Canadian Halal Investor.

NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026

Is Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) Halal?

PASS

Alibaba Group Holding Limited · NYSE: BABA · Consumer Discretionary

The short answer

Yes - Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) passes this Shariah stock screen on all three gates. The business is e-commerce (Taobao, Tmall, AliExpress), cloud/AI, logistics (Cainiao), and digital media - with no haram operating segments disclosed in its FY2026 20-F (fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, filed May 20, 2026). Interest-bearing debt of about RMB 260.0B (~$37.7B) is about 13.8% of the ~$272.9B market cap (October 2, 2026), below the ~33% ceiling. Interest income of RMB 18,806M - separately disclosed in the 20-F notes - is about 1.84% of revenue (RMB 1,023,670M), below the 5% ceiling. Disclosed flags: Alibaba holds a 33% equity stake in Ant Group (a fintech associate with interest-based lending), and third-party screeners split - Musaffa classifies BABA as not halal (October 2026), ShariaPortfolio calls it Shariah compliant (2/5 standards), and Zoya's page renders an ambiguous status.

Gate 1 — Business activity: PASS

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) operates four reportable segments under its new structure (from the June 2026 quarter, per the FY2026 20-F, fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, filed May 20, 2026): Alibaba China E-commerce Group (Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Supermarket, 1688.com, Ele.me), Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group (AliExpress, Lazada, Trendyol, Alibaba.com), Cloud Intelligence Group (cloud and AI services), and All others (Cainiao logistics, Freshippo, Alibaba Health, digital media and entertainment including Youku). Haram flags checked (factual, from the filings): the 20-F discloses no alcohol, tobacco, gambling, weapons, pork, or interest-based lending as operating segments. Factual disclosure: Alibaba holds a 33% equity interest in Ant Group (equity-method associate, carrying value RMB 90.7B) - Ant Group runs fintech businesses including interest-based lending, and the filing flags risks relating to Ant Group/Alipay; it is an associate, not a consolidated segment. Note also: the US Department of Defense added Alibaba to its Chinese-military-companies list on June 8, 2026 (a securities class action followed; lead-plaintiff deadline October 5, 2026) - investor-relevant, not a Shariah gate. Gate 1 passes on the core business. Facts only.

Gate 2 — Debt and cash: PASS

Per Alibaba's FY2026 20-F balance sheet (as of March 31, 2026), interest-bearing debt totals about RMB 259,996M (~$37.7B at the filing's ~RMB 6.898/$ convenience rate): current bank borrowings RMB 28,224M, non-current bank borrowings RMB 47,450M, non-current unsecured senior notes RMB 117,485M, non-current convertible unsecured senior notes RMB 55,861M, and non-current exchangeable bonds RMB 10,976M. Against a market cap of about $272.9B (Finnhub, XNYS, October 2, 2026), debt / market cap is about 13.8%, below the ~33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents (RMB 131,530M) plus short-term investments (RMB 155,310M) total about $41.6B (~15.2% of market cap). Gate 2 passes. Facts only.

Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: PASS

Alibaba's FY2026 20-F separately discloses interest income of RMB 18,806M for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 (Note 2(ah): 'interest income ... recorded in interest and investment income, net'). Against revenue of RMB 1,023,670M, that is about 1.84% of revenue, below the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. Note: the income-statement line 'Interest and investment income, net' of RMB 87,512M is much larger because FY2026 included large one-off investment gains - the 20-F separates the interest portion, and this screen uses the disclosed interest figure. 'Share of results of equity method investees' of RMB 2,785M (~0.27% of revenue), which includes the 33% Ant Group stake, is disclosed separately. Gate 3 passes on the filing's disclosed interest-income line. Facts only.

