--- title: "Is Alibaba Stock Halal?" canonical: https://www.halalwallet.ca/is-it-halal/alibaba-group-holding-limited-stock publisher: HalalWallet license: CC BY 4.0 verdict: not_halal verdict_label: Not Halal entity_type: stock ticker: BABA exchange: NYSE last_reviewed: 2026-06-14 data_as_of: 2026-03-31 standards_disagree: false --- # Is Alibaba Stock Halal? **Verdict: Not Halal** (Not permissible) Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) does not pass Shariah screening: impermissible income / total revenue is 8.5% against the < 5% limit (data as of 2026-03-31). It is not held by Shariah-screened ETFs SPUS or HLAL. Screened alternatives exist in the same sector — see the halal stock screeners and ETF guides below. > 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. ## How we read the evidence Alibaba is a genuinely complicated name for Shariah investors because the concerns are spread across several areas rather than concentrated in one revenue line. The operating core, e-commerce marketplaces (Taobao and Tmall), international commerce, and a fast-growing cloud and AI business, is largely permissible in form, and the company's FY2026 revenue of about US$148 billion is dominated by those activities. The complications are real. First, the income statement reports about US$12.7 billion of net interest and investment income, roughly 8.5% of revenue; even allowing that this 'net' figure blends true interest with investment gains, it is large enough to strain the roughly 5% tolerance that AAOIFI-style screens apply to impermissible income. Second, Alibaba owns roughly a third of Ant Group, the fintech behind Alipay and a major consumer-lending operation, so part of Alibaba's equity-method earnings flows from an interest-and-credit business. Third, its Taobao and Tmall marketplaces facilitate third-party sales of impermissible categories such as alcohol, though the fee revenue tied to those goods is not separately disclosed. Fourth, the company sits on tens of billions in cash and investments and also carries significant interest-bearing debt, both of which feed into financial-ratio screens. Alibaba is not in SPUS or HLAL, but that is a universe matter, both funds hold only US companies and Alibaba is Chinese, so it is not evidence of a screen failure. Given the interest-and-investment income, the Ant Group stake, and the marketplace product mix, a Muslim investor should rely on a current stock-level screener (and may find disagreement among them), and should be prepared for meaningful purification if invested. No fatwa is offered here; this is a description of the factors a screen would weigh. ## Business activity screen Result: Pass Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE ADR: BABA; one ADS equals eight ordinary shares) is a Chinese technology and commerce group. Per its FY2026 20-F (fiscal year ended March 31, 2026), revenue was RMB 1,023,670 million (about US$148,401 million). Segment revenue (before inter-segment elimination) was: Alibaba China E-commerce Group RMB 554,217 million, Cloud Intelligence Group RMB 158,132 million, Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group RMB 144,170 million, and All others RMB 254,367 million. Net income was RMB 102,127 million (about US$14,805 million). Several distinct Shariah concerns apply. (1) Interest/investment income: the FY2026 income statement reports 'interest and investment income, net' of RMB 87,512 million (about US$12,687 million), roughly 8.5% of revenue, well above the approximately 5% AAOIFI tolerance, though this 'net' line blends interest with mark-to-market gains on a very large investment portfolio. (2) Ant Group affiliation: Alibaba holds an approximately one-third equity interest in Ant Group, the operator of Alipay and a major consumer-lending/credit business, so a meaningful share of Alibaba's equity-method income derives from a financial-services affiliate (FY2026 share of results of equity-method investees was RMB 2,785 million). (3) Marketplace product mix: Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall platforms facilitate third-party sales of categories that include alcohol, an impermissible product, though the platform-fee revenue attributable to such sales is not separately disclosed (null). (4) Cash/investment scale: the balance sheet shows very large liquid and investment assets (cash US$19,068 million, short-term investments US$22,515 million, plus tens of billions in equity securities and equity-method investees) and substantial interest-bearing debt (bank borrowings, unsecured senior notes US$17,032 million, convertible senior notes US$8,098 million, exchangeable bonds US$1,591 million), both of which weigh on financial-ratio screens. ## Financial ratio screen (AAOIFI) Data as of: 2026-03-31 | Screen | Value | Limit | Result | |---|---|---|---| | Interest-bearing debt / market cap | 14.3% | < 30% | Pass | | Cash + interest-bearing securities / market cap | 19.7% | < 30% | Pass | | Impermissible income / total revenue | 8.5% | < 5% | Fail | Screening basis: AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 — the most widely used and most conservative mainstream standard (interest-bearing debt and securities each < 30% of market cap; impermissible income < 5%). Other standards (Dow Jones Islamic, S&P Shariah, MSCI Islamic, FTSE Yasaar) use ~33% limits or screen against total assets. Full methodology: https://www.halalwallet.ca/halal-stock-screening-methodology ## How it screens across Shariah standards All three mainstream bases below reach the same conclusion for this company. | Standard | Debt | Cash & interest securities | Limit / basis | Result | |---|---|---|---|---| | AAOIFI (our standard) | 14.3% | 19.7% | < 30% of market cap | Pass | | Dow Jones Islamic / S&P Shariah threshold | 14.3% | 19.7% | < 33% of market cap | Pass | | MSCI Islamic / FTSE Yasaar basis | 13.6% | 18.8% | < 33.33% of total assets | Pass | 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 < 5% impermissible-income screen is common to all and shown above. Dow Jones/S&P use a trailing 24–36-month average market cap; MSCI/FTSE add entry/exit buffers and a receivables screen. ## Scholars' and screeners' positions - **SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia ETF (SPUS)**: Not held in SPUS as of 2026-06-11. Absence can reflect screen failure or index scope — verify before citing as a screen outcome. ([source](https://www.sp-funds.com/spus/)) - **Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF (HLAL)**: Not held in HLAL as of 2026-06-11. Absence can reflect screen failure or index scope — verify before citing as a screen outcome. ([source](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1683471/000089418926012509/wahedshariah.htm)) ## Sources - BABA latest quarterly filing (balance sheet 2026-03-31) (https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&company=Alibaba%20Group%20Holding%20Limited&type=10-Q) - AAOIFI Shariah Standards (https://aaoifi.com) - Alibaba FY2026 20-F consolidated income statements (SEC EDGAR XBRL) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1577552/000119312526231755/R2.htm) - Alibaba FY2026 20-F segment information (SEC EDGAR XBRL) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1577552/000119312526231755/R40.htm) - Alibaba FY2026 20-F consolidated balance sheets (cash, investments, debt) (SEC EDGAR XBRL) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1577552/000119312526231755/R5.htm) - Alibaba FY2026 20-F (SEC EDGAR primary document) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1577552/000119312526231755/baba-20260331.htm) - SPUS holdings (SP Funds) (https://www.sp-funds.com/spus/) - HLAL Schedule of Investments 2026-02-28 (SEC EDGAR) (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1683471/000089418926012509/wahedshariah.htm) ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) stock halal? No. Alibaba Group Holding Limited fails Shariah screening — see the screen table and analysis on this page for the specific business-activity or ratio reasons. ### Does Alibaba Group Holding Limited pass the AAOIFI financial ratio screen? As of 2026-03-31: interest-bearing debt is 14.3% of market cap (limit < 30%); cash plus interest-bearing securities is 19.7% (limit < 30%). The impermissible-income line is verified against the annual filing where noted on this page. ### Is Alibaba Group Holding Limited held in halal ETFs like SPUS or HLAL? No — as of our last check, Alibaba Group Holding Limited is not held by SPUS or HLAL. 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