Does the Purchase of Stocks Constitute as Financial participation in Other Religions due to Christian Symbols in that Companies Logo?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I buy shares on the stock exchange. On one of the pages of its website Stock Exchange has an image of a chess king with a cross on top. The cross is a symbol of Christianity. Although the Exchange is not intended in this case to promote Christianity, but as a former chess player, I know that a cross of a chess king originates from Christianity. Does it mean I participate in financially promoting Christianity when I buy shares of companies? Companies pay commission to stock exchange for listing.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The existence of a religious symbol in a company’s logo does not affect the permissibility of investing in that company (that is, as long as the company’s main focus is not something prohibited in the Sacred Law).

Furthermore, patronising such a company does not constitute participation in that company’s underlying religious beliefs, regardless the religious nature of their logo.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.