Free Republic

SEATTLE, Wash. — The mayor of Seattle and his housing committee have unveiled a plan to increase housing in the city, with a portion of the plan proposing the offering of Sharia law-compliant loans for Muslim residents. Among the number of ideas offered to make housing more affordable for Seattle residents is a segment that addresses Muslim beliefs, as Sharia law forbids usury for its adherents. “For our low—and moderate—income Muslim neighbors who follow Sharia law—which prohibits the payment of interest or fees for loans of money—there are limited options for financing a home,” the proposed plan reads. “Some Muslims...

After emerging largely unscathed from the financial crisis that hammered North American and European financial institutions, Islamic banking has momentum. Worth $1 trillion in assets, Islamic banking is being lauded by British Prime Minister David Cameron and supported by Canada’s Conservative government, major banks and credit unions, leading business schools and influential Muslims across the country. Islamic banking — which bans interest payments, pure monetary speculation and investing in such things as alcohol, gambling, pornographic media and pork — is being sold as the next big thing in financing for Canada, which is home to just over a million Muslims.

India’s largest state-owned bank will launch an Islamic equity fund next month aimed mainly at attracting investments from the country’s 170 million Muslims.The Securities and Exchange Board of India, the country’s capital markets regulator, recently allowed the government-owned State Bank of India and three mutual funds to launch Shariah funds. […] A large section of India’s Muslim population remains outside the banking system, partly because Islamic law known as Shariah prohibits interest. Shares of companies linked to alcohol, tobacco, gambling and casinos and financial institutions that earn interest would be excluded from the fund. […] India’s stock exchanges have between...

How is this not a violation of the establishment clause? The government is funding sharia and sharia finance. Sharia financial institutions cannot fund pork, alcohol, gambling  or adult entertainment businesses (these are whole American business sectors).  A portion of sharia finance funds must go to zakat – Islamic charities which we know fund Islamic terror. Minneapolis may be helping to finance international terrorism. No American city should be in the sharia finance business. Taxpayers funding our own demise. Someone with standing - a Minneapolis taxpayer ought to sue. We need hearings on taxpayer dollars being used to fund Islamic finance...

Last September, Goldman Sachs announced that it was going to issue a $2 billion sukuk. The investment banking giant dutifully employed a Shariah advisory firm, Dar Al-Istithmar Limited, and went about the business of putting together the financing arrangement. There was just one problem. Goldman Sachs made one mistake: they trusted the financial jihadis. To make a long story short, some other Shariah scholars have questioned Goldman Sachs’ sukuk arrangement and the whole deal is now in limbo. We’d like to say we have sympathy for Goldman Sachs’ plight, but let’s face it: they’re the biggest of the big boys...

ISLAMIC bank accounts and other financial products have failed to take off in Britain, according to industry insiders. This is despite hopes that the UK would become a pioneer in a new growth market. New banks that were set up to appeal to the UK's nearly two million Muslims and Sharia-compliant products created by the existing high street lenders have failed to make much of an impact, critics say. Junaid Bhatti, part of the team that set up Islamic Bank of Britain, the first Sharia-compliant bank approved by the Financial Services Authority, says that the sector has been a big...

This is part III of the Exclusive Q&A With the President of a Michigan Sharia Bank series. In this email exchange I point how Muslims are using the free market to help advance Islam within Western society and how American Muslims have no problem spewing hatred towards Jews but have major problems taking to the streets against Islamic terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or Hamas.

Iraqi war veteran Kevin Murray is suing the US government for bailing out AIG . The reason being that AIG supports sharia financing which in turn promotes Islam. Mr. Murray is claiming that our government is breaking the First Amendment by endorsing a religion. I applaud this man and this will be very interesting to watch.