<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Halal Money Guy]]></title><description><![CDATA[Stop guessing whether your investments are halal. Weekly clarity on all things halal finance, investing, and wealth-building, from a board member of one of America's largest Shariah-compliant ETF providers.]]></description><link>https://www.halalmoneyguy.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RqPR!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd6076da6-3a00-407a-8628-edbcbf2ee996_256x256.png</url><title>Halal Money Guy</title><link>https://www.halalmoneyguy.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2026 20:12:23 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Naeem Randhawa]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[halalmoneyguy@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[halalmoneyguy@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Naeem Randhawa]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Naeem Randhawa]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[halalmoneyguy@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[halalmoneyguy@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Naeem Randhawa]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[30 Days.]]></title><description><![CDATA[How to go from knowing halal investing matters to actually doing something about it, in 30 days.]]></description><link>https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-30-day-halal-finance-starter</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-30-day-halal-finance-starter</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Naeem Randhawa]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:29:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png" width="1456" height="769" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:769,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:5733019,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://halalmoneyguy.substack.com/i/201162908?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vb-O!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffd3da2f6-4e96-4893-b15d-6c31454504dd_2848x1504.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Most Muslim Americans want to invest the right way. They know riba is a problem. They've heard about halal screening. They've read a fatwa or two.</strong></p><p>But they still haven't actually changed anything. Because they don't know where to start. Because there is no clear sequence. Because the options feel overwhelming before they feel manageable.</p><p>This checklist solves that. It breaks 30 days of action into four stages: audit what you have, learn what you need to know, act on what you've learned, then build systems so it sticks.</p><p>Nothing in here requires a financial advisor on speed dial, a Shariah scholar on retainer, or an advanced degree in Islamic finance. Every item is something you can do yourself, in under 30 minutes a day.</p><p>The sequence matters. Most people skip Week 1 because they're embarrassed by what they'll find. Don't do that. You cannot fix what you haven't named. Week 1 is uncomfortable because it is honest. Everything after it is easier.</p><p>Start on Day 1. Check it off. Come back tomorrow.</p><div><hr></div><p>Two things before you start:</p><ol><li><p>Save this and work through it one day at a time.</p></li><li><p>Share it with any Muslim who's been putting this off.</p></li></ol><p><em>This guide grows from your shares. If it helps you, share it. It costs nothing.</em></p><div><hr></div><h2>Week 1: Audit</h2><p><em>You cannot fix what you haven't seen. This week is about honesty, not action.</em></p><p>The audit week is the hardest because it requires you to look at your current financial situation without filtering it through what you hoped it would be. Most Muslims who start their halal finance journey skip this step. They jump straight to "what should I invest in?" without first cataloguing what they already own, what's already earning riba, and what needs to change.</p><p>The result: they build a new halal portfolio while leaving riba-earning accounts untouched in the background.</p><p>By the end of this week, you will have a complete, honest picture of your current financial position. Some of what you find will be uncomfortable. That discomfort is information.</p><ul><li><p><strong>Day 1</strong> List every financial account you hold: savings, checking, all investment accounts, retirement accounts (401k, IRA, Roth), and any crypto or alternative holdings. Write them all in one place.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 2</strong> Check whether each savings or checking account earns interest. If it earns anything above zero, mark it for replacement. This includes high-yield savings accounts, which earn the most riba of all and are frequently treated as the responsible choice.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 3</strong> Log into your 401(k) or employer retirement plan. Write down the names of every fund you currently hold. Many Muslims have not looked at this in years. That changes today.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 4</strong> Using Zoya or Islamicly (both free), run a Shariah screen on the funds or stocks in your investment accounts. Note which pass, which fail, and which are unclear.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 5</strong> Calculate your total outstanding debt. Separate it into two columns: interest-bearing (conventional loans, credit cards, student loans) and non-interest-bearing (family loans, halal financing).