Why Halal Stock Screeners Disagree — and the Stocks Where It Happens
You check a stock in one app and it's “halal,” then another says “not compliant.” Both can be right. The reputable Shariah standards use slightly different thresholds and denominators, so borderline companies land on different sides of the line. Below is exactly why — and the real stocks from our own screen where the standards split.
Halal stock screeners disagree because they apply different Shariah standards. AAOIFI caps interest-bearing debt at 30% of market capitalization; Dow Jones Islamic, S&P Shariah, MSCI Islamic, and FTSE Yasaar use about 33%, and MSCI and FTSE measure the ratio against total assets instead of market cap. A company sitting near a threshold — or one whose share price has moved sharply — can pass one standard and fail another, so the same stock can be rated 'halal' in one app and 'not halal' in another. HalalWallet anchors its headline verdict to AAOIFI (the strictest mainstream standard) and shows how each company screens under the other standards so the disagreement is visible.
- Different standards = different answers: AAOIFI 30% vs ~33% for Dow Jones, S&P, MSCI, FTSE
- Denominator matters: AAOIFI/DJIM/S&P use market cap; MSCI/FTSE use total assets
- Market-cap ratios move with the share price, so the as-of date matters
- Borderline names are where apps disagree — not clearly-impermissible ones
- We use AAOIFI (strictest) and show every other standard's result on each verdict
The stocks where the standards split
Of the stocks we screen, 52 currently land differently depending on which standard you apply. These are the names where you are most likely to see “halal on one app, not on another.” The pass/fail below is HalalWallet's own computation reproducing each standard's threshold and denominator from public filings — not the index providers' licensed determinations, which can differ further.
Pass the market-cap standards, fail the total-assets test
These companies stay under the 30%/33% limits when debt is measured against their (large) market cap, but exceed ~33⅓% when measured against total assets — so an AAOIFI or Dow Jones/S&P screen passes them while an MSCI/FTSE-style screen does not.
| Company | AAOIFI30% · market cap | Dow Jones / S&P~33% · market cap | MSCI / FTSE~33⅓% · total assets | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbbVieABBV | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| AirbnbABNB | Pass | Pass | Fail | Not Halal |
| AmgenAMGN | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Arista NetworksANET | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| ArmARM | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| BroadcomAVGO | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Canadian National RailwayCNR.TO | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| CaterpillarCAT | Pass | Pass | Fail | Conditional |
| CloudflareNET | Pass | Pass | Fail | Not Halal |
| Colgate-PalmoliveCL | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| CrowdStrikeCRWD | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| DollaramaDOL.TO | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| eBayEBAY | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Eli LillyLLY | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Gilead SciencesGILD | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Hilton WorldwideHLT | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| International Business MachinesIBM | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| KellanovaK | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| KLAKLAC | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Marriott InternationalMAR | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| McDonald'sMCD | Pass | Pass | Fail | Conditional |
| MerckMRK | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| NXP SemiconductorsNXPI | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| OracleORCL | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Palantir TechnologiesPLTR | Pass | Pass | Fail | Not Halal |
| PepsiCoPEP | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Rivian AutomotiveRIVN | Pass | Pass | Fail | Not Halal |
| RokuROKU | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| SalesforceCRM | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| ShopifySHOP | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| SnowflakeSNOW | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| StarbucksSBUX | Pass | Pass | Fail | Conditional |
| Taiwan Semiconductor ManufacturingTSM | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Texas InstrumentsTXN | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| The Coca-ColaKO | Pass | Pass | Fail | Conditional |
| The Home DepotHD | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Thermo Fisher ScientificTMO | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| United Parcel ServiceUPS | Pass | Pass | Fail | Halal |
| Zoom CommunicationsZM | Pass | Pass | Fail | Not Halal |
Fail the market-cap standards, pass the total-assets test
The reverse case: debt is high relative to a smaller or depressed market cap (so AAOIFI's 30% test fails), but modest relative to total assets (so an MSCI/FTSE screen passes). These often move back and forth as the share price changes.
| Company | AAOIFI30% · market cap | Dow Jones / S&P~33% · market cap | MSCI / FTSE~33⅓% · total assets | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlockXYZ | Fail | Pass | Pass | Not Halal |
| BP p.l.c.BP | Fail | Fail | Pass | Not Halal |
| FedExFDX | Fail | Pass | Pass | Not Halal |
| Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHPE | Fail | Fail | Pass | Not Halal |
| JD.comJD | Fail | Fail | Pass | Not Halal |
| LyftLYFT | Fail | Fail | Pass | Not Halal |
| NIONIO | Fail | Fail | Pass | Not Halal |
| PfizerPFE | Fail | Fail | Pass | Conditional |
| Super Micro ComputerSMCI | Fail | Fail | Pass | Not Halal |
| The Kraft HeinzKHC | Fail | Fail | Pass | Not Halal |
| WSP GlobalWSP.TO | Fail | Pass | Pass | Not Halal |
Each company links to its full verdict, where you can see the exact ratios, the as-of date, the business-activity screen, and the documented positions of scholars and other screeners. The 5% impermissible-income screen is common to all of these standards.
The three reasons the answers differ
1. The denominator: market cap vs total assets
AAOIFI, Dow Jones, and S&P divide debt by market capitalization (which moves with the share price). MSCI and FTSE divide by total assets (a stable balance-sheet figure). For a high-priced, asset-light company the two can point in opposite directions — this is the single biggest source of disagreement.
2. The threshold: 30% vs ~33%
AAOIFI draws the line at 30%; the index providers draw it at roughly 33%. A company whose debt ratio sits at 31–32% of market cap fails AAOIFI but passes the others.
3. The averaging window: today vs multi-year
AAOIFI uses today's market cap. Dow Jones smooths over a 24-month average and S&P over 36 months. After a sharp rally or sell-off, the point-in-time and smoothed figures can sit on opposite sides of the limit for months. (Apps can also simply be reading different quarters of data.)
Which answer should you trust?
There is no single “correct” screener — each standard is a defensible, scholar-reviewed framework. But if you want one rule that travels well, follow the strictest mainstream standard: a company that passes AAOIFI's 30% test passes the looser 33% standards too. That is why HalalWallet anchors every headline verdict to AAOIFI and then shows you the other standards' results side by side, with dated figures, instead of flattening a genuine disagreement into a single label.
For borderline names, read the actual ratios, avoid leverage and options, re-check after big price moves, and purify the proportional share of any incidental impermissible income.
Important: HalalWallet is an educational comparison platform. We do not provide financial, legal, or religious advice.
Product structures and Shariah-compliance oversight vary by provider. Before applying:
- Verify halal compliance directly with the provider.
- Review the contract structure (Murabaha, Ijara, Musharakah, etc.) and any disclosed Shariah board opinions.
- Consult a qualified Islamic finance advisor or scholar for guidance on your individual circumstances.
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Sources and review process
This page is reviewed against HalalWallet editorial standards and source documentation.
Reviewed by: HalalWallet Editorial Team
Last reviewed: 2026-06-14
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Editorial Team, HalalWallet
Independent halal finance research
Data refreshes with each verdict update; methodology reviewed when any standard changes.