Are shares halal? Is it gambling? How to stay Shariah-compliant in Moomoo

“Dad heard that shares are gambling. Is that true?”

This question usually comes from the people who are most careful with money, and that is a good thing. This page answers it directly, in plain language. But one thing Daus wants to say up front: Daus is not an ustaz and not a Shariah adviser. What Daus shares here is how the system in Malaysia works and what Daus does personally. For your own religious decision, ask an ustaz or a Shariah adviser you trust.

The short answer

• Shares are not gambling. When you buy a share, you become part-owner of a real company that actually exists and does business. Your profit or loss follows how that business performs, not luck.
• But not every share is Shariah-compliant. Companies in alcohol, gambling, conventional banking, or with too much interest-bearing debt do not pass the screening.
• In Malaysia, the one who decides is the Shariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission (SC). They publish the list of Shariah-compliant Bursa stocks twice a year.
• The Moomoo app is only a tool. Whether something is halal depends more on what you buy and how you use the account, not on the name of the app.
• Three parts of the app involve interest (riba) and you need to avoid them if you want to stay Shariah-compliant. The list is below.

Why shares are not the same as gambling

In gambling, money moves from the person who loses to the person who wins. Nothing is produced. Luck decides who wins.

With shares, you buy a small piece of ownership in a company. That company sells goods, pays its staff, makes a profit, and sometimes shares part of that profit with its shareholders as a dividendDividendA portion of company profit paid out to shareholders.See it in the glossary →. The value of your share goes up if the business grows, and down if the business gets worse.

So at its core, a share is a partnership in a business. But the way someone uses shares can still turn into gambling. Buying and selling within minutes based on rumours, without even knowing what the company does, or borrowing money to bet bigger, is close to gambling in both intention and behaviour. Those friends who “lost all their money playing shares” in the old days mostly fell into this trap, not because of shares themselves.

Who decides whether a share is Shariah-compliant

In Malaysia, the Shariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission screens every company listed on Bursa. The screening has two layers:

1. Business activities. Companies whose main income comes from something not permitted, for example alcohol, gambling, conventional banking and insurance, or non-compliant entertainment, are removed.
2. Financial position. Companies that keep too much cash in interest-bearing accounts, or owe too much in interest-bearing loans, are also removed even if their business is halal.

The result is the List of Shariah-Compliant Securities, updated twice a year, usually in May and November. The status of a share can change with each review. Search for “List of Shariah-Compliant Securities” on the official SC website for the latest list.

For American shares and ETFs, the SC does not do the screening. It is done by the index provider or the ETF’s own Shariah board. Their method is close to the SC’s but not necessarily 100% the same. If you want to follow the Malaysian standard strictly, ask your Shariah adviser whether that screening is acceptable.

Why isn’t a regular S&P 500 ETF (VOO, SPY, IVV) Shariah-compliant?

Short answer: because those ETFs hold all 500 companies in the S&P 500 with no screening at all. That includes conventional banks and insurers, and companies whose debt is above the Shariah limit.

A Shariah ETF like SPUS tracks a screened version of the S&P 500. The SPUS prospectus lists the screens. In short:

Business screen. A company is removed if more than 5% of its total revenue comes from non-permitted activities, including:

• Conventional finance (Islamic banks, Islamic financial institutions and takaful are exempt)
• Alcohol, gambling and casinos
• Pork-related products
• Tobacco

Financial screens. A company must pass all of these ratios:

• Debt below 33.33% of total assets
• Cash and interest-bearing items below 33.33% of total assets
• Accounts receivable and cash below 50% of total assets
• Interest and non-compliant income below 5% of total revenue

So when VOO holds big banks, insurers and heavily indebted companies, VOO as a basket fails these screens. That doesn’t mean every company inside VOO is haram. It means the basket isn’t screened.

SPUS or HLAL — what’s the difference?

Both are Shariah ETFs holding large American companies, but from different issuers using different indexes. This is the comparison in Moomoo’s Compare screen on 6 Oct 2026. It isn’t a recommendation to buy either one, just a way to read the difference between two ETFs that look alike.

