The Short Answer
Silgan stock (SLGN) is considered halal under standard Sharia screening, subject to a careful debt check. Manufacturing metal and plastic containers, closures, and dispensing systems is a clearly permissible activity with no haram revenue line of its own. The deciding item is the balance sheet, since Silgan operates with a more leveraged balance sheet than some peers.
Current quantitative Sharia screen
Based on 10-Q figures for the period ended 2026-03-31; calculated 2026-07-15.
4,660.447 / 9,322.279
435.429 / 9,322.279
1,594.109 / 9,322.279
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 49.99%, above the examined 33.333% limit; packaging activity remains qualitative.
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 49.99%, above the examined MSCI limit; the asset-based screen fails.
- Financial
- Fails
- Overall
- Fails
Debt/assets is 49.99%, above the examined Malaysia limit; this is not an official classification.
- Financial
- Not calculated
- Overall
- Fails
A properly licensed and reproducible historical market-cap series is not stored; the debt screen already fails.
Business-activity disclosure
Silgan manufactures rigid metal and plastic packaging, closures and dispensing systems for food, beverage, personal-care and household markets. Packaging is generally permissible, while indirect end use remains qualitative.
Limitation: The filing does not allocate revenue by downstream end use or provide a universal prohibited-revenue or non-compliant-income numerator.
Purification
No reproducible gross non-compliant-income numerator is disclosed; no fixed purification percentage is asserted.
Inputs, assumptions and primary sources
- Amounts are converted from USD thousands in Silgan's March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q to USD millions.
- Debt combines revolving loans and current long-term debt of $988.323 million and long-term debt of $3,672.124 million.
- Cash is $435.429 million; no separate interest-bearing securities balance is identified.
- Trade accounts receivable, net are $1,158.680 million.
- The filing does not provide a reproducible gross non-compliant-income numerator; packaging activity and indirect customer end use remain qualitative.
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.
Because Silgan has historically used debt to fund acquisitions, its total-debt-to-market-cap ratio is the deciding screen and must be confirmed against the 33% threshold using the latest filings before investing, with incidental interest income checked against the 5% threshold and purified.
Sharia Screening Methodology
Islamic scholars use several criteria to screen stocks:
- Business activity screen: Is the company's primary business halal?
- Debt ratio: Total debt / market cap must be under 33%
- Interest income: Interest income / total revenue must be under 5%
- Haram revenue: Revenue from haram sources must be under 5%
- Receivables ratio: Total receivables / total assets must be under 49–70% (varies by board)
Silgan's Business Activity
Silgan Holdings Inc. manufactures rigid packaging for consumer goods. Its activity is:
- Dispensing & specialty: Pumps, sprayers, and dispensing closures
- Metal containers: Steel and aluminum containers for food and other products
- Custom containers: Plastic containers and closures for consumer markets
Making packaging is a clearly permissible activity; Silgan sells neutral containers rather than the product inside them.
Why SLGN Is Halal
1. Permissible Core Business
Producing rigid packaging is a halal manufacturing business that supplies the consumer-goods supply chain. There is no gambling, conventional banking, or other prohibited line at the heart of the business.
2. Debt Ratio Is the Deciding Screen
Silgan operates with a more leveraged balance sheet than some peers, so total debt / market cap is the deciding screen. Confirm it sits under the 33% threshold on the latest filings before investing — this is the item most likely to move the verdict.
3. Interest on Cash to Purify
Incidental interest income on cash should be confirmed against the 5% threshold and the corresponding small portion of returns purified. Some packaging is sold to beverage customers that may include alcohol producers, an indirect end-use stricter investors may weigh.
Current Filing-Based Quantitative Screen
Silgan's March 31, 2026 Form 10-Q reports debt/assets of 49.99%, liquidity/assets of 4.67%, and receivables-plus-cash/assets of 17.10%. The debt ratio exceeds the examined asset-based limits. The filing does not provide a reproducible gross non-compliant-income numerator.
- Debt / assets: 49.99% — above the examined 33.333% limits ❌
- Liquidity / assets: 4.67% — below the examined limits ✅
- Receivables + cash / assets: 17.10% — below the examined limits ✅
- Business activity: Packaging is generally permissible; indirect end use remains qualitative ⚠️
Methodology Interpretation
The stored record applies transparent total-assets proxies for FTSE Yasaar, MSCI Islamic and Malaysia SAC-style tests. All three fail on debt/assets; the market-cap denominator and non-compliant-income numerator are not stored, and no third-party app classification is asserted.
- FTSE Yasaar-style asset tests: fail on debt
- MSCI Islamic-style asset tests: fail on debt
- Malaysia SAC-style ratios: fail on debt
- Market-cap denominator: not calculated from a reproducible licensed series
Bottom Line
Silgan (SLGN) is halal for Muslim investors when the debt screen passes, but the leverage check is the deciding factor. The packaging business is permissible; confirm total debt / market cap under 33% on the latest filings before each purchase, note that Silgan sells neutral containers rather than the product inside them, and purify the minor portion of returns attributable to interest income on cash.
For Muslim investors seeking materials and packaging exposure, compare SLGN with lower-debt peers like Ball Corporation (BALL), Crown Holdings (CCK), and Sonoco (SON).
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