Kevin Murray, a private citizen, has filed a lawsuit in Michigan demanding that the U.S. Treasury Department withhold bailout funds from the American International Group insurance company (AIG) unless it divests itself completely of any branch that deals with Islamic finance. The lawsuit alleges that U.S. government ownership of a sharia-compliant subsidiary represents an unconstitutional government infringement on religion. You can read the text of the complaint here.
An AIG subsidiary, AIG Takaful Enaya headquartered in Bahrain, provides a range of sharia-compliant insurance products for the Islamic world. However, these products are not exotic and remote. On December 1, another AIG subsidiary announced that it was introducing a 'Takaful Homeowners Policy', aimed at the U.S. market, in conjunction with AIG Takaful Enaya.
It's not clear whether this lawsuit will succeed, or whether it will be rejected due to the principle of sovereign immunity, which protects the U.S. government from U.S. taxpayer challenges over how it uses its funds.
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