Shariah law  is the Muslim or Islamic law which regulates many aspect of a Muslim’s life including the type of investments allowed. For instance, interests are considered usury according to the Riba

Riba

Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...

 rule therefore bonds are prohibited to investors following the Sharia law. A Shariah compliant fund is an investment vehicle fund structured in accordance to Shariah rules. Shariah funds can be managed as mutual funds, ETF’s

Exchange-traded fund

An exchange-traded fund is an investment fund traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks. An ETF holds assets such as stocks, commodities, or bonds, and trades close to its net asset value over the course of the trading day. Most ETFs track an index, such as the S&P 500 or MSCI EAFE...

 or hedge funds. They are in essence common funds with an extra layer of ethical rules integrated in the investment polices of the fund not dissimilar to SRI’s. While the funds are required to be fully compliant with Shariah rule, the companies structuring, managing and promoting the funds do not have to be necessarily Shariah compliant.

Commodities

Commodities funds generate profits by buying and reselling Halal commodities. Because of the restrictions on the use of derivatives, commodities fund make use of two types of Shariah approved contracts:

Istina’a- It’s a contract where the buyer of an item funds upfront the production of the item. A detailed specification of the item as to be agreed before production starts and the cost of production has to be paid in full when the contract is agreed.

Bay al-salam- It’s similar to a forward contract where the buyer pays in advance for the delivery of raw materials or fungible goods at a given date. The delivery price of the contract is calculated at spot price minus a discount to compensate the buyer of the credit risk for the upfront payment.

Equity funds

Funds that invest in common shares in companies engaged in halal business. Companies are also screened in order to check for Shariah compliant accounting principles. Because of the limited pool of companies the funds can invest into, equity funds can have higher volatility compared to similar funds in the same space.

Murabaha

They are similar to development funds, also referred to as ‘cost-plus’ financing, where a fund will buy goods and resell them to a third party at a given price. The price is made of the cost of goods plus a profit margin. Cost and margin are agreed in advance.

Ijara

Funds that acquire and keep ownership of an asset (real estate, machinery, vehicles or equipment) and then makes profits by leasing it out in return of a rental payment. The fund is responsible for the management of the asset and will normally receive a management fee. The leased item must be used in a Halal manner.

Riba

The payment or receipt of interests are considered usury and unjust. Debt is also disapproved making investments in highly leveraged companies unacceptable. Funds cannot pay fixed or guaranteed return on capital. Instead of borrowing and lending, Islamic finance relies on sharing the ownership of the assets and therefore risk and profit/loss.

Haram

Companies involved in prohibited business activities cannot be part of a Shariah fund strategy. Prohibited business activities can relate to food (production and sales of alcoholic beverages including pubs and restaurants, pork products, tobacco), gambling (casinos, on-line gambling, betting, lottery schemes), adult oriented (video, magazines, on-line material, strip clubs), dubious, immoral and illicit trades (prostitution, drugs).

Maisir

Islam forbids gambling in any form. Consequentially, derivatives, forwards, options and futures are prohibited. Other forbidden practices include short selling

Short selling

In finance, short selling is the practice of selling assets, usually securities, that have been borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical assets back at a later date to return to that third party...

, margin, and scalping trading

Scalping (trading)

Scalping, when used in reference to trading in securities, commodities and foreign exchange, may refer to# a fraudulent form of market manipulation# a legitimate method of arbitrage of small price gaps created by the bid-ask spread....

.

Day trading

Day trading

Day trading

Day trading refers to the practice of buying and selling financial instruments within the same trading day such that all positions are usually closed before the market close for the trading day...

 is considered akin to maisir. Marketable securities generally have a multi-day settlement period, during which time the underlying instruments, while cleared

Clearing (finance)

In banking and finance, clearing denotes all activities from the time a commitment is made for a transaction until it is settled. Clearing is necessary because the speed of trades is much faster than the cycle time for completing the underlying transaction....

, are not formally registered in the name of the purchaser. As day traders do not wait for settlement to complete, they are using a type of credit cushion provided by their broker. Day traders also very commonly rely on a margin account to finance their trading activity.

Shariah Indexes

Dubai Shariah Hedge Fund Index

FTSE Sharia Global Equity Index

Dow Jones Islamic Market Index

Indonesia Sharia Stock Index

MSCI Barra Islamic Index

Credit Suisse HS50 Sharia Index

See also

• Islamic banking
  Islamic banking
  Islamic banking is banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of Islamic law and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Sharia prohibits the fixed or floating payment or acceptance of specific interest or fees for loans of money...
  
  
• Dow Jones Islamic Fund
  Dow Jones Islamic Fund
  The Dow Jones Islamic Fund invests in Shariah compliant companies, in response to the needs of Muslim investors, who not only want to have a financially rewarding investment, but a Shariah compatible one as well...
  
  
• Murabaha
  Murabaha
  Murabahah or murabaha is a particular kind of sale, compliant with shariah, where the seller expressly mentions the cost he has incurred on the commodities for sale and sells it to another person by adding some profit or mark-up thereon which is known to the buyer...
  
  
• Riba
  Riba
  Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...