Is Unilever PLC (UL) stock halal?

Unilever PLC is considered halal under 3 of 5 standards — the scholars disagree. HalalGauge screens UL under AAOIFI, Mufti Taqi Usmani, S&P DJIM, Ja'fari and the strict view, citing every threshold to its primary source.

Is UL halal under Mufti Taqi Usmani?

Under Mufti Taqi Usmani's methodology, UL is borderline. Illiquid (tangible) assets / total assets 18.0% (limit 20%)

UL · Consumer Defensive

Unilever PLC

Is Unilever PLC (UL) halal?

Unilever PLC is considered halal under 3 of 5 standards — the scholars disagree. Below is the verdict under each of the five mainstream scholarly standards, with the deciding numbers and the source behind every threshold.

UL verdict by standard · 3 halal · 1 borderline · 1 not halal

AAOIFI Standard
All ratio checks pass.
Halal
Mufti Taqi Usmani (stricter Hanafi)
Illiquid (tangible) assets / total assets 18.0% (limit 20%)
Borderline
Dow Jones Islamic Market
All ratio checks pass.
Halal
Ja'fari (Sistani-aligned)
All ratio checks pass.
Halal
Strict / zero-tolerance
Impermissible income / revenue 0.8% (limit 0%); Interest-bearing debt / market cap 27.0% (limit 0%); Cash + interest-bearing securities / market cap 4.6% (limit 0%)
Not halal

The numbers behind the verdict

Interest-bearing debt / market cap: 27.0%
Cash + securities / market cap: 4.6%
Receivables / market cap: 7.0%
Impermissible income / revenue: 0.8%
Illiquid (tangible) assets / total: 18.0%

Thresholds and methodology differ by scholar — e.g. AAOIFI caps interest-bearing debt at 30% of market cap, DJIM at 33%, and Mufti Taqi additionally requires tangible assets to be at least 20% of total assets. That's why two screeners can disagree on the same stock.

Screen UL interactively See the full balance sheet How the methodologies work

Sources

AAOIFI: AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 (Financial Papers — Shares and Bonds)
Mufti Taqi: Mufti Taqi Usmani — published equity-screening rulings (illiquid-asset rule)
DJIM: S&P Dow Jones Islamic Market Indices — Index Methodology (Shariah Screening)
Ja'fari: Ayatollah Sistani — Code of Practice (sistani.org)
Strict: Minority scholars holding zero-tolerance on riba exposure
Financials: Q4 2025 filing

Other Consumer Defensive tickers

Is WMT halal?Is COST halal?Is PG halal?Is KO halal?Is PM halal?Is PEP halal?

HalalGauge surfaces published scholarly methodologies with full sourcing; it does not issue fatwa or certify any security as halal. Verify with a qualified scholar before investing.