Samaher, a young married Palestinian woman and mother to one son and one daughter. is a conservative person who prefers not to have her photo published online, so her husband appears in her Kiva profile photo, pictured in his store that sells vehicle spare parts.

For the past three years, Samaher's husband has been buying and selling vehicle spare parts, a profitable project and the family's only source of income. Because they also need more support to cover the family's needs and costs, Samaher is requesting a USD loan from FATEN to help her husband purchase more spare parts to resell. This will increase sales and improve the family's income.

About Shariah-compliant lending:

FATEN offers loan products that are designed to serve borrowers all over Palestine, including some religiously conservative areas. A key tenet of Islam is the prohibition of interest in the lending or accepting of money. This prohibition is based on the belief that money should be seen only as a medium of exchange and that it has no value in itself. FATEN has adapted the terms of this loan to fit the cultural context by attaching a 0% interest rate to the loan. In order to cover its costs, FATEN does charge a servicing fee. The amount you see fundraising includes both the principal loan and the loan servicing fees. As with all Kiva loans, you should expect to have your funds returned to you in accordance with the repayment schedule attached to this loan. For more information on lending in the Muslim world, please visit Kiva's Muslim World Lending helptext: http://tinyurl.com/3aekx8m.