Mayor warned to stop 'kowtowing' with new Muslim-only rules Major U.S. city poised to implement Islamic law Published: 07/23/2015
Leo Hohmann is a news editor for WND. He has been a reporter and editor at several suburban newspapers in the Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, areas and also served as managing editor of Triangle Business Journal in Raleigh, North Carolina. His latest book is "Stealth Invasion: Muslim Conquest Through Immigration And The Resettlement Jihad."
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray “wants to help Muslims” attain home ownership by offering Shariah-compliant loans.
While some cities in Texas and other Southern states have been adopting ordinances that
While some cities in Texas and other Southern states have been adopting ordinances that protect their citizenry from creeping Shariah-compliant practices, cities such as Seattle are taking the opposite approach.
Seattle’s Democrat Mayor Ed Murray was so concerned that Muslims and other residents weren’t buying enough homes in his city that he had a committee investigate how that could be rectified.
One of the committee’s recommendations: Banks need to offer “Shariah-compliant” mortgage loans for Seattle’s growing Muslim community.
Muslims are forbidden by their religious law, Shariah, from paying interest on loans so they must be offered loans structured in such a way that interest is not part of the package.
The 28-member committee recommended the city convene lenders and community leaders to explore options for increasing access to Shariah-compliant loans, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.
“We will work to develop new tools for Muslims who are prevented from using conventional mortgage products due to their religious beliefs,” said Murray, at a recent press conference.
“More and more lenders are offering Shariah-compliant financing, according to a USA Today report,” the Journal reports. “The sector has grown to more than $1.6 trillion in assets worldwide over the past three decades, and analysts see potential for continued growth as the number of Muslims in the United States and Europe grows.”
The Obama administration, with the full support of Congress, is following an immigration policy that allows at least 100,000 Muslims into the country every year, according to U.S. Census data.
So financial-service companies see that as a business opportunity.
But those who see Shariah law as anti-Western and anti-American see the trend differently than banks and corporations.