offering Islamic mortgages.
Islamic law does make exceptions to the ban on interest, if one’s family is at stake. But the exceptions are open to interpretation and for many observant Muslims, conventional mortgages are strictly taboo.
Nawawi Sheikh is one of them. The Somali-American said he and his wife just couldn’t go against their beliefs, even if it meant giving up their dream of owning a home. Still, he grew tired of moving from one rented apartment to another.
“One thing I hated was moving. I don’t like to move all the time,” he said.
He has no plans to move again anytime soon. Sheikh is the first home buyer to get a loan through the state’s New Markets Mortgage Program. That’s because, program manager Nimo Farah said, he has all the makings of a successful homeowner.
To learn more about this form of stealth jihad, see Shariah Finance Watch blog here. They have posted on this same AP story here.
Our previous posts on Shariah Finance are here. Note all of our previous stories involve government sanctioning of these unusual mortgages, not purely private banking.