</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 6</strong> Check your insurance. Conventional or Takaful? Note it. You may not be able to change this immediately, but knowing your position is the first step.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 7</strong> Review everything you wrote down this week. Everything that needs to change goes on a single list. This is your roadmap for the next three weeks.</p></li></ul><div><hr></div><h2>Week 2: Learn</h2><p><em>You cannot navigate a map you've never seen. This week gives you the map.</em></p><p>Action without understanding is how you make the same mistakes twice. Week 2 gives you exactly enough knowledge to make Week 3's actions stick. By the end of the week, you will understand how halal savings works, how halal investing works, and how Zakat and purification fit into your financial picture.</p><p>Each day covers one concept. None require more than 30 minutes.</p><ul><li><p><strong>Day 8</strong> Research halal savings account options. Look for accounts using a profit-sharing model (Mudarabah) rather than fixed interest. LaRiba, Jafari Credit Union, and some credit unions in major metro areas offer these.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 9</strong> Learn the 5-point Shariah screening criteria: revenue screening (less than 5% from prohibited industries), debt screening (debt-to-assets below 33%), interest income screening (below 5% of total revenue), sector screening (primary business must be permissible), and purification (donating the haram income percentage quarterly).</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 10</strong> Understand the difference between Murabaha (cost-plus sale) and Musharakah (partnership co-ownership). These are the two main structures in halal home financing.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 11</strong> Read a plain-English explainer on Sukuk. Understand that Sukuk are not bonds. They are asset-backed certificates representing ownership in a tangible asset. They generate returns from that asset's revenue, not from interest on a loan.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 12</strong> Research Takaful options in your area. Understand the cooperative model: participants contribute to a shared pool and share risk. If your auto or home insurance is up for renewal, have Takaful pricing ready to compare.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 13</strong> Learn how purification works and why it is separate from Zakat. Even Shariah-screened investments may contain 1 to 5% non-compliant income. That amount must be calculated and donated quarterly. Formula: dividends received, multiplied by the fund's non-compliant revenue percentage.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 14</strong> Download Zoya on your phone. Run a screen on three stocks or funds you currently hold. Spend 20 minutes getting comfortable with the interface. You will use this tool for the rest of your investing life.</p></li></ul><div><hr></div><p><em>If someone sent you this, subscribe free. New halal finance guide every Thursday:</em></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><div><hr></div><h2>Week 3: Act</h2><p><em>Knowing without doing is an expensive hobby. This week you move.</em></p><p>Week 3 is where the momentum either builds or stalls. Most people who complete Weeks 1 and 2 get here and freeze. They want to make the "right" move, so they do more research, ask more questions, and take no action.</p><p>You have enough information to make the most important decisions in halal personal finance. None of these decisions are irreversible. All of them can be refined later.</p><p>Do one thing each day. That is the only requirement.</p><ul><li><p><strong>Day 15</strong> Open a halal savings or checking account. If a profit-sharing account is not available in your area, move your emergency fund to an account earning zero interest rather than riba. A 0% yield is better than a 4.5% riba yield.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 16</strong> Move one account to a halal alternative. Replace one conventional fund with a Shariah-screened equity ETF, or transfer a savings balance to the halal account you opened yesterday. One account. One decision.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 17</strong> Contact your HR department and ask two questions: does your 401(k) offer a self-directed brokerage option, and are there any Shariah-screened funds available within the plan?</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 18</strong> Screen every current stock or fund holding using Zoya. Any holding that fails goes on a disposition list with a target date for replacement. You don't need to sell everything today. You need to know what needs to go.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 19</strong> Set a quarterly purification reminder in your calendar. Pick fixed dates (January 1, April 1, July 1, October 1). Block 30 minutes each. At each reminder, calculate your purification amount and donate before the day is out.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 20</strong> If homeownership is a goal within five years, spend 30 minutes researching halal mortgage alternatives. Guidance Residential, Ameen Housing, and UIF are the three major U.S. providers. Request current rate information.