Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Michigan Bank Falls to Islam


This is a very disturbing article about the University Bank in Ann Arbor Michigan. The bank has recently implemented sharia banking, but to make matters worse they have even canceled their annual Christmas party and have stated that no alcohol will be served at after work gatherings. Several employees have quit the bank and hopefully they will sue the bank for religious discrimination.



Michigan bank operates by Islamic law
Jeff Karoub,Sebastian Abbot, Associated Press
Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Big financial institutions have been battered by mortgages gone bad. But a tiny Michigan bank is getting attention in the industry by turning a profit on loans without even charging interest.

It also rules out some of the activity that got Western finance in trouble - subprime mortgages, credit default swaps and the like.

"When you look at the economic crisis we're in, if you were to follow Islamic or Sharia financing, you couldn't have this crisis," said John Sickler, corporate director for the bank, University Islamic Financial Corp. in Ann Arbor.

Islamic finance operations aren't prohibited from making a profit. Far from it. Instead, banks that comply with Islamic law, or Sharia, earn money from fees that are part of the cost of the loan, some paid up front and some over time.

University Islamic Financial has two types of financing: one called a marked-up installment sale, the other a lease-to-purchase sale. Fees in both cases are comparable to interest payments in traditional loans, bank officials say.

For example: A seller who bought a house for $100,000 could sell it for $120,000 or even $300,000, provided that the buyer agrees it's a fair deal. The home could be sold on an installment plan negotiated by buyer and seller.

The bank is a subsidiary of Michigan-based University Bank, and its leaders say they have talked recently with executives from two national banks hoping to learn more about the business.

Islamic law says money cannot grow by itself, the way it does with compounding interest. Trade is acceptable as long as the equal amounts of money are traded or two different things are swapped with a fairly negotiated price.

So a dime for an apple would be considered halal, or religiously acceptable, while one apple for two apples would be harem, or unacceptable.

Even at University, not everyone is on board. Some customers have closed their accounts when they learned that it was engaging in Islamic finance. Some employees who objected to the move quit. The bank also stopped having a Christmas party and no longer serves alcohol at after-hours events.

The Michigan bank focuses on contracts that clearly spell out the risk and reward between lender and borrower. University Islamic Financial says it's the nation's first to offer Sharia-compliant, federally insured deposits.

Islamic banking is more common overseas, but some U.S. banks and credit card companies are exploring the idea of branching out into Sharia products to reach out to the growing Muslim population.

So Islamic banking is only expected to increase in coming years. Already, Citigroup offers Sharia products and services to clients overseas, and Visa says it has worked with banks around the world to offer Islam-compliant products.

The conventional banking system could learn a lot from the idea, said Jawad Ali, a finance lawyer based in Dubai and London who specializes in structuring Sharia-compliant deals.

"We haven't made as much money as the conventional banks because we can't, for example, sell what we don't own," he said. "We have to own it before we sell it. We may have missed out on gains in good times ... but we haven't suffered any losses."

Of course, there's no guarantee that banks will find immunity in Islamic finance from a severe global downturn.

"I am not doing banking on Mars," said Afaq Khan, the head of Saadiq, the Islamic banking arm of Standard Chartered Bank, in London. "If real economic activity slows down significantly, the Islamic banking industry will also be affected."

A Sharia-compliant mortgage is like rent-to-own: There is no note, or mortgage, but typically part of each month's payment is held toward the ultimate purchase. The property is titled to an individual trust, or limited liability corporation.

Deutsche Bank estimates total assets in the Islamic finance market at $1 trillion - a tiny fraction of global financial assets, but the bank said in a recent report that the sector has been growing at a clip of 15 to 20 percent per year.

Most big international banks already have Islamic banking arms, and a November report by Moody's Investors Service shows that Islamic banks have been fairly resilient to the global economic downturn.

The U.S. banking industry has not embraced Sharia banking. Wachovia, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase said they have not adopted Sharia practices and declined to comment about what they may do in the future.

