Young Muslims, one of the newest groups to make inroads in American finance, can face steep barriers to entry. Some obstacles are remnants of a less tolerant era. But prominent, too, are the limitations of Islam itself — a faith whose tenets, Muslim workers say, often seem at odds with Wall Street’s sometimes bacchanalian culture….
Macleans – January 16, 2012 Canada, with its 1.3 million Muslims, has lagged behind countries like the U.K. and the U.S. in embracing sharia-compliant financial products. None of the country’s big banks currently offer sharia-compliant services, though some smaller players do. Toronto-based UM Financial Inc., which issued home mortgages conforming to Islamic law, filed for bankruptcy…
Sharif el-Gamal, the developer, of the planned Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero envisions raising $140 million project by utilizing instruments developed to allow many Muslim investors to comply with religious prohibitions on interest. Most of the financing, Mr. Gamal said on Wednesday, would come through religiously sanctioned bondlike investments known as sukuk,…
August 12, 2010 Several Norwegian banks are considering introducing interest-free loans, to circumvent the prohibition of interest for Muslims. In this way they want to reach out to a new and growing customer group. Big banks such as DnB NOR, Nordea and Sparebank 1 confirm that they plan to offer such loans. “In a few…
According to a recent report by the Swiss Intelligence Services (SIC), the ban on the construction of minarets has not led to a heightened risk of Islamic terrorism in the country. Nonetheless, the SIC states that Islamic terrorism remains “one of the most present threats” to the Switzerland, and that the state should not lower…