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 21</strong> Calculate your Zakat obligation for the current year. If the number surprises you, that is information. Start with what you can calculate and build toward the full picture. Some Zakat is better than none.</p></li></ul><div><hr></div><h2>Week 4: Sustain</h2><p><em>A halal financial life is not a destination. It is a system. This week you build the system.</em></p><p>The hardest part of halal finance is not the initial setup. It is maintaining compliance six months from now, when you've added new investments, when a fund's Shariah status changed without you noticing, when purification was skipped because life was busy.</p><p>Systems outlast motivation. That is the entire point.</p><ul><li><p><strong>Day 22</strong> Set up automatic transfers to your halal accounts. Schedule a recurring transfer from your checking account on payday.</p></li><li><p><strong>Days 23 to 25</strong> Move remaining investment accounts to Shariah-compliant options. Work through the disposition list from Day 18. Replace failing holdings with halal alternatives.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 26</strong> Calculate and pay any outstanding purification amounts from the current year. Do not carry this obligation forward. If the amount is uncertain, estimate conservatively and donate the higher figure.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 27</strong> Set up a monthly financial review. 30 minutes, same day every month. Agenda: review account balances, check whether any held investments changed Shariah status, confirm purification is on schedule.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 28</strong> Share what you have learned with one person in your life. A spouse, a sibling, a friend who has been asking the same questions you were asking a month ago. Teaching is how you internalize what you've learned.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 29</strong> Write down your halal wealth goals for the next 12 months. Be specific. Not "invest more" but "invest $500 per month into a Shariah-screened equity ETF." Specific goals have deadlines. Vague goals have excuses.</p></li><li><p><strong>Day 30</strong> You started. The most important financial decision you make is the decision to begin. Everything else is adjustment.</p></li></ul><div><hr></div><p><strong>I am not a financial advisor.</strong></p><p>I don't earn a commission from Zoya, Guidance Residential, or any tool or service mentioned here. I wrote this because it's the sequence I wish someone had given me when I started.</p><p>My goal is to be the clearest voice on halal investing in America. Every guide in the Library is free.</p><p>Most readers found this because someone they trusted sent it to them. If it helped you, be that person for someone else:</p><div class="captioned-button-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-30-day-halal-finance-starter?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM"><div class="preamble"></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-30-day-halal-finance-starter?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-30-day-halal-finance-starter?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-30-day-halal-finance-starter/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-30-day-halal-finance-starter/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em>Educational content only. Not investment, tax, legal, or religious advice. Any discussion of Shariah compliance reflects widely-referenced contemporary scholarly positions and is not a binding religious opinion. Consult a qualified scholar for guidance on your specific circumstances.</em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Zakat.]]></title><description><![CDATA[How to calculate Zakat on investments without overpaying, underpaying, or skipping it entirely.]]></description><link>https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/zakat-on-investments</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/zakat-on-investments</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Naeem Randhawa]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:24:35 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png" width="1456" height="769" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:769,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:6159270,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://halalmoneyguy.substack.com/i/201162315?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TjvY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfb20d92-4ad4-4c4c-98bf-f9774ed8c163_2848x1504.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Zakat is the third pillar of Islam. One of the five foundational obligations of every Muslim. Most Muslims understand this in principle.</strong></p><p>In practice, most Muslims are either calculating their Zakat incorrectly, missing significant assets, or skipping the investment portion entirely because the rules feel unclear.</p><p>This guide closes that gap. It covers the nisab threshold, which assets are zakatable and which are not, the scholarly debate around retirement accounts, how to calculate Zakat on individual stocks and ETFs, and the most common mistakes that inflate or deflate your obligation.</p><p>What this is not: a legal fatwa or a substitute for consulting a scholar. What it is: a plain-English breakdown of how Zakat on investments works, based on the most widely accepted scholarly positions and the practical tools available to Muslim investors in America today.