The Muslim religion prohibits earning or paying interest on borrowed money. So what do Muslim's do when they want to take out a mortgage and purchase their own home?
The answer?
Most don't. Their religion prohibits it.
The San Diego Union-Tribune has a story of a Muslim in this exact situation.
When he bought his car two years ago, Javed Ahmed saved up enough money so he could pay for it with cash.
And every month, the senior analyst at Voyager Capital, a venture firm in Seattle, pays off his credit-card balance so he doesn't have to pay interest.
Now, at 29, Ahmed wants to buy his first home.
But as a Muslim, he faces a dilemma common to observant followers of the nation's fastest-growing religion: Can he buy a home without angering God?
So what are Muslim's to do? Save up enough cash to pay for their home outright? Well, with home prices skyrocketing the way that they are, and in states like California where the median home is priced at $488,600, this would be considered impossible for the vast majority.
"I'm not going to save up money to buy a house," Ahmed concedes. That's hardly practical – at least not in Seattle.
So "right now I'm on the fence," he said. "I'm not sure what the right thing is to do."
