Progressive Muslim Group Blasts Canadian Agency's Study of Sharia Banking

Today's Toronto Star reports that a progressive Muslim group, the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC), has criticized the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) for undertaking a study of Sharia banking. In a letter yesterday, the MCC told CMHC chief executive Karen Kinsley that religion has no place in the banking or mortgage industry, and that the organization should scrap its $100,000 study. The MCC said that most Canadian Muslims already use conventional mortgages. In a strong statement, MCC argued that: "Islamic Banking is nothing more than an attempt by Islamists, with backing from Middle Eastern Financial Institutions and their Western partners, to scare Muslim Canadians into believing that they should pay more to the banks and demand less in return as an act of religiosity." Douglas Stewart, the CMHC's vice-president of policy and planning, said the study was part of the agency's mandate to promote research to understand all parts of the Canadian housing system.