The S&P/TSX 60 Shariah Index recategorizes equities on the S&P/TSX 60 and excludes all those that do not comply with Islamic law, which is based on the Qur'an holy book.

Standard & Poor's introduced a sharia compliant TSX index Wednesday, looking to tap into the rapidly growing Islamic investor community in Canada and abroad.

The S&P/TSX 60 Shariah Index recategorizes equities on the S&P/TSX 60 and excludes all those that do not comply with Islamic law, which is based on the Qur'an holy book. These include companies involved with alcohol, entertainment, pork-related products, tobacco and financial services. As well, companies with certain ratios of cash, leverage, and involvement in non-compliant business activities do not qualify.

Banks are excluded because investors are not allowed to profit from interest, which is considered an unequal distribution of risk.

S&P also faces stiff competition from other index makers, such as Dow Jones and FTSE Group, which announced its own new sharia index on the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday.