Minneapolis may get first Muslim CU next year

MINNEAPOLIS (6/3/08)--Minneapolis is slated to become the home to the first Muslim credit union in the U.S.

The city's African Chamber of Commerce--which is planning the credit union--currently has a database of 1,500 people who support the credit union, said Martin Mohammed, executive director of the chamber (Northwestern Financial Review May 15).

The chamber's five-year strategic plan drafted in 2007 calls for the formation of a credit union in an unspecified Minneapolis location in 2009.

The credit union would provide services to people who are unbanked and families and establishments that conduct business according to tenets of Islamic law. The credit union will institute creative ways to adhere to religious restrictions that prevent Muslims from collecting interest on savings or paying interest on loans, Mohammed said.

There is a significant Muslim population, not only in Minneapolis, but in the U.S., Mohammed said. He said the Minneapolis credit union can become a model for credit unions nationwide--particularly in California and Michigan in which there are significant Muslim populations--on how to provide financial services to Muslims.

courtesy of cuna.org