Fatwa No : 96228
Ruling the purchase and sale of shares that fall outside the Meezan Islamic Index

Ruling the purchase and sale of shares that fall outside the Meezan Islamic Index

Assalamu Alaikum
After purchasing shares of a Shariah-compliant company, currently running at a loss, and the company has now been removed from the Meezan Islamic Index. Should I sell the shares now at a loss, or should I wait until the share price returns to my purchase price and then sell them without making either a profit or a loss?

الجوابُ حامِدا ًو مُصلیِّا ً

If a company is Shariah-compliant at the time its shares are purchased but later fails to maintain the required Shariah standards, as a result of which it is removed from the Meezan Islamic Index, then it is not appropriate to continue holding its shares without necessity.
Rather, it is necessary to terminate one's ownership in such a company involved in non-Shariah-compliant activities as soon as possible, so as to avoid cooperation in sin (taʿāwun ʿala al-ithm).
Therefore, in the case under discussion, the questioner should not wait for the shares to recover to their original purchase price. Instead, the shares should be sold immediately at their current market value, even if doing so results in a loss.

مأخَذُ الفَتوی

کماقال اللہ تعالی فی التنزیل ﴿وَتَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى ٱلۡبِرِّ وَٱلتَّقۡوَىٰۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُواْ عَلَى ٱلۡإِثۡمِ وَٱلۡعُدۡوَٰنِۚ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلۡعِقَابِ ٢﴾ [المائدة: 2]
وفی «تفسير القرطبي = الجامع لأحكام القرآن» : قوله تعالى: (وتعاونوا على البر والتقوى) قال الأخفش: هو مقطوع من أول الكلام، وهو أمر لجميع الخلق بالتعاون على البر والتقوى، أي ليعن بعضكم بعضا، وتحاثوا على ما أمر الله تعالى واعملوا به، وانتهوا عما نهى الله عنه وامتنعوا منه(6/ 46)