Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota, has ended a program he once encouraged. The program was meant to increase home ownership among minority groups. The mortgage program was shut down by the Governor after providing three mortgages. The mortgage program offered Shairia compliant loans that did not charge interest. Pawlenty cited constitutional religious protections when shutting down this program. Article source – Sharia-compliant mortgage program in Minnesota ends by MoneyBlogNewz.
Mortgages in Minnesota without interest
A loan program was developed for Sharia law for low- to moderate-income families by Minnesota's state housing agency and the African Development Center in 2010. The mortgages are called both "Islamic mortgages" and "Sharia mortgages." It is against their religion to pay interest which the borrower doesn't have to do with the program. The home would be purchased by the state. Then, the state would sell the home to the individuals at a higher rate than it was purchased. The payments are the very same as a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, however the payments don’t contain interest to the bank. There was a larger program that this program came from. This larger program wanted to increase home ownership among minority groups.
Governor Pawlenty shuts down Sharia loans
The Sharia loan program was one Governor Pawlenty found out about. He ordered that it stop right away. This decision had several asking questions. Pawlenty's spokesperson said:
“This program was independently set up by the Minnesota state housing agency and did not make any mention of Sharia Law on its face, but was later described as accommodating it,” he wrote in an email. “As soon as Gov. Pawlenty became aware of the issue, he personally ordered it shut it down. The United States should be governed by the U.S. Constitution, not religious laws.”
The way a government uses tax dollars is one the government gets to choose. These Sharia compliant financial products aren't outlawed. That isn’t what the government was attempting to do. State supported programs that support it are not allowed though.
Sharia law
When it comes to conflicts between Muslims, a recent Florida court judge ruled that Sharia law could be used for disputes. This decision has raised concern for many lawmakers. The Sharia law is one that several states are considering banning. Some people against this support of the law feel like the "silent jihad" makes its way into the U.S. through this. The reality is, however, the U.S. recognizes Christian, Jewish, Sharia and other religious laws as long as the laws don’t violate standing state and federal law. Sharia, along with other religious law, isn't against the Constitution when it comes to obeying it. As long as the religion isn't being imposed on somebody, it’s fine. Even Pawlenty admit this. He said, "The Constitution was designed to protect people of faith from government, not to protect government from people of faith." In the case of the Sharia-compliant mortgages, it appears that Pawlenty doesn’t want his state taxpayer do! llars used to offer home ownership to religiously compliant Islamic residents.
Articles cited
Swamp Land
swampland.blogs.time.com/2011/03/25/is-there-a-double-standard-in-tim-pawlentys-disavowal-of-sharia-compliant-mortgages/
Minnesota Public Radio
minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/02/28/islamicfinancing/?refid=0
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