Mosque and provider had issues when it comes to meeting the terms of their memorandum of understanding, says representative
The oldest mosque in Canada has announced that it has terminated its association with an Edmonton-based halal mortgage company.
Citing “some concerns [that] have come to our attention,” the Islamic finance committee of the Al Rashid Mosque said that it has ended its partnership with the Canadian Halal Financial Corp., which was formed in 2021.
Committee member Khalid Amin said that while specifics couldn’t be provided for confidentiality reasons, the mosque and the corporation had issues when it comes to meeting the terms of their previously agreed-upon memorandum of understanding.
“Whatever mortgages that Al Rashid has signed off on and issued a certificate, they remain valid, provided they’re following the terms and conditions that we’ve executed,” Amin told CBC News.
Halal financing adheres to Islamic tenets that forbid paying or earning interest, which precludes a sizeable number of Canadian Muslims from accessing crucial products such as mortgages.
Amin stressed that halal financing comes with other major criteria aside from avoiding interest.
“When you’re doing a halal mortgage, for instance, it’s very important that the sequence of events and the timing is done [in accordance with Islam], because it could be the difference between halal and not halal,” he said.
“It’s not a maybe; it’s a must. Because if you miss a step, you’ve ruined the whole process and then it becomes non-compliant.”
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Representatives from Al Rashid Mosque said that they are working with the Albertan government to ensure that more halal financing options become available in the market.
Thomas Lukaszuk, a principal executive at Canadian Halal Financial Corp., said that the company continues to see sustained demand for halal financing.
He added that the company is now using “more standardized contracts” as outlined by the Edmonton Council of Imams and approved by Cairo-based Islamic law authority Al Azhar University.
“Our reputation and our process is well understood by imams and by mosques, not only across Alberta but across Canada,” Lukaszuk said. “There is no more need to have [the contracts] continuously, individually reviewed by a singular mosque in Edmonton.”
