This is iA the most comprehensive resource for this question on the internet.
We present views from Al Qalam, Sh. Yasir Qadhi, then our resident expert Mufti Billal Omarjee presents his views, and finally IFG present a commercial perspective on the matter.
View One: IslamQa
According to our research, Wahed Investments invest in shares/stock market. It is permissible to invest in shares/stock market with the following conditions:
1- The main business of the company is not in violation of Shariah. Therefore, it is not permissible to acquire the shares of the companies providing financial services on interest, like conventional banks, insurance companies, or the companies involved in some other business not approved by the Shariah, such as the companies manufacturing, selling or offering liquors, pork, haram meat, or involved in gambling, night club activities etc.
2 - If the main business of the companies is halal, like automobiles, textile, etc. but they deposit their surplus amounts in an interest-bearing account or borrow money on interest, the shareholder must express his disapproval against such dealings, preferably by raising his voice against such activities in the annual general meeting of the company.
3 - If some income from interest-bearing accounts is included in the income of the company, the proportion of such income should be given in charity and must not be retained by him. For example, if 4% of the whole income of a company is accrued from interest-bearing deposits, then 4% of the dividend should be given in charity.
4 - The shares of a company can be purchased only if the company owns some non-liquid assets. If all the assets of a company are in liquid form, i.e. in the form of money, then that cannot be purchased or sold, except on par value, because in this case the share represents money only and the money cannot be traded in except at par value.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Hammad Ibn Ismail Jogiat
Source: here
View Two: Sh. Yasir Qadhi
Sh. Yasir gives his views on halal investing here:
Mufti Billal Omarjee view:
To follow.
The IFG view:
We consider Wahed Invest to be straightforwardly permissible. They are not doing anything fundamentally very adventurous.
But is is commercially good and how should you use Wahed? We’ve covered this in this article.
If you want to DIY your own portfolio - you can. But you need to learn how to screen shares on the stock market for sharia-compliance - which you can do here.
If you can’t be bothered with the headache of painstakingly screening each stock - you can just buy ready-made bunch of sharia-compliant stocks held in well-balanced portfolios by investing in a fund. You can compare all the halal investment funds on our comparison page here (just filter for “stocks & shares”).