A swath of sharia-compliant financial products, from mortgages to investment funds, has been launched in recent years, driven by an explosion of wealth in the Middle East and Muslim-dominated parts of south-east Asia.

A handful of sharia-friendly hedge funds has also been established, in spite of the existence of some potentially crippling Koranic restrictions on their activities. Under sharia law, investors are barred from selling something they do not own, potentially undermining the shorting activity that is the cornerstone of the hedge fund industry, or from earning interest.