I went quiet for 11 weeks. The system didn’t.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Assalamu alaikum everyone,
Week 17 · April 25, 2026
The last post was Week 3. I had offered to post monthly updates — but life had other plans.
Here’s what happened: I moved my family to Madinah.
I’ve made umrah many times over the years, but living here is something else entirely. We came to grow our Arabic, to learn as locals in that environment, to finally live something I had been dreaming about for a long time. Ramadan came and went — and if you’ve ever spent Ramadan in Madinah, you understand why everything else becomes background noise. Alhamdulillah for every moment of it. More updates to come as we settle in.
But the markets didn’t wait. And neither did the system.
What I Built While I Was Away
Those of you who read the earlier posts know the framework: 3 buckets, actively managed, built so I could stop overthinking and actually invest.
While I was quiet, I expanded it into something bigger.
I now track 77 Shariah-compliant ETFs every single week.
The process: an independent halal screening service filters a universe of 3,500+ ETFs down to the ones that pass Shariah compliance — 77 made the cut. We then cross-checked every single one against Zoya. What you see here survived both filters.
Every Friday, I pull performance data across 1-week, 1-month, 3-month, and YTD timeframes — organized by sector: semiconductors, energy, health care, themes, industrials, gold, sukuk, and more.
The goal hasn’t changed: know what has wind behind it, what’s recovering, and what’s broken. No guessing. No emotional decisions.
March Was the Real Test
The Iran-Hormuz crisis hit in March and triggered a sharp selloff across halal ETFs. Investors with a rotation framework — move from growth into gold and sukuk when trends break — held their ground. The ones without a system had a very stressful few weeks.
That crisis has passed. The ceasefire brokered in early April unleashed one of the most historic semiconductor rallies in market history. SOXX posted its best monthly return in 25 years. SMH had its strongest month since 2003. Capital came back — fast, and to exactly the names the system had flagged.
The Numbers — Week Ending April 25
| Asset | 1W | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| SOXX (Semis) |
+4.67% 
|
~+45% |
| SMH (Semis) | +2.62% | ~+32% |
| GLD (Gold) | -0.5% | ~+5% |
| XOM (Energy) | +1.92% | ~+18% |
Semiconductors have had the most extraordinary April in a generation. If you held through March — you were rewarded beyond anything the models predicted.
Current Signals — HalalQuant 60/20/20
Something I haven’t shared publicly before: I moved out of sukuk for my stable bucket. In my earlier posts, the framework called for SPSK — the SP Funds Dow Jones Global Sukuk ETF — as the stable 20%. Islamic bonds, low volatility, sleep-at-night money. It’s the textbook halal choice. But I ran the pros and cons and decided to swap it for XOM instead. Exxon is a large, dividend-paying energy stock with meaningful upside as long as the geopolitical conflict premium holds. Same stability profile I needed — better return potential for this environment. The framework allows for that kind of decision. It’s a thinking system, not a rigid rulebook.
| Bucket | Holding | Signal | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
 Growth |
SMH | HOLD | Setup intact. April confirmed the thesis. |
 Safety |
GLD | WATCH | Pulling back post-ceasefire. Watching for next entry. |
 Stable |
XOM | HOLD | Dividend intact. Conflict premium still present. |
No rotation needed. Nothing is broken.
What’s Coming Next
The same analysis is almost done for individual halal stocks — not just ETFs. I’ll post that soon.
But here’s the bigger question: would you want this in your inbox every week? A proper weekly report — momentum dashboard, rotation signals, what to watch, what to avoid. No forum character limits. No algorithms deciding who sees it.
If that’s something you’d want, drop a comment below. If there’s enough interest, I’ll make it happen.
والله أعلم
— Amad Kalil Founder, HalalQuant Research Madinah · Zoya Community Member since 2021
These updates reflect my personal approach to halal investing and are shared for educational purposes only. Not financial advice.