Challenges facing Islamic mortgage lenders

Wed, 27 Jul 2011
One of the biggest challenges facing Islamic mortgage providers operating in the western world is fitting in with the laws of the country in which they are trading.

A recent article in the Huffington Post highlighted the issues faced by Islamic finance firms in the US, where the laws of Islam do not always fit neatly with the fiscal rules governing the industry.

The Muslim faith stipulates that banks must first own a property before selling it on to their Islamic mortgage customers.

However, this contravenes US law, which says that financial institutions are not allowed to own a home on someone else's behalf.

The newspaper spoke to Islamic Centre of Mill Valley imam Abdulla Nana about the issue, with the California resident explaining that a large proportion of the hundreds of questions he is asked each year relate to money matters.

He said: "The real challenge for Islamic finance is working within the legal framework of this country."

In other news, Islamic mortgage provider Tamweel recently announced a strong net profit for the second quarter of 2011.
Salaam-u-Allaikum
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