NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026

Is Morgan Stanley (MS) Halal?

FAIL

Morgan Stanley · NYSE: MS · Financials

The short answer

No — Morgan Stanley (MS) fails this Shariah stock screen at the business-activity gate. It is a conventional global financial services firm and bank holding company (Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, Investment Management): interest-based lending and deposit-taking, interest-rate trading and conventional securities underwriting are its core business, and conventional financial services are a prohibited industry under AAOIFI-style business screens, excluded outright. The numbers confirm it: FY2025 interest income of $59,063M is about 51.37% of gross revenue ($114,983M), versus a 5% non-compliant-income ceiling. The debt gate is not assessed for a bank holding company (borrowings and deposits are operating liabilities). Zoya rates MS not Shariah-compliant; no verifiable Musaffa or ShariaPortfolio rating for MS common stock was found — honestly reported as absent, not invented.

Gate 1 — Business activity: FAIL

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) describes itself as "a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management, wealth management and credit services." Per its 10-K it reports three business segments: Institutional Securities (M&A advisory, equity and fixed-income underwriting, equity & fixed-income sales, trading and financing, prime brokerage, corporate lending), Wealth Management (financial/wealth planning, brokerage via Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and E*TRADE, workplace services; bank deposit-taking and interest-based lending — it is a bank holding company), and Investment Management (asset management across equity, fixed income, alternatives, real estate and private equity, including Eaton Vance and Parametric). Business-screen implication (factual): under AAOIFI-style screens, conventional financial services are a prohibited industry excluded outright — the Fiqh Council of North America explicitly lists "Conventional financial services (banks, insurance, etc)" among excluded businesses. Morgan Stanley's core revenue comes from interest-based finance. Gate 1 fails. Facts only.

Gate 2 — Debt and cash: Not assessed — business gate decisive

Not assessed — the business gate is decisive. For a bank holding company, borrowings and deposits are operating liabilities, not corporate borrowing, so a debt-to-market-cap ratio is not meaningful (December 2024: borrowings $288,819M, deposits $376,007M; against a ~$300B market cap the raw figure would be ~96% regardless). The screen already fails at Gate 1. Facts only.

Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: FAIL

Morgan Stanley's FY2025 10-K (filed February 2026) reports interest income of $59,063M. Against gross revenue of $114,983M (interest income $59,063M + noninterest revenues $55,920M — the combined total Zoya also discloses), that is about 51.37% of revenue, massively above the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. (Net interest income of $2,780M was 13.0% of Q2 2026 net revenues — reported for completeness; the gross figure is the relevant measure.) This is the expected profile of a conventional financial firm and confirms the Gate 1 business-screen failure. Gate 3 fails. Facts only.

Key figures used

Business: conventional global financial services — Institutional Securities, Wealth Management (bank deposit-taking + interest-based lending; bank holding company), Investment Management
Business gate: FAIL — interest-based finance is the CORE business; conventional financial services are a prohibited industry under AAOIFI-style screens (Fiqh Council of North America lists them among excluded businesses)
Debt gate not assessed (business gate decisive): borrowings $288,819M + deposits $376,007M (Dec 2024) are operating liabilities, not corporate borrowing
Interest income: $59,063M vs FY2025 gross revenue $114,983M — ≈51.37% of revenue, massively above the 5% ceiling (matches Zoya's published figure exactly)
Shares outstanding: 1,587,860,206 (Jan 31, 2026); ~$188 (Oct 1, 2026); mktcap ~$300B
Zoya: not Shariah-compliant (Sep 2026); Musaffa: no verifiable MS-common-stock rating (only EDD fund page, different security); ShariaPortfolio: no rating found

Frequently asked questions

What does Morgan Stanley do?

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) describes itself as "a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management, wealth management and credit services." Per its 10-K it reports three business segments: Institutional Securities (M&A advisory, equity and fixed-income underwriting, equity & fixed-income sales, trading and financing, prime brokerage, corporate lending), Wealth Management (financial/wealth planning, brokerage via Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and E*TRADE, workplace services; bank deposit-taking and interest-based lending — it is a bank holding company), and Investment Management (asset management across equity, fixed income, alternatives, real estate and private equity, including Eaton Vance and Parametric).

Why does Morgan Stanley fail this Shariah stock screen?

Morgan Stanley fails this screen at the first gate — the business-activity gate. It is a conventional global financial services firm (bank holding company): interest-based lending and deposit-taking, interest-rate trading books and conventional securities underwriting are its core business, not an incidental activity. Under AAOIFI-style business screens, conventional financial services are a prohibited industry excluded outright, regardless of balance-sheet strength — the Fiqh Council of North America explicitly lists "Conventional financial services (banks, insurance, etc)" among excluded businesses. The numbers confirm it: FY2025 interest income of $59,063M is about 51.37% of gross revenue ($114,983M), versus a 5% non-compliant-income ceiling. Zoya rates MS not Shariah-compliant. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling — consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

What is Morgan Stanley's debt ratio?

The debt gate is not assessed for Morgan Stanley because the business gate is decisive: as a bank holding company, borrowings and deposits are operating liabilities, not corporate borrowing, so a debt-to-market-cap ratio is not meaningful (Dec 2024: borrowings $288,819M, deposits $376,007M; against a ~$300B market cap the raw figure would be ~96% regardless). The screen already fails at Gate 1.

What is Morgan Stanley's non-compliant income ratio?

Morgan Stanley's FY2025 10-K (filed February 2026) reports interest income of $59,063M. Against gross revenue of $114,983M (interest income $59,063M + noninterest revenues $55,920M) — the combined total Zoya also discloses — that is about 51.37% of revenue, massively above the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. (Net interest income of $2,780M was 13.0% of Q2 2026 net revenues — reported for completeness; the gross figure is the relevant non-compliant-income measure.) This is the expected profile of a conventional financial firm and confirms the Gate 1 business-screen failure.

Do Zoya, Musaffa, or ShariaPortfolio cover Morgan Stanley?

Zoya covers MS (zoya.finance/stocks/ms): "As of September 2026, MS is not Shariah-compliant and therefore not considered halal to invest in," citing interest income $59,063M = 51.37% of combined revenue (FY2025 annual report). Musaffa: no public MS-common-stock rating could be verified — search found only a Musaffa page for the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund (EDD), a different security rated not halal; reported as unverified, not invented. ShariaPortfolio: no MS-specific screening page found — reported as absent, not invented. This page applies the screen directly from Morgan Stanley's own filings.

Sources

Screened 2026-10-01 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).