Quick Verdict
Netflix (NFLX) is widely considered NOT HALAL by mainstream Islamic screening agencies. The company's primary revenue source is streaming entertainment content, a significant portion of which includes adult content, explicit sexual scenes, alcohol promotion, and themes that violate Islamic ethical standards.
The Content Problem
Unlike tech companies where entertainment is a small side business, Netflix's entire business is entertainment content. There's no AWS equivalent, no cloud division to offset the content concerns. Every dollar Netflix earns comes from subscribers paying to watch movies and TV shows.
The 5% haram revenue threshold — used to give diversified companies like Amazon a pass on their entertainment arms — simply doesn't apply here. Netflix's haram-adjacent revenue is effectively 100% of its total revenue, because the streaming business is the business.
Financial Screening
- Total Debt / Market Cap: ~12% ✅ (manageable)
- Interest Income / Total Revenue: Very low ✅
- Business Activity Screen: Entertainment content — FAIL ❌
The financial ratios are not the issue. Netflix has cleaned up its balance sheet significantly. The problem is the core business.
What Scholars Say
There's near-universal agreement among contemporary Islamic finance scholars that pure-play entertainment companies — those whose entire business revolves around producing and distributing potentially impermissible content — are not permissible investments.
The principle is simple: you cannot own a share of a business whose primary activity is something you wouldn't personally engage in due to religious restrictions. Watching Netflix's explicit content is impermissible; owning a piece of the company that produces it is equally impermissible.
Screening Agencies' Verdict
- Zoya App — Not Compliant ❌
- MSCI Islamic Index — Excluded ❌
- SPUS ETF, HLAL ETF — Not held ❌
- Islamicly — Not Compliant ❌
Alternatives for Investors
If you want exposure to the streaming and content economy, consider:
- Infrastructure plays: Content delivery networks, cloud providers that host streaming
- Device makers: Companies that make the screens people watch content on
- Halal-specific content: Platforms emerging in the Islamic media space
Bottom Line
Netflix fails the Islamic business activity screen definitively. It's not a close call. Muslim investors looking for media exposure should look elsewhere.
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