Is Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) stock halal?

Yes, under our AAOIFI-based methodology Merck & Co., Inc. passes the business-activity and financial-ratio screens as shown on this page (data as of 2026-03-31). Check the dated ratio table before investing; ratios move with the share price.

Does Merck & Co., Inc. pass the AAOIFI financial ratio screen?

As of 2026-03-31: interest-bearing debt is 16.7% of market cap (limit < 30%); cash plus interest-bearing securities is 1.9% (limit < 30%). The impermissible-income line is verified against the annual filing where noted on this page.

Is Merck & Co., Inc. held in halal ETFs like SPUS or HLAL?

Check the scholar/screener positions and sources on this page for current SPUS, HLAL, Zoya, and Musaffa statuses.

Do I need to purify dividends from Merck & Co., Inc.?

Yes, in most cases. Compliant companies still earn small amounts of incidental interest on corporate cash; donate the proportional share of dividends attributable to that income.

Is Merck Stock Halal? Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) passes our AAOIFI-based screen. Its core business is permissible, and (data as of 2026-03-31) interest-bearing debt is 16.7% of market cap and cash plus interest-bearing securities 1.9% — both inside the 30% AAOIFI thresholds. Ratios move with the share price, so check the data-as-of date; any incidental interest income should be purified. Reviewed 2026-06-15. Published by HalalWallet.

Is Merck Stock Halal?

Q: Is Merck Stock Halal?

All 3 halal screening authorities with a published position rate Merck & Co., Inc. halal. Halal: Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) passes our AAOIFI-based screen. Its core business is permissible, and (data as of 2026-03-31) interest-bearing debt is 16.7% of market cap and cash plus interest-bearing securities 1.9% — both inside the 30% AAOIFI thresholds. Ratios move with the share price, so check the data-as-of date; any incidental interest income should be purified. (Financial data as of 2026-03-31; basis: AAOIFI Shariah standards.)

Q: Is Merck & Co., Inc. held in halal ETFs like SPUS or HLAL?

Check the scholar/screener positions and sources on this page for current SPUS, HLAL, Zoya, and Musaffa statuses.

Q: Do I need to purify dividends from Merck & Co., Inc.?

Yes, in most cases. Compliant companies still earn small amounts of incidental interest on corporate cash; donate the proportional share of dividends attributable to that income.

Merck & Co., Inc. · MRK · NYSE

HalalGenerally permissible3 authorities agree

All 3 halal screening authorities with a published position rate Merck & Co., Inc. halal.

Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) passes our AAOIFI-based screen. Its core business is permissible, and (data as of 2026-03-31) interest-bearing debt is 16.7% of market cap and cash plus interest-bearing securities 1.9% — both inside the 30% AAOIFI thresholds. Ratios move with the share price, so check the data-as-of date; any incidental interest income should be purified.

Financial data as of 2026-03-31 · Screening basis: AAOIFI · Last reviewed 2026-06-15

HalalWallet is not a Shariah authority and does not issue religious rulings. We compile the most complete public record of what Shariah scholars, screening authorities, and mainstream standards say — reproduced from primary sources with dates and citations — and let you decide.

Do the halal screening authorities agree?

Authorities agree3 of 5 authorities with a published position

HalalWallet (AAOIFI)· Halal
Musaffa· Halal
Zoya· Halal

All 3 halal screening authorities with a published position rate Merck & Co., Inc. halal.

Stances are normalized from each authority's own dated public position. Disagreement usually reflects a methodology or standard difference (ratio timing, market-cap vs total-assets denominator), not an error. For the fund screens (Wahed/HLAL, SP Funds/SPUS), only a confirmed holding that passed the fund's screen counts as a pass — a non-holding is left blank because absence can reflect index scope.

Is Merck Stock Halal?

All 3 halal screening authorities with a published position rate Merck & Co., Inc. halal. Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) passes our AAOIFI-based screen. Its core business is permissible, and (data as of 2026-03-31) interest-bearing debt is 16.7% of market cap and cash plus interest-bearing securities 1.9% — both inside the 30% AAOIFI thresholds. Ratios move with the share price, so check the data-as-of date; any incidental interest income should be purified.