</p><div><hr></div><p>Two things before you start:</p><ol><li><p>Save this and come back to it before every Ramadan.</p></li><li><p>Share it with any Muslim investor you know.</p></li></ol><p><em>This guide grows from your shares. If it helps you, share it. It costs nothing.</em></p><div><hr></div><h2>The Nisab: Your Zakat Threshold</h2><p>The nisab is the minimum wealth threshold below which Zakat is not obligatory. If your total zakatable assets do not exceed the nisab, you owe nothing. If they do, you owe <strong>2.5%</strong> of your total net zakatable wealth.</p><p>The nisab is pegged to the value of 85 grams of gold or 595 grams of silver. Most contemporary Islamic finance scholars in the United States use the gold nisab, which as of early 2026 places the threshold at approximately $5,600 to $6,200 USD. This number changes with the gold market, so verify the current threshold before calculating.</p><p>The nisab is assessed on your total net zakatable wealth, not on each asset category separately. If your cash is below the nisab but your combined cash, investments, and gold exceed it, Zakat is owed on the total. The threshold is a gate, not a category-by-category filter.</p><p>Two additional rules govern the assessment. First, the lunar year condition: your wealth must have exceeded the nisab for a full lunar year (hawl) before Zakat is due. Second, choose a consistent calculation date each year and hold it. Most American Muslims use Ramadan 1st. Changing your date to minimize your obligation is not a recognized scholarly accommodation.</p><div><hr></div><h2>What Is Zakatable</h2><p>Understanding which assets are zakatable is the most consequential part of the calculation. The list is more comprehensive than most Muslims realize, which is why underpayment is far more common than overpayment.</p><p><strong>Cash and bank balances</strong> are fully zakatable. Checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and cash held physically. The full balance as of your calculation date. Any interest earned should be donated as purification, but it does not alter your zakatable wealth calculation.</p><p><strong>Investment accounts</strong> are zakatable. The zakatable portion is not equal to market value. See the calculation sections below.</p><p><strong>Gold and silver</strong> are zakatable at full market value. The Hanafi school (most widely followed in the United States) does not exempt personal jewelry.</p><p><strong>Business inventory</strong> is zakatable at current market value.</p><p><strong>Receivables</strong> you reasonably expect to collect are zakatable.</p><p><strong>Rental income</strong> is zakatable after deducting reasonable expenses. The property itself is generally not zakatable.</p><p><strong>Not zakatable:</strong> your primary residence, personal vehicles, household goods and clothing, and business equipment used in production rather than held for sale.</p><blockquote><p>If it's liquid and you own it, it's probably zakatable. If it produces income and you use it, it's probably not.</p></blockquote><div><hr></div><h2>The Retirement Account Question</h2><p>This is the most contested area in Zakat on investments, and the honest answer is that respected scholars disagree.</p><p><strong>Position 1: Fully zakatable at market value.</strong> Your retirement account represents wealth you own, even if access is restricted. Under this view, calculate Zakat on the full market value each year.</p><p><strong>Position 2: Zakatable only on the accessible portion.</strong> The accessible value of a retirement account before age 59.5 is reduced by early withdrawal penalties and taxes. Under this view, calculate the approximate post-tax, post-penalty value.</p><p><strong>Position 3: Deferred until withdrawal.</strong> Some scholars hold that Zakat liability accrues only when funds are withdrawn.</p><p><strong>What to do:</strong> Choose a position, document it, and apply it consistently year over year. Paying some Zakat on your retirement account each year, even under a conservative methodology, is better than skipping the calculation entirely. Many Muslims have significant wealth in retirement accounts and skip this entirely. That is a significant oversight.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>If someone sent you this, subscribe free. New halal finance guide every Thursday:</em></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><div><hr></div><h2>Calculating Zakat on Individual Stocks</h2><p>The zakatable portion of a stock is not the market price. It is the company's underlying zakatable assets per share: cash, receivables, and inventory.</p><p>Why not the full market price? Because the market price includes fixed assets, brand equity, intellectual property, and future earnings expectations. Islamic jurisprudence taxes liquid wealth, not the capitalized value of future profits.</p><p><strong>The practical method using Zoya:</strong> Zoya publishes zakatable amounts per share for most major stocks. Look up each holding, find the Zakat section, and use the published zakatable amount per share multiplied by your number of shares.</p><p><strong>The manual method:</strong> From the company's most recent balance sheet:</p><p><em>(Cash and Equivalents + Receivables + Inventory) / Total Shares Outstanding = Zakatable Amount per Share</em></p><p><strong>The simplified method:</strong> If per-share data is unavailable, some scholars permit applying Zakat to 25% of the total market value of your equity holdings. This approximation tends to slightly overstate the obligation, which from a religious standpoint errs in the right direction.