IjaraCDC FATWA Update History

Islamic Finance Fatwa/Approval

We are in the process of having the Ijara System of financing for use in the USA and Canada approved by American Muslim Jurists.

IjaraCDC.com currently markets 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 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 Sharia-compliant methods to achieve home financing. Contact us directly or check our website for answers to specific questions.

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 Centre 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.

We constantly update/add new members to our Sharia Board. Currently, Sheikh Mufti Mohammed-Umer Esmail, a former student of Justice Taqi Usmani, is our Sharia Advisor, and Mufti Muneer Akhoon is the chairman of our Sharia Advisory Board. For information, you can review Mufti Umer Esmail’s background at http://nuecesmosque.com/imam, and Mufti Muneer Akhoon’s information can be viewed at http://www.kitabummuneer.org/ . Imam Mohamed Radwan Mardini is also a member of our Sharia Advisory Board. You may view the updated Fatwa here.

IjaraCDC Milestones

There are many well-known scholars in the area of Islamic Finance. 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 were: 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 the 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^TM in 2008. Bashir Ahmed of Samad Group exits SAHC and retains the original contracts without change, which are the documents and processes that we use today.

2005 – Shoeb Sharieff created ijaraloans.com, became the Master Licensee of the Original Sharia Contract, and expanded Islamic Finance into all 50 states.

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

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

2008 – Ijaraloans is selected by the 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 CIHF Partners with SAMAD Group and rebrands the Sharia Contract to Ijara^TM.

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

2009 – Sh. Mufti Mohammed Umer Esmail becomes the Sharia Advisor of ijaraloans and issues a Fatwa for the Ijara^TM 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 CDs and Bonds.

2011 – SAMAD Group merges with Ijaraloans and forms SAMAD-IJARA, LLC which takes over all the rights to the Sharia Contract through its commonality of ownership of CIHF Partners.

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

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

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

2013 – Ijara Community Development Corporation (Ijara CDC), 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 service efficiency 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 interested in meeting the needs of the Muslim market in North America