SBAC

SBA Communications

HARAM — SCREEN DOES NOT PASSstock

Is SBAC Halal?

Wireless infrastructure REIT with interest-based model.

What You Should Know

SBA Communications owns cell towers globally. REIT structure and high debt create multiple Sharia violations. Its March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q reports $11,720.844 million of assets, $12,959.731 million of interest-bearing debt, $269.064 million of cash, $161.474 million of receivables and $703.438 million of quarterly revenue. Debt/assets is 110.57%, liquidity/assets is 2.30%, receivables-plus-cash/assets is 3.67% and disclosed interest income is 0.74% of revenue; debt fails the examined asset-based screens.

⚠️ Concerns

  • Debt/assets 110.57% exceeds examined limits
  • REIT operating model
  • Very high interest-bearing debt
  • Interest income

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
110.57%Above limit
Below 33.333% under FTSE Yasaar

12,959.731 / 11,720.844

Cash + interest-bearing securities / assets
2.30%Within limit
Below 33.333% under FTSE Yasaar

269.064 / 11,720.844

Receivables + cash / assets
3.67%Within limit
Below 50% under FTSE Yasaar

430.538 / 11,720.844

Non-compliant income / revenue
0.74%Within limit
No more than 5% under FTSE Yasaar

5.207 / 703.438

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

Debt/assets is 110.57%, liquidity/assets is 2.30%, receivables-plus-cash/assets is 3.67% and disclosed interest income is 0.74% of revenue; debt exceeds the examined FTSE limit.

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

Debt/assets is 110.57%, above the examined MSCI 33.33% limit; liquidity/assets and receivables-plus-cash/assets are 2.30% and 3.67%.

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

Debt/assets is 110.57%, above the examined Malaysia limit; 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
Incomplete

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

Business-activity disclosure

SBA leases wireless-tower space and provides site-development services. Infrastructure leasing is generally permissible, while tenant uses, REIT structure and financing require qualitative review.

Limitation: The filing does not provide a universal prohibited-activity revenue numerator across tenants, tower leases and site-development contracts.

Purification

SBA discloses $5.207 million of interest income, but does not provide a complete prohibited-activity numerator or scholar-approved purification percentage.

Inputs, assumptions and primary sources
  • Amounts are USD millions converted from SBA's March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q values reported in thousands.
  • Interest-bearing debt is $2,683.531 million of current maturities plus $10,276.200 million of long-term debt; lease liabilities are excluded from this debt ratio.
  • Cash and cash equivalents are $269.064 million; restricted cash and no separate interest-bearing securities balance are excluded from the cash screen.
  • Accounts receivable are $161.474 million, quarterly revenue is $703.438 million and disclosed interest income is $5.207 million.
  • Tower leasing and site development are generally permissible infrastructure services, while REIT structure, tenant uses and financing require qualitative review.

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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