</p><p>Your Zakat from individual stocks: (Zakatable Amount per Share x Shares Held x 2.5%), applied per holding and summed.</p><div><hr></div><h2>Calculating Zakat on ETFs and Funds</h2><p><strong>Dedicated halal ETFs:</strong> Some halal ETF issuers publish an annual Zakat calculation document providing the exact Zakat-applicable amount per share. If the issuer publishes one, use these figures directly.</p><p><strong>Halal ETFs without published guidance:</strong> Check the fund issuer's Shariah compliance documents. If no per-unit guidance is available, apply the 25% approximation to your total holdings value.</p><p><strong>Conventional index funds:</strong> If you hold conventional index funds in a retirement account, use the 25% approximation. The presence of impermissible holdings does not exempt the zakatable portion from Zakat.</p><p>Key principle: Zakat is calculated on what you own. If you own a fund, you own a proportional stake in everything that fund holds.</p><div><hr></div><h2>Common Mistakes</h2><p><strong>Forgetting investment accounts entirely.</strong> The most common mistake. Your brokerage account is zakatable wealth.</p><p><strong>Using market value instead of zakatable asset value.</strong> This significantly overstates your obligation. Use per-share zakatable amounts from Zoya or fund-issued guidance.</p><p><strong>Confusing Zakat with purification.</strong> They are separate obligations with separate calculations. Paying one does not substitute for the other.</p><p><strong>Changing methodology to minimize the bill.</strong> Settle your methodology before you run the numbers.</p><p><strong>Not deducting eligible liabilities.</strong> Outstanding debt you are obligated to pay in the near term is generally deductible.</p><div><hr></div><h2>Your Zakat Calendar</h2><p>To build a consistent Zakat practice that takes under an hour each year:</p><ul><li><p>Set a fixed annual calculation date (Ramadan 1st)</p></li><li><p>Pull the current nisab threshold using the current gold spot price</p></li><li><p>Compile total zakatable assets as of your calculation date</p></li><li><p>Apply your chosen methodology for retirement accounts</p></li><li><p>Use Zoya or issuer-published Zakat documents for equity calculations</p></li><li><p>Deduct eligible liabilities from your total</p></li><li><p>Calculate 2.5% of net zakatable wealth</p></li><li><p>Pay before Eid al-Fitr where possible</p></li><li><p>Document your methodology so next year's calculation takes half the time</p></li></ul><div><hr></div><p><strong>I am not a financial advisor or Shariah scholar.</strong></p><p>I don't earn a commission from Zoya or any tool mentioned here. I wrote this because it's the calculation every Muslim investor needs and the clearest guide I could find didn't exist.</p><p>My goal is to be the clearest voice on halal investing in America. Every guide in the Library is free.</p><p>Most readers found this because someone they trusted sent it to them. If it helped you, be that person for someone else:</p><div class="captioned-button-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/zakat-on-investments?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM"><div class="preamble"></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/zakat-on-investments?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/zakat-on-investments?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/zakat-on-investments/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/zakat-on-investments/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em>Educational content only. Not investment, tax, legal, or religious advice. Zakat methodologies for retirement accounts and complex assets are areas of legitimate scholarly disagreement. Confirm your methodology and figures with a qualified scholar before paying. Nisab thresholds change with gold prices &#8212; verify current figures before each annual calculation.</em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Screening.]]></title><description><![CDATA[How to screen any stock, ETF, or fund for Shariah compliance in 10 minutes.]]></description><link>https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-investment-screening-checklist</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-investment-screening-checklist</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Naeem Randhawa]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:13:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png" width="1456" height="769" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:769,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:6907404,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://halalmoneyguy.substack.com/i/201160601?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Eczq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F88551a53-0a97-4f43-bd2d-865805922602_2848x1504.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>Most Muslims who want to invest halal get stuck in the same place.</strong></p><p>They hear "screening" and assume it's a black box. Some fatwa committee, some ETF sticker, some app that tells you yes or no. So they either buy whatever is labeled "Islamic" and hope for the best, or they give up and park everything in cash that quietly loses value to inflation.</p><p>Neither is investing. One is outsourcing, the other is surrender.