	SPUS	HLAL
Issuer	SP Funds	Wahed Invest
Index	S&P 500 Shariah	FTSE Shariah USA
Who screens	Ratings Intelligence + a 5-scholar Shariah board	Yasaar + Wahed Shariah Supervisory Board
Fund size (AUM)	3.37B	998.43M
Annual fee (expense ratio)	0.45%	0.50%
Number of holdings	214	197
Return per year, 3-year average	+26.19%	+23.35%
Return per year, 5-year average	+16.74%	+15.83%
Dividend yield (TTM)	0.50%	0.35%
Dividend frequency	Monthly	Quarterly

What Daus sees in these screens:

• The contents are nearly identical. The top four holdings of both ETFs are NVDA, AAPL, MSFT and GOOGL, at similar weights. Holding both adds little diversification.
• The main differences are the fee, the fund size, and who does the screening. SPUS did slightly better over this period, but past performance doesn’t guarantee the future.
• Both pay small dividends, and US dividends are cut by 30% before they reach you.
• Figures are in USD. Your return in ringgit differs with the exchange rate.

How to run this comparison yourself is in Compare stocks & ETFs. Other Shariah ETFs (SPWO, SPTE, SPRE, Bursa ETFs) are in World of ETFs.

Why does SPTE have a Shariah name but no Shariah badge in the app?

People ask this once they notice the green crescent-moon icon next to some stock and ETF names. That icon is Moomoo’s Shariah label. SPUS has it. SPTE, a Shariah technology ETF from the same issuer (SP Funds), did not have it on 6 Oct 2026.

The honest answer: Moomoo doesn’t publicly explain where its Shariah label list comes from, or why some ETFs have no label. What Daus does know:

• The label depends on the broker’s own Shariah data list. No label in the app doesn’t necessarily mean a product isn’t compliant. And having a label doesn’t replace your own check.
• Moomoo Malaysia’s official campaign page lists SPUS, HLAL and MNZL as Shariah index ETFs. SPTE isn’t on that list.
• SPTE’s issuer, SP Funds, says SPTE tracks an S&P Shariah technology index and holds a certificate of Shariah accreditation under AAOIFI principles.

So if an ETF you’re interested in has no label in the app, open the issuer’s official website or prospectus, read who does the screening and to what standard, then decide for yourself or ask your Shariah adviser.

What about gold?

Gold has its own Shariah conditions. AAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 57 says investing in gold is permissible provided all the relevant rulings are met, including those on possession and zakat.

In Moomoo, the two gold options with a Shariah adviser are 0828EA TradePlus Shariah Gold Tracker (a Bursa ETF) and the AHAM Shariah Gold Tracker fund (a unit trust under MYR Funds). For US gold ETFs like GLD, GLDM and IAU, Daus found no official Shariah certificate. The full explanation is in how to buy gold.

Three parts of Moomoo that involve interest

This is the part few people explain. Even if you buy Shariah-compliant shares, there are three things in the account that can get you involved with interest without realising it:

1. Margin (buying with borrowed money)

MarginMarginInvesting with money borrowed from your broker.See it in the glossary → means the broker lends you money so you can buy more. That loan is charged interest.

What many people don’t know: in Moomoo, margin is switched on by default. If you send an order that costs more than your cash, the system doesn’t reject it. The gap is covered automatically with a ringgit loan. That includes RSPs that keep running after your cash runs out.

The order screen shows two numbers:

• Max Qty to Buy (Cash) — how many units you can buy with your own cash only.
• Max Qty to Buy (without the word “Cash”) — includes borrowed money.

To stay Shariah-compliant, make sure your quantity doesn’t exceed Max Qty to Buy (Cash). Safer still, switch margin off completely. How: clear any debt first, then go to Me → Settings → Accounts → Positions tab → Margin Settings. Full steps with screenshots are in Margin in Moomoo.

