How Sharia law might of prevented the housing crisis.

Ok so there's this nutty right wing notion that we need to defend our beloved nation from the menace of Sharia law, and plenty of legislation passed toward that end.

I thought it should be noted that the ONLY cases where Sharia law is considered with anything more that a passing glance in American courts applies to property law, and specifically the writing of mortgages. You see muslims can't charge or pay interest on loans, as with much of the ancient worlds religions usury was frowned upon (remember Jesus trashed the money lenders tables). So when contracts exchanging property between two muslims, or between a muslim and a non muslim are being considered Sharia law is at issue when drawing such contracts, instead of interest most tenants pay cash or effectively rent the property until such a time as they can make a final payment for the home.

Had this been the pattern of home ownership throughout the nation perhaps we could of avoided the worst of the mortgage crisis?

 

Jesus didn't trash the MONEYLENDERS.. he trashed the MONEYCHANGERS.

Brush up on the story.

 

Oh someone's Aramaic is at full throttle?

 

The difference is specific.. and it has NOTHING to do with usury or lending in any form.

 

Ok I'll humor your notion that a money changer IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE is some sort of currency exchanger, but how do you explain the catholic church not allowing catholics to charge usury for nearly 1300 years after Jesus' death?

 

Might have, not might 'of'.

Always happy to educate.

 

Oh don't be so tense about a situation that could of, or might have been, be, or being...

 

To what extent do you think American Muslims should be allowed to practice Sharia?

 

They should be able to form their specific "mortgage" (not mortgage) contracts if all parties agree of course.

EDIT: and that is really about 90% of the cases where Sharia law is considered in a US courtroom.

 

Wouldn't that give them an advantage over the average American? I mean, the interest on a loan for a sizable piece of property can be enough to make or break someone.

 

You could enter into such a contract if you like.... find a muslim broker/seller and buy a property through them.

The law is against both paying and charging usury.

The seller usually gets "interest" of a sort from the transaction only it's classified as a rent until such a time as the buyer can pay off the principle. In actuality it's barely different except in wording from a regular mortgage, except no arms, no ACTUAL interest, etc.

 

The slight mistakes concerning details aside, the op is not all together wrong.

Maybe ancient religious leaders were indeed wiser than today's economists when they banned lending money for interest rates.

 

They get around the issue of interest free mortgages by the expediency of buying the property from the vendor then selling it at a profit to the buyer who then pays back the bank in installments over time. Since there can't be any late payment penalties, the Islamic banks generally ask for serious collateral. This is also how consumer loans work like buying a car.

They have a number of "approved" methods of making money by loaning money. They include profit sharing and the above mentioned resale at profit.

 

That must be why every single muslim economy on the planet without an exception is a complete disaster, that must be why the last muslim contribution to the humanity worth speaking about happened about 1,000 years ago, that must be why 1.4 billion muslims on the planet have produced whopping 7 Nobel prize winners (tiny Israel did better than that). Yeah, right, ancient religious leaders (especially the muslim ones) are so much smarter than today's economists.

 

I can respect the ethical ideals, but nothing comes free. I'd still be buying the property at a rate which results in profit for the seller. The only way a Muslim abiding by his methods could give me a deal (in the U.S. market) is if he'd purchased it from another Muslim who also made just a little profit. Right? It's not as if they're giving them away at cost.

 

I hear Saudi Arabia for example is doing just fine. In fact it is rolling in dough whereas the US is broke.

 

I heard Dubai is also so nice that the our nations largest military contractor has its headquarters there.

 

I heard that Lybia is wonderful this time of year. Arab Summer is in full bloom.

 

I paid in Egyptian Pounds cash for my 2 homes.
No mortgage. No interest. Just a leather bag filled with notes taken from my bank account to the sellers home.
We wrote up the contract. We signed it. We exchanged the money and handed over ownership papers. It was bought in one day.
All I had to do was take the ownership papers to the court and have the properties registered into my name.

No fees. No real estate agent. No banks.
Just simple Sharia transaction.

 

You forget!

Obama the current King of 3 active wars got the Nobel Peace Prize

 

Sounds like buying a car. Were they expensive because I wouldnt want to walk around with bags full of the amount of cash I last payed for a house You'd still need to do searches for proof of ownership, any covenants etc of your leaving yourself wide open for fraud.

 

So, they simply call the interest "rent". Just a shallow ruse to trick Allah / God.

 

Yes.. Kuwait, Qatar and the Emirates are also doing well... Even Bahrain's economy is holding up.

 

Sounds like a good plan to me!

This way, all the millions of Americans who could not have met their contractual obligations because they overstated their monthly incomes and submitted "liar" loans to the mortgage companies would have had their right hands strapped to a table and cut off by an Islamic sword if Sharia law were in effect in America today!



People of Islamic faith rally and demand that “Shariah” law be adopted and enforced in Dearborn, Michigan. Do we really want these harsh, misogynistic Islamic laws to apply to America?

 

Your photo is from the UK..

Dearborn is strictly about voluntary civil arbitration .. like Beth Din..

Thought you'd know that by now.