</p><p>The real answer is that Shariah screening is a public, documented process with clear thresholds. Once you understand the five filters, you can screen any stock, any ETF, any fund in about ten minutes, and you stop needing anyone else's sticker to sleep at night.</p><p>That's what this guide is. Five filters, in the order they're applied, with the actual thresholds and what to do with the result. It is the same framework institutions use, written for someone buying their first twenty shares.</p><div><hr></div><p>Two things before you start:</p><ol><li><p>Save this and come back to it whenever you need to screen a stock.</p></li><li><p>Share it with any Muslim investor you know.</p></li></ol><p><em>This guide grows from your shares. If it helps you, share it. It costs nothing.</em></p><div><hr></div><h2>Filter #1: Sector Screening</h2><p>This one is the fastest cut. If the company's primary business is a prohibited industry, nothing else matters. You don't calculate the debt ratio. You don't look at the interest income. You walk away.</p><p>The prohibited sectors are well-defined across all major Shariah standards: alcohol production and distribution, tobacco manufacturing, gambling and casinos, pork processing and distribution, conventional banking, insurance, and financial services, weapons and defense, adult entertainment, and conventional cinema and music where the dominant content is impermissible.</p><p>The practical screen: read the company's annual report or 10-K filing and look at the revenue breakdown by segment. If more than 5% of revenue comes from any prohibited sector, the company fails sector screening. Hard stop.</p><p>Edge cases matter here. A hotel chain that derives 15% of revenue from alcohol sales in hotel bars is handled at the revenue filter, not the sector filter. A tech company that processes payments for gambling sites as one service among many is handled at the revenue filter. Sector screening catches companies whose entire business model is prohibited. Revenue screening catches the companies with problematic side activity.</p><div><hr></div><h2>Filter #2: Debt Screening</h2><p>Once sector is clear, you move to the balance sheet. The first check is total interest-bearing debt.</p><p>The threshold most standards use: total debt divided by the 24-month trailing average market capitalization must be less than 33%.</p><p>You are not banning debt. A company can owe money. The question is whether the company's capital structure is built on riba. A business with $50 billion in market cap and $10 billion in interest-bearing debt is operating with reasonable leverage. A business with $50 billion in market cap and $45 billion in debt is, functionally, a finance company with an operating arm attached.</p><p>Where to find the number: the 10-K balance sheet, line items for short-term borrowings and long-term debt. Add them up. Divide by the average market cap. Done.</p><p>One note. Trailing 24-month average is the preferred denominator because spot market cap can swing wildly during a market panic, and a company that was fine yesterday shouldn't fail the screen today because of a bad week. If you can only find current market cap, use that and recheck in 90 days.</p><div><hr></div><h2>Filter #3: Cash and Interest-Bearing Assets</h2><p>This is the mirror of Filter #2. Debt is what the company owes. This filter is what the company holds.</p><p>The threshold: cash plus interest-bearing securities divided by the 24-month average market cap must be less than 33%.</p><p>Why this filter exists: a company sitting on a massive pile of cash is, by default, earning interest on that cash. Even if they never take out a loan, their idle balance sheet is generating riba. Microsoft with $70 billion in cash reserves is earning meaningful interest income on that pile. The screen catches that.</p><p>Where to find it: balance sheet, current assets section. Cash and cash equivalents, plus short-term investments, plus any marketable securities that pay interest. Divide by average market cap. If it clears 33%, you stop.</p><p>This filter is the one that trips up tech companies most often. Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft all have historically held enormous cash positions. They pass or fail this filter depending on the quarter, which is why a "halal" portfolio from a year ago might need re-screening today.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>If someone sent you this, subscribe free. New halal finance guide every Thursday:</em></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><div><hr></div><h2>Filter #4: Interest Income Screening</h2><p>This filter addresses the income statement instead of the balance sheet. Even a company with clean revenue and acceptable debt can fail this filter if it parks its cash in interest-bearing instruments that generate substantial interest income.</p><p>The threshold: interest income must be less than 5% of total revenue.</p><p>Same 5% threshold, applied to a different line on the income statement.</p><p>Why this is a separate filter: revenue screening captures non-compliant operating revenue. Interest income screening captures non-compliant financial revenue. A software company with $10 billion in cash reserves earning 4% in money market funds generates $400 million in interest income. If that equals or exceeds 5% of total revenue, the stock fails this filter regardless of how clean the operating business is.