"As far as the future, we are always looking for opportunities to better serve our customers, but our specific strategy is proprietary," Wells Fargo spokeswoman Lisa Westermann said.


Link to Article

32 comments:

Tonto said...

Ann Arbor is so liberal it might as well be in Kaliforicated, and there are lots of arabs in the area, notably Dearborn, MI. Looks like they got clobbered bad in the democrat generated mortgage thing and saw sharia banking as a way out without going belly up. Another step.

Christopher Logan said...

I am against sharia banking, but this goes way beyond sharia banking. As they banned the Christmas party and all alcohol at the after work gatherings. I am still waiting for just one Muslim to say that what non-Muslims do has nothing to do with us.

Winged Hussar 1683 said...

I can understand a ban on alcohol at after-work gatherings (if sponsored or paid for by the company); I think this was standard at IBM more than 25 years ago. The reason is (for example) if someone drinks too much and then causes a drunk driving accident, the company that paid for the drinks might be held responsible. This alone has nothing to do with Islam.

On the other hand, elimination of the Christmas party IS a problem, and I am speaking as a non-Christian.

Anonymous said...

I lived in NYC and I do not recall one company that banned alcohol at their after work meetings, this combined with the rest was done for Islam.

Anonymous said...

"University Islamic Financial has two types of financing: one called a marked-up installment sale, the other a lease-to-purchase sale. Fees in both cases are comparable to interest payments in traditional loans, bank officials say."

And the difference is symantics... to the consumer, the difference is null....

Unknown said...

This is a travesty in reality and people are blind. Islam is spreading under our noses and it's not secret that the true religion of this cancerous cult calls for domination. It can start innocently as banning alcohol or banning Christmas parties (which is disgusting) and then crawl all over the place.

Meanwhile any opposition to this sparks fury from CAIR and other Islamofascists. Unless America and the West steps up, we are heading for violence.

Anonymous said...

Well, this is situation where all the American hacker geeks can strut their stuff;attack that banking system withh every form of computer harm that can be mustered.If you are a true AMERICAN computer geek,than gange together and attack this system; they would if it was us!!!Now is the time to practice your skills guys/ladies. Force the muslim scum to be in a state of constant imbalance. Most important, find out who is a muslim business;BOYCOT!Do not reward a race of people that smile at you while they f--- you in the ass!!!Devalue them at every turn; they do us!! If its ok for them, it's OK for you!!!When they have a rally, have an opposing rally, especially on a muslim holiday, carry a burning ALAH; OR MUHAMMOND, WRAPPED IN BIG GUTS. When they TIT, you TAT!!Come on AMERICANS,stop being a coward!If you don't want to be bothered by it, then you will fuc--- damn well lose it to them!Atack in every way you can,a little for you chicken shits, a LOT for those that know I am telling it like it really is. They are not Americans, they are MUSLIMS, they are out to bring you down;don't let it happen....Tom

leadpb said...

Another wonder of Arab culture informs the ignorant West... Do you suppose they actually invented banking itself? Look at the wonders sharia banking has done for Moslem countries and notice that Christianity does not have banking regulations.

We are not laughing at this as a joke because we have relinquished our own ways and the racial and cultural heritage that built the West. Moslems simply do what Moslems have always done, whether by savage blood-letting or by "demographic jihad" as in this case.

We can't live with them, can't kill them, can't absorb them into our culture-- it is like mixing sand and water-- what to do? Separationism is the only humane answer. Send them back to their beloved homelands, with assistance if necessary. If they really want to join the West they will renounce Islam.

leadpb said...

Don't neglect to let your representatives know how you feel about immigration of Moslems to America. Some 90,000 Iraqis are slated to be allowed into the U.S. in FY 2009.

These destructive, unchallenged actions by our government must be protested and stopped.

Anonymous said...

