The company, IslamiQ.com, says it is the first of its kind, and hopes to offer its services to the world's 1.2 billion Muslims.

IslamiQ.com has a Board of Sharia Law of experienced Islamic scholars, who are well-versed in Islamic financial matters and who will make sure the activities do not violate Islamic principles.

The chairman of the board is Mr Muhammad Taqi Osmani, a Justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court, as well as a member of the Dow Jones Sharia board.

However, the Muslim world is somewhat divided as to how the Koran does apply to the world of modern finance.

Islamiq.com's chief executive Hasnita Dato Hashim says: "Some of the basic principles are black and white, so there is no dispute about them. With the composition of the board that we have, we hope that our products will appeal to the majority of Muslims, because we span the global coverage in terms of opinion. "

The company is aiming for a global market, with the first phase targeting UK and Asia, and then expanding into the Middle East and the Americas, and eventually into every country with a Muslim population.

The site will offer not only financial deals, but hopes to attract an audience for news, e-commerce and online shopping as well.

The company has already raised $6m and is planning to raise a further $50m.

The two markets the company is targeting for its funding are the money that is already in the Islamic banking system - which is estimated at $150bn with an annual growth rate of 25%.

The second one is much bigger, Muslim money that is currently moving in the traditional Western financial world.