</p><p>Practical implication: this filter disproportionately affects companies with large cash reserves and relatively modest operating revenue. Some early-stage tech companies, biotech firms, and cash-heavy conglomerates fail here. The fix on the company's side would be to hold cash in non-interest-bearing deposits or Shariah-compliant instruments. Most corporate treasurers don't think in those terms.</p><div><hr></div><h2>Filter #5: Receivables and Purification</h2><p>The last filter has two parts.</p><p>First, the receivables check. Accounts receivable divided by the 24-month average market cap must be less than 49% (some standards use 33%, but 49% is the more widely accepted AAOIFI threshold). A company whose entire balance sheet is IOUs is effectively a debt trader, and Shariah standards flag that structure.</p><p>Second, purification. Even if a stock passes all five filters, there is almost always some residual non-compliant income in the mix. A software company might have 0.8% of revenue from interest earnings. A retailer might have 2% of revenue from vending-machine rentals that include prohibited goods. You can own the stock, but the compliant position is to calculate that non-compliant slice of your returns and donate it to charity.</p><p>The formula: (Non-compliant revenue percentage) x (Dividends received + realized capital gains) = Purification amount.</p><p>Most halal investing tools publish the purification percentage for each screened stock so you don't have to calculate it yourself. If you want the long version, I wrote a dedicated guide on purification, link below.</p><div><hr></div><h2>How to actually use this checklist</h2><p>Three practical notes before you run it on a real stock.</p><p><strong>Use screened tools as your first pass, not your final answer.</strong> Apps like Zoya, Musaffa, and Islamicly run the five filters automatically against a fresh data feed. Use them to eliminate 90% of tickers in thirty seconds. Then open the 10-K for the shortlist and verify the numbers yourself. The tools are fast. You are accountable.</p><p><strong>Re-screen quarterly.</strong> A stock that clears all five filters today can fail next quarter if the company takes on debt, sells a business unit, or parks a windfall in treasuries. Set a calendar reminder and re-run the checklist on your full holdings every 90 days. The five-minute version: check the apps for compliance status changes. The thorough version: re-read the new 10-Q.</p><p><strong>Keep a purification log.</strong> Open a simple spreadsheet with three columns: ticker, dividend or gain received, purification amount owed. Update it whenever you receive a dividend or realize a gain. Donate the accumulated amount annually, and keep the record. This matters for Zakat calculations, and it matters if you ever want to tell your grandkids where the money came from. (Most grandkids will not ask. Keep the record anyway.)</p><div><hr></div><h2>Three common mistakes</h2><p><strong>Mistake 1: Trusting the label.</strong> Not every product marketed as "Islamic" or "Shariah-compliant" runs the five filters the way you'd expect. Some use a looser interpretation. Some haven't been re-screened in a year. Read the methodology disclosure on every fund you buy.</p><p><strong>Mistake 2: Skipping purification because the percentage is small.</strong> The percentage is always small. That's the point. Compounded over twenty years and hundreds of trades, small-percentage purification amounts become real money going to real charity. Skipping it doesn't save you anything meaningful. It just breaks the framework.</p><p><strong>Mistake 3: Applying screens only at purchase.</strong> A stock you bought in 2023 is not the same stock in 2026. The balance sheet moves. The revenue mix shifts. The debt load changes. If you never re-screen, you will eventually own companies you would not have bought fresh.</p><div><hr></div><h2>Next step</h2><p>If you made it this far, you already know more about Shariah screening than 95% of Muslim investors.</p><p>The natural next move is to run the five filters on whatever you currently own. Pick your largest position. Pull the 10-K. Walk it through the checklist. If it passes, log the purification amount. If it fails, decide whether to exit or rebalance on your next contribution date.</p><p>Ten minutes of work, one stock at a time, and inside of a month your entire portfolio is screened.</p><div><hr></div><p><strong>I am not affiliated with any app or screener.</strong></p><p>I don't earn a commission from Zoya, Islamicly, or any tool mentioned here. I wrote this because it's the guide I wish I had when I started.</p><p>My goal is to be the clearest voice on halal investing in America. Every guide in the Library is free.</p><p>Most readers found this because someone they trusted sent it to them. If it helped you, be that person for someone else:</p><div class="captioned-button-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-investment-screening-checklist?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM"><div class="preamble"></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-investment-screening-checklist?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-investment-screening-checklist?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-investment-screening-checklist/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-investment-screening-checklist/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em>Educational content only. Not investment, tax, legal, or religious advice. The Shariah thresholds referenced above (33% debt, 5% non-compliant revenue, 49% receivables) reflect widely-used AAOIFI-aligned positions but scholarly opinions vary. Consult a qualified advisor and a qualified scholar for guidance on your specific circumstances.