Note to LEADEPB: That is one of the main reasons why we have to constantly keep up a savage attack against all muslims; yes, even the good ones.ha, ha, ha;yeah!Very important;do not shop at their businesses. Deprive them of income, that ends up comini back to us as weapons to kill us with. Remember how we shipped raw materials to japan,in the years prior to WWII?Lot of Americans died;as I recall!We now have, in our midst,a group of people, who are basically very barbaric in their concept of humanism; pigs in reality, here to bring their their primitive ways; and force it upon us! We as the sheep being led to slaughter, are to afraid to resit.
The state of "political Correctness" has to stop.Shame them, embarrass them, humilate them, show them they and their ways are not welcome and will not be tolerated. Run them out of this country!!!...Tom

aeligos said...

With the global markets in hard-times, Islam is in an opportune moment to have a greater hold on global politics -- a complete disaster for non-muslim nations.

Hussein Obama will, in efforts to "improve" US economic standings, WILL introduce concepts of Sharia Economics - and you all will see that many more nations will follow suit.

Islamization of nonmuslim nations will continue, not by militant jihaadists, but by the so-called "moderates".

Make no mistake, all muslims want one thing: to fulfill Allah's will of Global Islamic Supremacy.

Long live the Kuffaar!

Ban Islam NOW!!!!

.

.

Momma Twoop said...

The President of this bank, Stephen Lange Ranzini, wrote an email to a lady who complained at their website. Here it is:

Dear *****:
What is your particular objection to Sharia law? The only one that we are "catering to" is the prohibition on payment or receipt of interest. The prohibition on payment or receipt of interest flows from Talmudic law that the Jewish people follow and the Catholic church from the very
beginning was against the concept of usury (see attached). As a
Catholic, I'm also against usury. It's just that the Muslim's
definition never changed after the Catholic church's definition changed to admit that a reasonable rate of interest on a loan was okay whereas before no interest was permissible.

It's true that our bank is targeting Muslims for Islamic Banking however, at the Kroger I walked down the aisle with the supermarket's international food aisle, and I saw the following ethnic food:
Mexican
French
Southern
Kosher
Italian
Middle Eastern
Chinese
Thai
Etc.

It was evident to me that Kroger is attempting to increase sales by
offering a variety of products. We are doing the same. There are 2.4 million Muslims in the U.S. This is good business that creates jobs here in Michigan.

Best wishes,
Stephen Lange Ranzini
President & Chairman
University Bank


This lady then sent him a link to a video regarding Sharia law. http://www.actforamerica.org/index.php/shariah-islamic-finance His response to that:

Dear *****:

Thanks for sharing the link. In each case when we’ve investigated the claims made by similar groups by going to the actual source materials that they cite, it turns up that there is no “there” there. It is always an intellectually dishonest effort to its core. I suggest you do your own research. This particular video has no source documents referenced, so it’s tough to critique it in detail.

Best wishes,

Stephen Lange Ranzini
President & Chairman
University Bank


The elitist prick's email address is ranzini@university-bank.com.

Anonymous said...

Hello Chris, I found post comment at bottom...Tom

Anonymous said...

Members of this site: This is Tom and I just want to say how much I love this site. To be able to speak my mind and not be kicked off because I am not prone to being political correct!thank you
Tom

Christopher Logan said...

Momma,
Thanks for posting that letter and showing us what a gutless dhimmi Ranzini is. He actually is clueless enough to compare different food choices to sharia.

Thanks Tom.

Christopher Logan said...

I just sent him this. If I get an answer I will let you know.

I am writing in concern of your bank implementing sharia banking, which I find highly offensive.
Do you realize that this is just one way that Muslims are slowing getting aspects of sharia law into Western culture?

I also realize that you are doing this to try and raise more business. But why did you ban the annual Christmas party and alcohol? If Muslims are such tolerant people why would they be offended by what other people believe in? Did you even begin to consider the beliefs of anyone else besides the Muslims?

Thank you,
Christoper Logan

Anonymous said...

Hello!
It is great to know that we have different options. I'm looking forward to change my loan and apply for Islamic loan.

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