2. Idle cash (Cash Plus)

Moomoo can channel your cash balance into a money market fund so it earns a daily return. The Cash Plus list has conventional funds, whose returns come from interest-bearing instruments, and Islamic funds, such as the Eastspring Investments Islamic Income Fund. If you use Cash Plus, pick an Islamic fund, and check the fund details in the app before subscribing.

Two more things to know:

• SmartSave automatically buys Cash Plus every working-day morning with your ringgit cash balance, including money you’ve just deposited. If you switch SmartSave on, check which fund SmartSave buys.
• Cash Plus only counts as buying power when margin is on (together with SmartSave-Sell). And Moomoo itself says interest can be charged for one to several days in some cases. So don’t switch margin on just so Cash Plus can buy shares directly. Redeem first, wait for the money to become cash, then buy.

Full steps are in the Cash Plus tutorial.

3. High-risk products: short selling, options, futures

Short sellingShort sellingBetting a price will fall, by selling stock you've borrowed.See it in the glossary → means selling shares you do not own yet. Options and futures are contracts on price movements. Many Shariah advisers do not permit these products, and they are also far too risky for a beginner. Leave them alone for now. With margin switched off, short selling, options and futures aren’t available anyway.

Dividend purification and zakat — ask your adviser

These two questions come up once people start investing:

• Dividend purification. A company that passes Shariah screening can still have a little non-compliant income (below the 5% limit above). That’s why some investors give away a small part of their dividends to “purify” that portion. How much, and whether it’s needed, follows your Shariah adviser’s guidance and the ETF issuer’s information.
• Zakat on shares. How zakat on shares and ETFs is calculated depends on intention (holding long-term or trading) and on your state. Ask your state zakat centre or a Shariah adviser.

Daus doesn’t give numbers for either, because these are questions of religious ruling, not of the app.

Checklist: 6 things to stay Shariah-compliant in Moomoo

1. Bursa shares: make sure it is on the latest SC List of Shariah-Compliant Securities.
2. American shares or ETFs: use the Shariah: Compliant filter in the Screener, or pick an ETF that tracks a Shariah index. Examples Daus mentions on this site are SPUS and HLAL (large American companies, screened) and SPWO (Shariah-compliant companies outside America). These are examples for you to research yourself, not a recommendation to buy.
3. Buy with cash only. Keep your quantity within Max Qty to Buy (Cash), or switch margin off completely.
4. Cash Plus: pick an Islamic fund, or do not switch it on at all. Don’t switch margin on to use Cash Plus as buying power.
5. Do not touch short selling, options and futures.
6. Check again every May and November. If a share you hold is removed from the SC list, follow your Shariah adviser’s guidance on when and how to sell.

How to use the Shariah filter in the Screener, with screenshots, is in the Shariah route on the choose-your-investment page and the screener tutorial.

What about ASB and Tabung Haji?

Many people ask this because they already have ASB and Tabung Haji. Moomoo is not a replacement for either. The differences:

	ASB	Tabung Haji	Shares & ETFs in Moomoo
Price	Fixed unit price of RM1	No units. Savings; the balance doesn’t move with the market	Price moves every day
Returns	Distribution once a year	Distribution once a year	Follows market price + company dividends
Can you lose capital?	Unit price does not fall	The savings balance doesn’t fall with the market	Yes, sometimes a lot
Suited for	Savings and money you need soon	Hajj savings and money you want stable	Spare money that can sit for 5 years or more

Many people keep both kinds. ASB and Tabung Haji for the part you want stable, and shares for the long-term part you can bear watching go up and down. The mix and percentages depend on your own situation. This is not financial advice.

In your 40s or 50s: is it too late?

Not too late, but the approach is a little different. The most important question is not your age, but when you will need the money. Money for retirement 10 to 15 years from now still has time to ride out the market’s ups and downs. Money for your child’s fees next year does not. So separate your money first by when it will be used, and only the long-term part goes into shares.

If you want to try without using any money at all first, Moomoo has a paper trading account with virtual money, and this site has a simulator that teaches you to tap the real app screens without opening an account.