How we decide — methodology

How it works — in plain language

For every company we follow the published AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 in two steps. First we look at what the business actually does — if its core activity is not permissible, it fails immediately. Then, if the activity is fine, we run three financial-ratio checks (the well-known 30 / 30 / 5 thresholds). A company must pass the activity step and all three ratios to be considered Sharia-compliant by our screen.

Stage 1 — Business activity

A company fails if its core business is non-permissible (conventional banking/insurance, securities exchanges, alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, gambling, pork, adult, interest finance). Islamic banks & takaful are compliant.

Stage 2 — Financial ratios (AAOIFI Standard 21)

A permissible business must also pass three ratios (vs market cap):

• Interest-bearing debt ÷ market cap < 30%
• Cash + interest securities ÷ market cap < 30%
• Non-permissible income ÷ revenue < 5%

Cross-verified across 3 sources — ≥2 must agree

We never rely on a single feed. Every financial figure is pulled from up to three independent sources — SEC EDGAR filings, Yahoo Finance, and Finnhub — and at least two sources must agree before we use a number. If the sources disagree, or only one has the figure, we mark it unverified rather than trust it blindly. Each number is then checked, dated, and shown to you. Near-threshold companies are flagged "at risk", and missing/mixed-currency data → we can't confirm, never a guess.

Checked & dated — only as fresh as the data

Every verdict carries a last-checked date, so you always know how current it is. That date reflects when we last ran the screen — but the result is only as fresh as the underlying filings and market data behind it. Company financials are usually updated quarterly and can lag real events, and our market-data sources may be delayed. If a verdict looks old, or a company has just reported new results, treat the verdict as provisional and re-check the latest filings yourself.

What the symbols mean — full legend

• ✅ Passes our AAOIFI screen — clears both the activity step and all three financial ratios on the data we had at its last-checked date. We add a "corroborated by 2+ sources" note when we can; if the 5% income-purity rule couldn't be independently verified on free data, we say so and ask you to confirm with your scholar. This is our screen result, not a religious ruling.
• ❓ Can't confirm — we don't guess — we don't have enough to complete the screen, and we tell you exactly what's missing (a ratio close to a limit, missing/estimated data, a currency mismatch, or a single source we couldn't cross-check). Treat it as 'not yet screened' and verify before relying on it.
• ❌ Doesn't meet the criteria — fails the activity step, or breaches at least one of the three financial ratios, on the data we had at the last-checked date.

In every case we report what our automated screen of the available data found — not a fatwa, religious ruling, or recommendation. Confirm with your own scholar.