Alternative home finance that adheres to Islamic principles is thriving

HOUSTON CHRONICLE ^ | April 22, 2009, 6:53PM | LINDSAY WISE

[cbkaty]

As part of its Islamic-based business model, Guidance Residential featured a recitation from the Quran by Noorulhuda Khalid, 10, during a recent gathering for prospective borrowers at the Mezban Curry and Grill restaurant in Houston.

Share Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTwitterYahoo! BuzzFacebookStumbleUponFor five years after moving to Houston, Pakistani immigrant Abdul-Jabbar Khan rented an apartment even though he had saved enough money to make a down payment on a house.

[cbkaty]

I wonder if a Christian or a Jew could get a loan from these extremists..... We all know the answer..... The only way to counter is to open a Christian Mortgage Company or a Jewish Mortgage Company as a counter balance.....otherwise the current administration will refuse to notice these businesses that play by their own rules...not the rules we are required to live with.....

Open the eyes....it's happening here now ...not Dearborn but Houston, Texas......

[whitedog57]

I don’t get liberals. They hate conservatives and their values, but love Islam even though they treat women like animals, etc.

So, if a white male looks cross-eyed at a woman, liberals want them hung. If a Muzzie enslaves and kills a woman,”Its their religion, nothing we can do about it.”

Answer? They have conservatives so much that they will side will far “worse” rather than agree with conservatives.

[bergmeid]

We infidels should seriously consider doing the shahada, which is how you become a muslim, (in name only of course) and then take out a loan with these people. Easy. Really. We should all do it. Never pay another dime of riba (interest).

[BenLurkin]

Islam is winning the war.

[rbg81]

Read the article—you end up paying more under this system. Plus, the house is never really in your name and no federal mortgage interest deducation. You never get anything for nothing.

[Poison Pill]

Because Islam forbids interest payments on monetary loans, or riba, Islamic mortgages are advertised as alternatives to the borrower-lender structure of conventional mortgages.

Call it a "rental fee", call it a "usage fee", hell call it a banana. Whatever you call it it's interest. The loans are not more stable because they change terms on the loan doc, they are stable because they insist on 20% down. All lenders should get back to that.

[depressed in 06]

Since the “rental fee” is fixed to the market interest rate, the costs are roughly the same as a conventional mortgage, Hussain said. However, the buyer pays an additional $18.75 per month to maintain the limited liability entity.

As long as you don't call it interest it is not interest.

[Honcho]

Since the “rental fee” is fixed to the market interest rate, the costs are roughly the same as a conventional mortgage

Someone has to explain to me what the difference is between paying a "rental fee" fixed to market interest rates are as opposed to paying interest.

They call it something different so that is suppose to make it alright? Interest is not interest as long as it's called something else? The buyer is still paying more for the home than the purchase price or the normal market price. I'm no expert in Islam but that kind of seems to be the point.

And why would we need a Christian or Jewish Mortgage Company as a "counter balance?" Sounds like capitalism to me.

I can kind of see the conversation in some boardroom going like this:

"We have these Islamic people who qualify for loans but won't give us their money because of their religious beliefs on loans , how do we get them to hand their money over?"

"Well Bob, what if we charge them interest but we just call it a "rental fee" instead?"

[cbkaty]

Read the article—you end up paying more under this system. Plus, the house is never really in your name and no federal mortgage interest deducation. You never get anything for nothing.

In my opinion, this is to dissuade anyone but Muslims from applying. Keep in mind that conventional Mortgage qualification can be impossible for those that have lesser credit scores.... I don't see where sharia lenders use FICO scores....

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

Complete fakery. Smoke and mirrors, so that they don’t have to “pay interest.” But they do pay interest. Only they don’t call it interest.
Question, can the non-interest be deducted from income taxes? If so, only for Death Cult members?
Madness.

[cbkaty]

And why would we need a Christian or Jewish Mortgage Company as a "counter balance?" Sounds like capitalism to me.

Maybe you missed my point.....Getting a loan from a muslim Mortgage company is likely impossible for a Christian or Jew...yet a Muslim can get a loan from a non-muslim mortgage company backed by anti-discrimination laws.

[JoyjoyfromNJ]

(1)The “savings” part of such banks is becoming even more popular in the UK among non-muslims.
(2)My understanding is that what we call “interest” is already calculated into the total purchase price, then divided out into the “shares”. The bank makes a profit, don’t worry about that; it’s just called something different.
(3)There’s evidence that those profits are transferred overseas in allegedly charity organizations, which in turn fund terrorism. (see last item below)
(4)Many, if not most, of our own large banks have sections devoted to promoting Shariah finance and “mortgages”.
(5)Harvard University has an entire Sharia Finance Center and promotes academic forums and meetings extolling the topic. Guess which country’s royal family bankrolls the center.
(6)you may want to check out www.shariahfinancewatch.org.

[raptor29]

“Islam is winning the war.”

They’re the only ones fighting it.

[steve-b]

Read the article—you end up paying more under this system.

So, some Muslims have figured out a way to use their religion to rip off their co-religionists.

[Oatka]

Call it a "rental fee", call it a "usage fee", hell call it a banana.

Yeah, it's a "rose by any other name" thing. I remember reading where prostitution was forbidden under Khoumeni (still might be), but they did sanction "one hour marriages".

[conservativegirl]

I think this says it all -

“All they sell them is holy water sprinkled over the mortgage,”

[grundle]

This program is a success, and I think it deserves any praise that it gets. And I’m Jewish!

[Honcho]

I can’t see why anyone would want one of these Muslim loans in the first place... Did you read the whole article?

It would be like being upset if say for example Yugo only sold to liberals and for more money... Who cares, it’s a Yugo... And they can sell or discriminate to whomever they want as long as it’s a private company.

Besides, I still believe in freedom of association... don’t you?

[WOBBLY BOB]

Already have it here in little Somalia(MPLS)

[cbkaty]

Did you read the whole article?

Maybe you missed my point.....Getting a loan from a muslim Mortgage company is likely impossible for a Christian or Jew...yet a Muslim can get a loan from a non-muslim mortgage company backed by anti-discrimination laws.

This was a post to you in post 11.

To futher detail my point, I mean the Muslim lenders should not be allowed to discriminate... See...this is another camel nose under the tent.