MRK

Merck & Co., Inc.

HALAL — SCREEN DOES NOT PASSstock

Is MRK Halal?

Large-cap global pharmaceutical company developing and selling prescription medicines and vaccines — permissible pharmaceutical business.

What You Should Know

Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) develops prescription medicines, vaccines and animal-health products. Its March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q reports $128,685 million of assets, $49,117 million of debt, $5,327 million of cash, $476 million of debt securities, $12,210 million of receivables and $16,286 million of quarterly revenue. Debt/assets is 38.16%, so the examined FTSE Yasaar, MSCI and Malaysia asset-ratio screens fail; disclosed interest income is $35 million (0.21% of quarterly revenue). The healthcare mission is generally permissible, but product, licensing and customer allocation remains qualitative.

⚠️ Concerns

  • Debt/assets exceeds the examined 33% limits
  • Acquisition-related leverage
  • Animal-health product mix
  • Disclosed interest income and no universal activity numerator

Current quantitative Sharia screen

Based on 10-Q figures for the period ended 2026-03-31; calculated 2026-07-15.

USD · millions
Interest-bearing debt / assets
38.17%Above limit
Below 33.333% under FTSE Yasaar

49,117 / 128,685

Cash + interest-bearing securities / assets
4.51%Within limit
Below 33.333% under FTSE Yasaar

5,803 / 128,685

Receivables + cash / assets
13.63%Within limit
Below 50% under FTSE Yasaar

17,537 / 128,685

Non-compliant income / revenue
0.21%Within limit
No more than 5% under FTSE Yasaar

35 / 16,286

FTSE Yasaar
v4.6, February 2026
Financial
Fails
Overall
Fails

Debt/assets is 38.16%, above the examined 33.333% limit; liquidity/assets is 4.51%, receivables-plus-cash/assets is 13.63% and disclosed interest income is 0.21%.

MSCI Islamic (total-assets series)
October 2024 methodology
Financial
Fails
Overall
Fails

Debt/assets is 38.16%, above the examined 33.33% limit; liquidity and receivables-plus-cash remain below the examined limits.

Malaysia SAC financial ratios
single 5% activity benchmark adopted November 2025
Financial
Fails
Overall
Fails

Debt/assets is 38.16%, above the examined Malaysia 33% limit; liquidity/assets is 4.51%. This calculation is not an official classification.

Market-cap denominator methods
MSCI M-Series, S&P and Dow Jones methods differ
Financial
Not calculated
Overall
Incomplete

A properly licensed and reproducible historical market-cap series is not stored; filing-based asset ratios remain documented.

Business-activity disclosure

Merck develops and sells prescription medicines, vaccines and animal-health products. The healthcare mission is generally permissible, while product formulation, licensing and customer allocation require qualitative review.

Limitation: The filing does not provide a universal prohibited-activity numerator across products, licenses and customers.

Purification

Merck discloses $35 million of interest income but does not provide a scholar-approved purification percentage or complete prohibited-activity numerator.

Inputs, assumptions and primary sources
  • Amounts are USD millions from Merck's March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q.
  • Interest-bearing debt is $2,444 million current debt plus $46,673 million noncurrent debt; operating-lease liabilities are not added because the latest balance-sheet lease split in the filing is from the prior year-end.
  • Cash and cash equivalents are $5,327 million, available-for-sale debt securities are $476 million and accounts receivable are $12,210 million.
  • Quarterly revenue is $16,286 million and disclosed interest income is $35 million, or 0.21% of quarterly revenue.
  • Pharmaceuticals and animal-health products are generally permissible, but product, licensing and customer allocation are not reduced to a universal prohibited-revenue numerator.

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.

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