Muslim Funds Are Rewarded for Their Faith

The fund manager also likes Seagate Technology (STX Quote - Cramer on STX - Stock Picks) which is posting double-digit revenue growth on surging demand for more memory, both flash and RAM, which is used in hard drives. Salam says memory demand will keep increasing.

Commodities make up a large part of the Amana Trust Income fund. Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (FCX Quote - Cramer on FCX - Stock Picks) is the top holding. Salam also likes natural resource company EnCana(ECA Quote - Cramer on ECA - Stock Picks), one of the largest Canadian natural resource companies. The company extracts oil from the sands of Saskatchewan, and as long as oil stays above $50 it's worth it for them to continue, says Salam.

In addition to financials, Muslim funds also avoid stocks of pork producers, but this hasn't had a noticeable effect on their performance.

Among other Muslim funds, the (ADJEX Quote - Cramer on ADJEX - Stock Picks)Azzad Ethical Mid Cap Fund (ADJEX) gained 11.95% so far this year, and the (AEIFX Quote - Cramer on AEIFX - Stock Picks)Azzad Ethical Income (AEIFX) rose 8%. Both are managed out of Falls Church, VA.

And the (IMANX Quote - Cramer on IMANX - Stock Picks)Dow Jones Islamic Index Fund (IMANX) climbed 14.7% so far this year. It is run by Allied Asset Advisors of Burr Ridge, Ill.

Some funds that invest according to Christian principals haven't been so blessed. The New Covenant Trust funds, were created in 1971 to give the Presbyterian Foundation a place to invest while staying true to church doctrine. Not wanting to invest in companies harmful to mankind, they avoid companies related to alcohol, tobacco, gambling and weapons. After receiving the list of no-nos, the fund managers are allowed to invest in anything else that strikes their fancy.

It just so happens that financials struck their fancy.

At around 18%, financial services is the largest sector in the company's $981 million flagship fund, the (NCGFX Quote - Cramer on NCGFX - Stock Picks)New Covenant Growth Fund (NCGFX). The fund is up 3.0% year to date, lagging the S&P 500 by a full a percentage point. It's also lagging the average performance of its large-blend fund peers by 1.2 percentage points, according to Morningstar.

New Covenant Growth's top holding is Bank of America(BAC Quote - Cramer on BAC - Stock Picks), along with Citigroup(C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) and General Electric (GE Quote - Cramer on GE - Stock Picks), the latter of which receives a large share of revenue from commericial finance.

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