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Islamic index introduced
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February 18, 1999: 5:35 p.m. ET
New index for Muslims screens out alcohol, tobacco and other businesses
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Muslim investors might find it tough to navigate in a financial world that puts profits first, but Dow Jones & Co. is hoping to make their task a little easier.
Dow Jones this month introduced the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIM) of 600 companies world-wide that comply with Muslim tenets known as the Shari'ah Laws.
"There was a need for investing in Islamic society," said Chad Ravkin, manager for quantitative analysis at Dow Jones Indexes.
The Islamic index is based on the 2,700 stocks in the Dow Jones Global Indexes. Dow Jones screened out companies that sell alcohol or pork-related products, as well as conventional financial services businesses such as banks and insurance companies.
Casinos, movie companies and businesses in the hotel, music and pornography fields also were excluded.
Likewise, Shari'ah laws forbid investing in tobacco or defense companies. Dow Jones created an advisory panel of Shari'ah experts from Syria, Pakistan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United States to help in the screening process.
Dow Jones issued a license to Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. and Wafra Investment Advisory Group, a subsidiary of Kuwait's Public Institution for Social Security, to establish new mutual funds based on the index.
The index stood at 1,796.18 on Wednesday, according to Dow Jones. Dow Jones set a base value of 1,000 as of Dec. 31, 1995. 
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