</em></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Halal Money Library]]></title><description><![CDATA[Every halal finance guide I've written. Free. No paywall. Updated monthly.]]></description><link>https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-money-library</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-money-library</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Naeem Randhawa]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:03:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png" width="1456" height="769" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:769,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:6780826,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://halalmoneyguy.substack.com/i/201159468?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yAIw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F47e09ed7-0b6e-441f-a2a2-0b619e2b89dd_2848x1504.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><strong>This page exists because the English-language halal investing internet is a mess.</strong></p><p>Most resources are either selling something, buried in academic papers, or assume you already have a Shariah scholar on speed dial.</p><p>None of that. Just the guides.</p><div><hr></div><p>Assalamu alaikum.</p><p>I'm Naeem Randhawa, executive board member with the SP Group of Companies, AUM over $4 Bn. I've spent the last decade helping Muslim Americans build wealth the right way, without compromising their faith.</p><p>Every guide in this Library was written to answer one of the questions I get asked most. No paywalls. No upsells. Just the frameworks, calculations, and checklists I wish someone had handed me when I started.</p><p>New guides are added every month. Bookmark this page.</p><div><hr></div><h2>The Guides</h2><h3>1. Screening.</h3><p><em>How to screen any stock, ETF, or fund for Shariah compliance in 10 minutes.</em></p><p>The same 5-filter framework institutions use, written in plain English for someone buying their first twenty shares. Covers sector screening, debt ratio, interest income, receivables, and purification. After reading this, you stop needing anyone else's sticker to sleep at night.</p><p><a href="https://halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-investment-screening-checklist">Read the Screening Guide</a></p><div><hr></div><h3>2. Zakat.</h3><p><em>How to calculate Zakat on investments without overpaying, underpaying, or skipping it entirely.</em></p><p>Most Muslims either overpay, underpay, or skip the investment calculation entirely. This guide covers the nisab threshold, which assets are zakatable, the retirement account question (scholars disagree, here's what to do), how to calculate Zakat on individual stocks and ETFs using Zoya, and the five most common mistakes.</p><p><a href="https://halalmoneyguy.com/p/zakat-on-investments">Read the Zakat Guide</a></p><div><hr></div><h3>3. 30 Days.</h3><p><em>How to go from knowing halal investing matters to actually doing something about it, in 30 days.</em></p><p>If you've been meaning to "fix your finances the halal way" for months and haven't started, this is for you. 30 daily actions in four stages: audit what you have, learn what you need to know, act on what you've learned, build systems so it sticks. Everything doable in under 30 minutes a day. No advisor required.</p><p><a href="https://halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-30-day-halal-finance-starter">Read the 30-Day Starter</a></p><div><hr></div><p><em>If someone sent you this page, subscribe free. A new halal finance guide in your inbox every Thursday:</em></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><div><hr></div><h2>Coming Soon</h2><p>These guides are in progress. Subscribers hear about them first.</p><ul><li><p>Is My 401(k) Halal? (Month 2)</p></li><li><p>Purification Calculation Worksheet (Month 3)</p></li></ul><div><hr></div><h2>How to Use This Library</h2><p>Each guide is a standalone read. You don't need to start with Guide #1. Start with the question that's been sitting in the back of your mind.</p><p>If you're brand new to halal investing, start with the 30-Day Starter. It gives you a sequenced path.</p><p>If you want to screen your current portfolio, start with the Screening Guide.</p><p>If Ramadan is coming and you haven't calculated your Zakat yet, start with the Zakat Guide.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>New guides are added monthly. Make sure you're subscribed at HalalMoneyGuy.com so you never miss one.</em></p><div class="captioned-button-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-money-library?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="CaptionedButtonToDOM"><div class="preamble"></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-money-library?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-money-library?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-money-library/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://www.halalmoneyguy.com/p/the-halal-money-library/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><div><hr></div><p><em>Educational content only. Not investment, tax, legal, or religious advice. Consult a licensed financial advisor, tax professional, and qualified Shariah scholar for guidance on your specific circumstances.</em></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>