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Episode 701: A Bank Without Interest

Courtesy of Stephen Ranzini

Stephen Ranzini runs University Bank in Michigan, and he prides himself on serving the local community. But one day, a Muslim man walked into his office and said: If your bank is so great at community service, how come you're not serving my community?

According to many scholars, Islamic law prohibits charging interest. Interest, of course, is pretty fundamental to banking.

Stephen Ranzini decided to find out: Is it possible to do what a bank does without charging interest?

Music: "Now Son" and "Done Talking." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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