The History Behind Ijara & Riba Free Financing Options

Ijara is currently marketing the CIHF process which has been approved by notable scholars. The Managing Partner of CIHF is Samad Group Inc., and the owner of the process is Samad-Ijara Home Finance LLC. Samad Group Inc. was the first Muslim organization in the US to have obtained such a Sharia Compliant contract. The process utilizes the Ijara methodology, which is one of the three Shariah compliant methods to achieve home financing. Specific questions can be answered by contacting us directly.

The original documents, which bear Mufti Muneer Akhoon’s signature, are available for comparison with the documents currently being used. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mufti Taqi Usmani and Dahrul Ihsan Center for taking an active stance against those companies in the US and Canada that are misusing our Fatwa in the promotion of their Islamic Financing products.

Their are many well-known scholars in the area of Islamic Finance, and many were involved in the creation and development of the Sharia Compliant Contract. The history of our process is as follows:

1995 – Dallah Al Baraka through Al-Amin Co issues the original Fatwa for the Sharia Contract. The Scholars involved in the creation and approval of the Sharia Contract where: Sh. Muhamad Taqi Usmani, Sh. Nizam Yaquby, Dr. Abdus Sattar Abu Ghudda, and Sh. Abdullah Al Mannae.

1997 – The Fatwa was updated for licensing to United Bank of Kuwait for their Al-Manzil program. The Scholars involved in the update of the Fatwa were Sh. Mufti Mohamad Taqi Usmani and Sh. Nizam Yaquby.

2001 – SAMAD American Holding Corp. (SAHC) attempts the creation of an Islamic Bank and invites Shoeb Sharieff to join.

2002 – Shoeb Sharieff introduces the Islamic Finance and Banking concept to University Bank.

2003 – SAHC updates the Fatwa for University Bank’s use. The Scholars involved in this update to the Fatwa are Sh. Yusuf DeLorenzo and Sh. Nizam Yaquby. The bank is so successful that it forms University Islamic Financial.

2004 – Our competitor modifies the product and rebrands and registers the trade name, this change of name should not be confused with any connection to the rebranding of the original product to Ijara™ in 2008. Bashir Ahmed of Samad Group exits SAHC retains the original contracts without change, which are the documents and process that we use today.

2005 – Shoeb Sharieff creates IjaraLoans.com and becomes the Master Licensee of the Original Sharia Contract and expands Islamic Finance into all 50 States.

2006 – Dr. Ahmed Shleibak and another scholar review the Original Sharia Contracts and approve them with two updates and permit the financing of the Islamic American University Campus purchase in Southfield, MI

2007 – IjaraUSA adds Musharaka and Murabaha to its product mix.

2008 – Katy Masjid, TX and approves the Sharia Contract for use of the acquisition of its new building with Muslim American Society (MAS-Katy Chapter).

2008 – IjaraLoans acquires an ownership interest in the original contract with SAMAD Group and re-brands the Sharia Contract to Ijara™.

2008 – IjaraLoans forms ijaracdc.com and expands into Ontario, Canada

2009 – Sh. Mufti Mohammed UmerEsmail becomes the Sharia Advisor of ijaraloans and issues a Fatwa for the Ijara™ Conversion Product.

2010 – ijaracdc.com expands to cover all Provinces in Canada

2010 – IjaraLoans.com begins to offer its Sukuk/Murabaha Contracts, a safe, guaranteed alternative to traditional CD’s and Bonds.

2011 – SAMAD Group merges with IjaraLoans and forms SAMAD-IJARA Home Finance, LLC which takes over all the rights to the Sharia Contract.

2012 – Mufti Muneer Ahmed Akhoon becomes chairman of the IjaraLoans Sharia Advisory Board and updates and issues a Fatwa in favor of the IjaraUSA finance documents and processes.

2013 – To facilitate a better customer service experience, Ijara rebrands to www.ijaracdc.com for US customers and www.ijaracdc.com for Canadian customers.

2013 – Imam Yahya Abdullah joins the Sharia Advisory Board for Ijara.

2013 – Ijara Community Development Corporation, a Michigan non-profit corporation is formed to serve our communities and promote a better understanding of Islamic Finance in the USA and Canada.

2015 – Imam Mohamed Radwan Mardini joins the Sharia Advisory Board for Ijara.

2015 – www.ijaraloans.com, www.ijaraUSA.com, and www.ijaraCanada.com are combined into www.ijaraCDC.com to increase the efficiency of service to our growing customer base.

2015 – IjaraCDC adds the second floor to its office building to accommodate its rapid growth

Informational Notice: The Shariah contract “Lease to Purchase” is owned and copyrighted by Samad-Ijara Home Finance, LLC (formally CIHF Partners) and the Conversion Product by Ijara Marketing, LLC., which is also the master licensee for the US and Canada of the CIHF product and owner of SAMAD-IJARA Home Finance, LLC. Ijara Marketing, LLC may license the program to other financial organizations that might be interested in meeting the needs of the Muslim market in North America.