StructureZoya screens 130,000+ stocks and ETFs across 20+ markets to AAOIFI criteria, producing compliance reports with revenue breakdown, debt-ratio analysis, purification calculations and a compliance rating. Free tier for basic screening; paid tier adds deeper analysis, portfolio sync and holdings-compliance alerts; built-in zakat calculation. Users can sync brokerage accounts to monitor existing holdings; execution is via the Alpaca partnership (Zoya itself does not place trades).
The leading US halal stock-screening app ($1B+ connected assets), founded 2016 by Investroo Inc., with named AAOIFI-credentialled advisers Joe Bradford (AAOIFI CSAA; former VP/Senior Shariah Consultant at Al Rajhi Bank) and Umer Khan. Categorically it is a TOOL — explicitly not an investment adviser, broker-dealer or FINRA member — so it carries no fiduciary duty and the user bears full execution responsibility. Strong screening transparency, but it informs rather than manages.
Read the contract →Contract-grade public documents were read directly (e.g. a full Terms & Conditions or a scholar-reviewed contract). This rates our certainty, not the provider’s compliance.
Established & regulatory standing
The verifiable facts
Established
Founded 2016 (Investroo Inc.; New York). $1B+ in connected assets reported by 2026.
Regulatory standing
NOT an investment adviser, broker-dealer or FINRA member (Zoya's own disclosure). Brokerage execution is available via Alpaca Securities LLC (FINRA; SIPC). No SEC RIA registration.
Shariah board
Who certifies it
Joe Bradford (AAOIFI Certified Shariah Adviser & Auditor — CSAA; former VP/Senior Shariah Consultant, Al Rajhi Bank; American scholar) and Umer Khan (Al-Salam Institute; iftā' Darulifta Birmingham; MSc Finance, Wharton).
A named, credentialled board is a real signal — but a provider’s own board certifying its own product is not the same as arm’s-length review. Weigh it alongside the independent commentary below.
Independent scholarly review
What independent scholars have said
AAOIFI screening methodology applied under named advisers; Joe Bradford's AAOIFI CSAA credential is independently verifiable. No AMJA fatwa specific to Zoya located.
Independent commentary is weighed, not treated as a final personal ruling. A body that rules one way is one respected voice, not a universal consensus — and rulings can lag changes to a live contract.
How the structure works
The mechanics, in principle
Zoya screens 130,000+ stocks and ETFs across 20+ markets to AAOIFI criteria, producing compliance reports with revenue breakdown, debt-ratio analysis, purification calculations and a compliance rating. Free tier for basic screening; paid tier adds deeper analysis, portfolio sync and holdings-compliance alerts; built-in zakat calculation. Users can sync brokerage accounts to monitor existing holdings; execution is via the Alpaca partnership (Zoya itself does not place trades).
This describes the structure in principle — it is not a verdict on the executed contract. How the contract actually behaves is what the checklist below tests.
From the public documents
How the contract actually works
Read from Zoya (Investroo Inc.)’s own public materials — white papers, product pages, FAQs and fatāwā — not its executed contract, which is generally not published. Where a point is undisclosed, it is said plainly rather than guessed. Sources are listed below.
Zoya provides screening intelligence only — no investment contract, no fiduciary obligation, no discretionary management — so its Shariah profile is categorically different: the question is whether the methodology is rigorous and independently supervised, and here the named advisers are strong (Joe Bradford's AAOIFI CSAA and prior role at Al Rajhi Bank, the world's largest Islamic bank, are notable validation). The inherent limitation is that Zoya informs but does not enforce — a user can see a stock flagged non-compliant and still buy it through Alpaca. For a fully-managed fiduciary halal account, Zoya is a complement, not a substitute for ShariaPortfolio or NoorVest. The $1B+ figure is user-connected assets, not AUM under management.
The Six-Pillar test
The questions that decide it
This is the universal lens this site applies to every home-finance contract, anywhere. Read each pillar as a question to put to Zoya (Investroo Inc.)’s executed contract — not its brochure.
- 1
Real ownership
Does the financier genuinely take ownership of the asset — even briefly — and bear a real owner's risk, rather than only ever holding a debt secured against it?
- 2
Risk-sharing
If the asset is destroyed or its value collapses, does the financier share that loss in proportion to its stake, or is the customer left bearing it alone?
- 3
Rent vs interest
In a lease/co-ownership, is the rent benchmarked to a genuine market rent for the property — or is it calibrated to an interest rate (a base-rate + margin) in disguise?
- 4
Default mechanism
On default, does the contract behave like the end of a real lease/partnership — or does it accelerate like a loan, demanding the full outstanding 'principal' plus charges?
- 5
No guaranteed pre-fixed return
Is the financier's return tied to real ownership and risk, or is it a pre-fixed, guaranteed sum that arrives regardless of what happens to the asset?
- 6
Substance over form
Strip away the Arabic labels: does the cashflow, risk, and outcome differ from a conventional loan — or is it the same economics wearing a compliant name (ḥiyal)?
Before you sign
What to ask Zoya (Investroo Inc.), in writing
Put these to the provider in writing and keep the answers. The reply — not the marketing — is what tells you whether the structure holds.
For ETFs, is a full look-through to underlying holdings applied, or a fund-level assessment?
How frequently is the screening database updated, and what is the lag after a company's financials change?
Are the purification figures accurate for actual charitable giving or estimates needing verification?
What happens to compliance monitoring if Alpaca changes terms or is acquired?
For paid subscribers, is there an accuracy SLA and an error-correction process for mis-ratings?
The honest gap
What we have not verified
- No AMJA fatwa specific to Zoya's methodology located.
- Investroo Inc.'s incorporation state/documents are from secondary profiles, not a primary filing.
- ETF look-through vs fund-level methodology not fully documented.
- Whether Zoya will pursue RIA status as it adds managed products is unknown.
The reasoning
Why this verdict, and not another
A verdict is only as honest as the reasoning behind it. Here is why Zoya (Investroo Inc.) sits where it does — what keeps it off a clean pass, and what keeps it off an outright avoid.
Not a clean pass because
It is not an investment adviser — no fiduciary duty, the user bears execution responsibility, there is no AMJA fatwa, and a screening tool cannot offer a managed service's protective framework.
Not an outright avoid because
Named AAOIFI CSAA scholars (Joe Bradford — Al Rajhi Bank VP; Umer Khan — Wharton/Darulifta), a publicly-described AAOIFI methodology, the market-leading screening product ($1B+ connected assets), an explicit and honest non-adviser disclosure, and a free tier.
Sources
What this read is built on
The verifiable references behind this page — provider documents and independent scholarly resolutions. Read them yourself; do not take our summary on trust.