• • Sharia Compliant Banking in America
• • Is Shariah Compliant Banking in America Funding Terrorism?

Since the 1970’s explosion of Middle Eastern Oil production, Muslim investment has been quietly infiltrating U.S. banking and home mortgage industries. While we weren’t paying attention Shariah compliant banking has gained an intimidating foothold in our financial markets. The popularity of Sharia complaint home mortgages is growing in the United States and now they are seeking to do business with non-believers.

Let’s examine the basic premise for Sharia compliant home mortgages. Islam forbids the charging or paying of interest (Riba). According to Sharia jurisprudence, Riba is considered one of the seven major sins right up there with having sex with you mother. Really. Given the importance of interest (both earned and paid) to our financial system, red flags should be flying all over America. After all isn’t Capitalism an enemy of Islam or is it the other way around?

Frank Gaffney, the Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., has been outspoken on Shariah compliant finance in the United States. According to reports it has been suggested that Islamic transaction law is a subversive coordination that supports jihad. Given the well documented punishments ordered for breaking sharia law should America be incorporating this as a legitimate feature of its financial system?

Guidance Residential (www.guidanceresidential.com) is the largest Sharia compliant residential home financier in America. Guidance Residential is operating in over 23 states and growing. Upon visiting their website and clicking on the Fatawa selection field, I was comforted to find that all Guidance home financing products are certified by their Sharia Supervisory Board as compliant “with Islamic Transaction Law.” This may make Muslims comfortable, but this should be disconcerting (to say the least) for the future of American financial markets and more importantly American Law. Guidance Residential has plans to offer its sharia compliant financial products to all communities regardless of their faith.

What really concern me are the term “Shariah compliant” and all the fine print most mortgages fail to reveal. Perhaps we should ask Barney Frank if his baby Dodd/Frank covers Shariah compliant home lending practices or can we expect a catastrophic Islamic lending bubble burst in our economic future? Is Islamic transaction law predatory in nature? What kind of Shariah compliance will be necessary to satisfy the terms of a no interest loan to a non-believer?

Would it surprise you to know that many sharia compliant banks have received bail outs from our government? Did you know that Citibank, NA., Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Dow Jones & Co. Inc., Goldman Sachs Group are all sharia compliant banks doing business in the United States? Perhaps we should consider what financial institutions we patronize given they’re mysterious proclivities.  Read more here.

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This follow up article digs a little deeper into Shariah Compliant Finance (SCF), Islam’s waging of financial jihad on the United States and the consequences of our government’s failure to act. The subversive goal of Shariah compliant banking or finance (SCF) is to promote the legitimate acceptance and dominance of Shariah law in the United States of America. This is not a new development. Our nation gave birth to this abomination of banking strategy long before President Obama took office.

Some of our largest and most well-known banks and financial institutions are incorporating SCF standards into U.S consumer banking transactions. A list of many of those financial institutions can be found at www.shariahfinancewatch.org. Shariah Finance Watch is a project of the Center for Security Policy. The programs objective is to educate the public and policymakers about the dangers of Shariah. I highly recommend you visit this site.

As stated in my previous article “Sharia Compliant Banking in America,” our national money changers are now providing Shariah compliant financial (SCF) services to the American community at large. These U.S. financial institutions are required to employ a committee of “Shariah law advisers” (Muslims) to monitor banking transactions to determine if SCF activities are compliant with Islamic transaction law as defined in the Quran. As a general rule the Quran prohibits the charging of interest but doesn’t speak to any greater financial constraints, so most Shariah compliance is left to the even-handed decisions of the Shariah advisers.

It is not clear whether this is a requirement for all of a Shariah compliant banks services or just those provided to Muslim clients.

If a banks transaction violates Islamic law the Shariah law advisers recommend that it be “purified” and its profits/interest donated to an Islamic Charity. This is mandatory for a bank to remain Shariah compliant. In other words, it’s acceptable to Shariah law advisers for U.S. banks and customers to violate Islamic law as long as they agree to forfeit unclean profits and interest to be turned over to the promotion of the Islamic Culture. Read more here.

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A survey conducted by a coalition of religious organizations shows that the number of mosques in the United States has grown by 74 percent in the past 11 years – up from 1,209 in 2001 to 2,106 in 2011.

The statistics were released earlier this year by Faith Communities Today (FACT), which is affiliated with the Hartford Seminary’s Hartford Institute for Religion Research.

The survey also reveals where those mosques exist, including the 10 states with the largest number of mosques – New York (257), California (246), Texas (166), Florida (118), Illinois (109), New Jersey (109), Pennsylvania (99), Michigan (77), Georgia (69) and Virginia (62).

Vermont has the least number of mosques, with one located in that state.

The survey also shows that most mosques are located in metropolitan areas, with Greater New York City ranked No. 1 with 192 mosques. Southern California (120), Greater Chicago (90), Greater Philadelphia (63) and Greater Detroit (63) rounded out the top five metropolitan areas for mosque population.

The survey, released in January, was the first of two reports on American mosques released this year.

The first survey, “Basic Characteristics of the American Mosque, Attitudes of Mosque Leaders” includes data on the growth of mosques in the U.S. and attitudes of their leaders.

One finding of the survey was a decrease in the number of mosque leaders who thought American society is hostile to Islam – from 54 percent in 2000 to 25 percent in 2011.  Read more here.