Interest-bearing debt / market cap: 16.7% (< 30%) — Pass
Cash + interest-bearing securities / market cap: 1.9% (< 30%) — Pass
Impermissible income / total revenue: 0.5% (< 5%) — Pass
Mainstream Shariah standards disagree on this company — see the cross-standard table below.
Financial ratios sourced from filings as of 2026-03-31.

How we read the evidence

HalalWallet's editorial synthesis of the screens, scholar positions, and sources documented on this page — not a religious ruling.

Merck & Co. is one of the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical companies, anchored by its blockbuster cancer immunotherapy Keytruda along with vaccines and a sizeable animal-health business. Developing and selling prescription medicines and vaccines is a permissible healthcare activity, with no alcohol, gambling, tobacco, or conventional-finance exposure — so Zoya, Musaffa, and HalalScreener all classify MRK as halal.

The financial ratios are solid: HalalScreener shows debt-to-market-cap at 15.7% and prohibited income at just 0.70% of revenue, both well inside AAOIFI limits, earning a B+ (79/100) compliance grade. A small amount of interest income means routine dividend purification applies, but it is minor.

The practical takeaway: MRK passes both screens with a comfortable margin. Some investors apply an ethical-conscience filter to specific pharmaceutical product lines, but that is a personal preference beyond the standard Shariah screen, which MRK clears. Re-check the ratios after new filings and avoid leverage.

Business Activity Screen

Pass· impermissible revenue ≈ 0.5% (AAOIFI limit < 5%)

Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada) is a research-driven pharmaceutical company. Its largest products include the oncology drug Keytruda, vaccines, and animal-health products. Revenue is from developing, manufacturing, and selling prescription medicines and vaccines — a permissible healthcare activity.

No alcohol, gambling, tobacco, or conventional-finance revenue is disclosed. HalalScreener reports non-compliant (prohibited) income at 0.70% of revenue and debt-to-market-cap at 15.7% — both well under AAOIFI thresholds. Modest dividend purification applies for the small interest-income share.

Financial Ratio Screen

Screen	Value	AAOIFI limit	Result
Interest-bearing debt / market cap	16.7%	< 30%	Pass
Cash + interest-bearing securities / market cap	1.9%	< 30%	Pass
Impermissible income / total revenueInterest income $343.0M on $64.93B total revenue (Merck & Co., Inc. FY2025 (fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, Form 10-K)) = 0.5% — under AAOIFI's 5% limit.	0.5%	< 5%	Pass

Spot market cap at research date (consider trailing average for borderline names). Data as of 2026-03-31 · thresholds per AAOIFI Shariah standards.

This verdict uses the AAOIFI standard — the most widely used and, at a 30% debt limit, the most conservative mainstream Shariah standard. Interest-bearing debt and interest-bearing securities each stay under 30% of market cap, and impermissible income under 5% of revenue. Other standards (Dow Jones Islamic, S&P Shariah, MSCI Islamic, FTSE Yasaar) use ~33% limits or screen against total assets, so a borderline company can be rated differently by each. How we screen & why screeners disagree →

How Merck screens across Shariah standards

The standards disagree on this company. It passes some Shariah screens and fails others — which is exactly why you may see a different answer in different apps. Our headline verdict uses AAOIFI, the strictest and most widely cited mainstream standard.

Standard	Debt	Cash & interest securities	Limit / basis	Result
AAOIFI (our standard)	16.7%	1.9%	< 30% of market cap	Pass
Dow Jones Islamic / S&P Shariah thresholdDow Jones and S&P apply this limit against a trailing 24–36-month average market cap; shown here on the same point-in-time market cap for comparison.	16.7%	1.9%	< 33% of market cap	Pass
MSCI Islamic / FTSE Yasaar basisTotal-assets denominator. MSCI/FTSE also apply entry/exit buffers and a receivables screen we do not reproduce.	38.2%	4.4%	< 33.33% of total assets	Fail

HalalWallet computation reproducing each standard's threshold and denominator from public filings (balance sheet as of 2026-03-31) — not the providers' licensed index determinations, which can differ. Debt is interest-bearing borrowings (operating leases excluded). The impermissible-income screen (< 5% of revenue) is common to all of these standards and is shown in the ratio table above. Dow Jones and S&P apply their limit against a trailing 24–36-month average market cap; MSCI and FTSE add entry/exit buffers and a receivables screen. Full methodology →

These companies pass under some mainstream standards and fail under others — the same pattern as this verdict. That is why two apps can show different answers.

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