Tayyib Audit: Are You Funding the Next War?
Screening criteria rooted in Islamic ethics for avoiding war-profiting investments.
There is no stopping the imperial machine’s murderous march around the globe. That, of course, has always been the American way; just that under the Trump administration, there is less need for pretence or restraint.
Beyond the Western Hemisphere — still treated as their personal backyard to be tormented, terrorised and plundered with impunity — Iran now stands as the immediate target in an already embattled middle east.
What if our Muslim money is quietly underwriting these very imperial agendas? The simplistic Shariah-compliance checklists devised by Islamic finance legalists were never enough. What criteria, then, should guide tayyib investments?
Here is a three-level audit to help Muslim investors de-imperalise their portfolios.
Level 1: ‘Lethal Aid’
This seems a no-brainer, yet it manages to slip past some Islamic screens (like that of the SPUS ETF at the height of the Gaza genocide). Any defense-adjacent company that manufactures and sells lethal hardware to war-hungry regimes — whether the US Department of War or the Israeli Ministry of “Defence” — fails outright.
Stocks to fail (among others):
Boeing (BA): Supplies military tankers for long-range strikes under a guise of civilian aerospace.
General Electric (GE) & Honeywell (HON): Provide engines and guidance systems for combat platforms behind a “diversified industrial” facade.
Level 2: ‘Dual-Use’ Tech
The biggest blind spot in Islamic investing circles is dual-use tech. Tech companies — the new defense contractors for AI targeting and cloud logistics — are routinely (and perhaps deliberately) overlooked, particularly by Islamic fund managers (like Wahed) and their passive investors.
Stocks to fail (among others):
Nvidia (NVDA) & Palantir (PLTR) enable AI-driven surveillance and targeting across modern battlefields.
Microsoft (MSFT), often the largest holding in halal ETFs, is deeply integrated into military command-and-control systems.
Amazon (AMZN) & Google (GOOGL) supply the infrastructure for military surveillance and logistics.
Level 3: ‘Supply Chain’ Enablers
Next are companies — often presumed to be Shariah-compliant in business — that sustain occupation or military deployment by supplying essentials such as fuel, logistics and construction equipment. They feed on destruction, hence tayyib investors should go the opposite way.
Stocks to fail (among others):
Caterpillar (CAT) bulldozers are the preferred tool for demolishing Palestinian homes and fortifying military berms.
ExxonMobil (XOM) & Chevron (CVX), de facto arms of US foreign policy, profit from colonial grabs — Venezuelan oil most recently — and war-driven price spikes in chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz.
Tayyib Alternatives?
But if we strip out the imperial war machine, what is left? A lot, actually. Investors who are anxious about de-Americanising need not worry. My suggested pivot is to look east by moving capital into the civilian economy of the Muslim world and non-aligned Asia.
Domestic focus: Companies feeding, connecting or treating people; think Indofood (Indonesia), Meituan (China), IHH Healthcare (Malaysia).
Infrastructure sovereignty: Firms building independent logistics and renewable infrastructure, like Mitratel and Solarvest in ASEAN.
Neutral zones: Prioritise markets that have refused to normalise relations with the zionist entity and sectors insulated from US sanctions or war.
Future posts will cover these and more in greater detail. In the meantime, feel free to browse through previously covered ideas.
Disclaimer: Nothing you read on Tayyib Finance constitutes financial advice. There is no guarantee of Shariah compliance of any particular stock at any particular time, since ‘Shariah compliance’ is fluid depending on the provider of judicial opinion and must be regularly affirmed. Similarly, there is no assurance that the same stock is simultaneously ‘tayyib’ (or Islamically ethical). Do your own research.