Key figures used

Frequently asked questions

What does Alibaba do?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) runs four reportable segments (from the June 2026 quarter): Alibaba China E-commerce Group (Taobao, Tmall, Tmall Supermarket, 1688.com, Ele.me), Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group (AliExpress, Lazada, Trendyol, Alibaba.com), Cloud Intelligence Group (public and private cloud, AI), and All others (Cainiao logistics, Freshippo, Alibaba Health, digital media and entertainment including Youku). The FY2026 20-F (fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, filed May 20, 2026) discloses no alcohol, tobacco, gambling, weapons, pork, or interest-based lending as operating segments. One factual flag: Alibaba holds a 33% equity interest in Ant Group, a fintech associate with interest-based lending businesses - it is an equity-method associate, not a consolidated segment.

Why does Alibaba pass this Shariah stock screen?

Alibaba passes all three gates on its own filings. Gate 1: the business is e-commerce, cloud/AI, logistics, and digital media - no haram operating segments are disclosed in the FY2026 20-F. Gate 2: interest-bearing debt of about RMB 260.0B (~$37.7B) is about 13.8% of the ~$272.9B market cap, below the ~33% ceiling. Gate 3: interest income of RMB 18,806M - separately disclosed in the 20-F notes - is about 1.84% of revenue (RMB 1,023,670M), below the 5% ceiling. Disclosed for context: third-party screeners disagree - Musaffa classifies BABA as not halal (October 2026, AAOIFI), ShariaPortfolio calls it Shariah compliant (2/5 standards), and Zoya's page renders an ambiguous status. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling - consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

What is Alibaba's interest-bearing debt ratio?

Per Alibaba's FY2026 20-F balance sheet (as of March 31, 2026), interest-bearing debt totals about RMB 259,996M (~$37.7B at the filing's ~RMB 6.898/$ convenience rate): current bank borrowings RMB 28,224M, non-current bank borrowings RMB 47,450M, non-current unsecured senior notes RMB 117,485M, non-current convertible unsecured senior notes RMB 55,861M, and non-current exchangeable bonds RMB 10,976M. Against a market cap of about $272.9B (Finnhub, XNYS, October 2, 2026), debt / market cap is about 13.8% - below the ~33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents (RMB 131,530M) plus short-term investments (RMB 155,310M) total about $41.6B, or ~15.2% of market cap. Gate 2 passes.

What is Alibaba's non-compliant income ratio?

Alibaba's FY2026 20-F separately discloses interest income of RMB 18,806M for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 (Note 2(ah): 'interest income ... recorded in interest and investment income, net'). Against revenue of RMB 1,023,670M, that is about 1.84% of revenue, below the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. Note: the income-statement line 'Interest and investment income, net' of RMB 87,512M is much larger because FY2026 included large one-off investment gains - the 20-F separates the interest portion. 'Share of results of equity method investees' of RMB 2,785M (~0.27% of revenue), which includes the 33% Ant Group stake, is disclosed but not added here. Gate 3 passes on the filing's disclosed interest-income line.

Do Zoya, Musaffa, or ShariaPortfolio cover Alibaba?

All three cover BABA and they disagree, reported honestly. Musaffa covers BABA and classifies it as not halal as of October 2026 (AAOIFI methodology; musaffa.com/stock/BABA/). ShariaPortfolio covers BABA and calls it 'Shariah Compliant,' stating it passes 2 of 5 of their Shariah standards (spscreener.mxcorporate.com/stocks/baba). Zoya covers BABA (zoya.finance/stocks/baba) but its page renders an ambiguous status - both the compliant and non-compliant template text appear with the date blank - so no definitive Zoya rating is reported; its FAQ quotes ¥87,512M as 'interest income' (8.55%), which is the combined 'interest and investment income, net' line, not the separately disclosed RMB 18,806M interest income from the 20-F. This page applies the screen directly from Alibaba's own SEC filings.

Sources

Screened 2026-10-02 from published company figures and market data. Figures change; this page is educational, not financial advice and not a religious ruling.

Screened with our two-gate Shariah screening methodology (business-activity gate, then AAOIFI-style financial ratios).