Is BKNG (Booking Holdings Inc.) halal?

Q: Is BKNG (Booking Holdings Inc.) halal?

DOUBTFUL: Travel booking is generally permissible, but March 2026 debt, liquidity and receivables ratios fail the examined asset-based screens. Booking's March 2026 filing reports 66.42% debt/assets, 59.51% cash plus long-term investments/assets, 70.51% receivables-plus-cash/assets and 3.38% interest and dividend income/revenue. Hotel, restaurant, advertising and listing exposure remains qualitative.

← Back to Halal Checker

BKNG

Booking Holdings Inc.

DOUBTFUL — SCREEN DOES NOT PASSstock

Is BKNG Halal?

Travel booking is generally permissible, but March 2026 debt, liquidity and receivables ratios fail the examined asset-based screens.

What You Should Know

Booking's March 2026 filing reports 66.42% debt/assets, 59.51% cash plus long-term investments/assets, 70.51% receivables-plus-cash/assets and 3.38% interest and dividend income/revenue. Hotel, restaurant, advertising and listing exposure remains qualitative.

⚠️ Concerns

•Debt/assets was 66.42%
•Receivables plus cash/assets was 70.51%
•Platforms list hotels and restaurants that may serve alcohol
•Interest and dividend income was 187 million in the quarter

Current quantitative Sharia screen

Based on 10-Q figures for the period ended 2026-03-31; calculated 2026-07-13.

USD · millions

Interest-bearing debt / assets

66.42%Above limit

Below 33.333% under FTSE Yasaar

18,413 / 27,720

Cash + interest-bearing securities / assets

59.51%Above limit

Below 33.333% under FTSE Yasaar

16,497 / 27,720

Receivables + cash / assets

70.51%Above limit

Below 50% under FTSE Yasaar

19,544 / 27,720

Non-compliant income / revenue

3.38%Within limit

No more than 5% under FTSE Yasaar

187 / 5,532

Methodology	Financial	Overall	What drives it
FTSE Yasaar v4.6, February 2026	Fails	Fails	Debt/assets is 66.42%, liquidity/assets is 59.51%, and receivables plus cash/assets is 70.51%, above the examined FTSE limits; interest and dividend income/revenue is 3.38%.
MSCI Islamic (total-assets series) October 2024 methodology	Fails	Fails	Debt/assets, liquidity/assets and receivables-plus-cash/assets are above the examined 33.33% total-assets limits.
Malaysia SAC financial ratios single 5% activity benchmark adopted November 2025	Fails	Fails	Debt/assets and identifiable liquidity/assets are above 33%; this is a calculation against SAC ratios, not an official classification.
Market-cap denominator methods MSCI M-Series, S&P and Dow Jones methods differ	Not calculated	Not calculated	A licensed reproducible historical market-cap series is not stored.

FTSE Yasaar

v4.6, February 2026

Financial: Fails
Overall: Fails

Debt/assets is 66.42%, liquidity/assets is 59.51%, and receivables plus cash/assets is 70.51%, above the examined FTSE limits; interest and dividend income/revenue is 3.38%.

MSCI Islamic (total-assets series)

October 2024 methodology

Financial: Fails
Overall: Fails

Debt/assets, liquidity/assets and receivables-plus-cash/assets are above the examined 33.33% total-assets limits.

Malaysia SAC financial ratios

single 5% activity benchmark adopted November 2025

Financial: Fails
Overall: Fails

Debt/assets and identifiable liquidity/assets are above 33%; this is a calculation against SAC ratios, not an official classification.

Market-cap denominator methods

MSCI M-Series, S&P and Dow Jones methods differ

Financial: Not calculated
Overall: Not calculated

A licensed reproducible historical market-cap series is not stored.

Business-activity disclosure

Booking operates online travel, accommodation, restaurant and advertising platforms. Booking ordinary travel can be permissible, but hotels, restaurants, alcohol service and other listings require qualitative review.

Limitation: The filing does not classify every listing, booking, commission or advertising impression under a Sharia standard.

Purification

The filing discloses 187 million of interest and dividend income. ZakatInvest does not prescribe a fixed scholar-approved purification percentage or treat purification as a cure for failed financial screens.

Inputs, assumptions and primary sources

Amounts are USD millions from Booking Holdings' March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q.
Debt includes short-term debt of 3,015 and long-term debt of 15,398.
Long-term investments of 473 are included as identifiable interest-bearing securities; cash is not double-counted.
Interest and dividend income was 187 million for the quarter.
Travel, restaurant, advertising and hotel listings are not a Sharia-classified prohibited-revenue numerator.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Booking Holdings First Quarter 2026 Form 10-Q FTSE Russell: FTSE Yasaar Global Equity Shariah Index Series Ground Rules MSCI: MSCI Islamic Index Series Methodology Securities Commission Malaysia: Shariah-Compliant Securities Screening Methodology

This is a reproducible financial screen, not a fatwa. A failed total-assets screen can coexist with a pass under a market-cap methodology. ZakatInvest keeps the qualitative assessment separate so numerical thresholds do not erase material context.

🧾

Own BKNG? Purify your portfolio.

Per-holding purification amounts, zakat on your shares, and halal alternatives for flagged holdings — a personalized report prepared for you within 48 hours.

Order Your Report — $49 →

Track BKNG and 30,000+ stocks' live compliance status with Islamicly — 50% off with code ZAKAT50.Get Islamicly →