Is AMAGX halal?

The Amana Growth Fund pursues long-term capital growth by investing in established, financially strong companies that pass Amana's Shariah screen, with a strong tilt toward large-cap technology and semiconductor names. As of June 30, 2026, the fund held about 32 positions with the top ten, Taiwan Semiconductor, ASML, Apple, Alphabet, NVIDIA, Broadcom, Eli Lilly, Advanced Micro Devices, Microsoft, and Fujikura, representing roughly 57% of total assets. Portfolio turnover is low, around 3% annually, reflecting a genuine buy-and-hold approach rather than frequent trading. This concentration is a deliberate consequence of the screening process as much as a stock-picking choice: conventional banks, insurers, and heavily leveraged industrial and utility companies are excluded outright, which mechanically shifts the eligible universe toward technology, healthcare, and semiconductor names that tend to carry lower debt loads. Investors should expect AMAGX to move with the fortunes of mega-cap technology and semiconductor stocks more than a broad large-growth benchmark would suggest.

Saturna Capital's Amana Shariah Supervisory Board has screened the fund's holdings since the mid-1980s under its Amana Mutual Funds Trust, predating both AAOIFI's 1999 standardization and the entire US halal ETF category by decades. The methodology excludes companies with material revenue from conventional banking and insurance, alcohol, tobacco, pork, gambling, adult entertainment, and weapons, and applies a financial-ratio screen limiting debt and interest-bearing holdings relative to market capitalization, broadly consistent with AAOIFI's approach though implemented under Saturna's own board rather than a licensed AAOIFI-certified index provider. Saturna also draws a sharp, well-publicized distinction between purification (removing a small amount of impermissible income from an otherwise permissible holding) and zakat (an obligation calculated on an investor's overall wealth), publishing separate educational materials and a purification calculator tool on saturna.com so investors do not conflate the two. This educational transparency is one of the fund's genuine strengths relative to newer entrants in the category.

AMAGX is priced once per trading day at net asset value after markets close, unlike an ETF, which trades continuously throughout the day at a market price that can drift slightly from its underlying net asset value. There is no intraday trading, no bid-ask spread to manage, and buying or selling generally happens directly through Saturna Capital or a brokerage that offers the fund, sometimes subject to a minimum initial investment. The 0.86% expense ratio is meaningfully higher than passive halal ETFs like SPUS (0.45%) or ISDU (0.30%), reflecting both active management and the higher relative cost structure typical of mutual funds versus ETFs. Saturna also offers an Institutional share class, AMIGX, with a lower expense ratio for investors who meet its higher minimum investment threshold. The fund's $6.78 billion in combined assets across share classes makes it the largest dedicated halal equity fund covered in this review, US or ETF, a reflection of its three-decade track record.

AMAGX suits long-term, buy-and-hold investors who are comfortable paying a higher fee for an actively managed fund with the longest continuous halal investing track record in the US market, and who do not need intraday trading flexibility. It is a reasonable choice inside a retirement account like an IRA where daily pricing and lack of intraday liquidity are non-issues. It is less suited to cost-conscious investors who prioritize the lowest possible expense ratio, or to investors who want to trade in and out during market hours, both of which point toward an ETF like SPUS or ISDU instead. Investors should also weigh AMAGX's concentration in a small number of mega-cap technology and semiconductor names against their own diversification needs elsewhere in a portfolio.

Saturna Capital calculates and publishes an annual purification factor for the Amana Growth Fund through its purification calculator tool on saturna.com, based on the fund's fiscal year ending May 31. The purification factor represents the portion of each dividend distribution that traces back to a small amount of impermissible income embedded in an otherwise Shariah-compliant holding, most commonly interest earned on a company's cash reserves. Saturna derives this figure from the fund's audited annual report and typically publishes it by the end of July, several weeks after the fiscal year closes, giving investors a concrete number to apply against their own AMAGX dividend income for that year. Saturna is explicit that this purification obligation is separate from zakat: purification cleanses a specific sliver of income tied to incidental non-compliant activity within otherwise permissible holdings, while zakat is a separate religious obligation calculated on an investor's total qualifying wealth each year, and the fund's educational materials go out of their way to keep the two distinct so investors do not double-count or confuse one obligation for the other. Investors should check the current year's figure directly on saturna.com rather than relying on a prior year's percentage, since it shifts with portfolio composition and the interest-rate environment underlying holdings' cash income.