AlRayan Bank is Qatar's second-largest Islamic bank, born as Masraf Al Rayan in 2006 and enlarged by the 2021 merger with Al Khalij Commercial Bank. It holds roughly 31.1% of the country's Islamic banking assets per LSEG's 2025 report, and it discloses like no other Qatari bank in two specific ways: you can download the actual Murabaha and Tawarruq contract templates before applying, and you can read exactly what share of deposit-pool profit the bank keeps for itself. Then it undermines all that candour by publishing its expected deposit rates in PDFs whose numbers are embedded as unreadable graphics. We verified everything below on 2026-08-04. Here is what the documents say, account by account.
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Current account: honest promise, nationality-tiered gates
The current account makes the classic Islamic demand-deposit promise in plain words: your money bears no investment risk and the full balance is repayable on demand. Running costs are near zero: free opening, free first 25-leaf cheque book, no minimum balance charge, free ATM withdrawals at any bank inside Qatar, internal transfers free and FAWRAN instant payments from QAR 0.50. The gates are where nationality bites. With salary transfer: QAR 4,000 monthly salary for Qataris, QAR 10,000 for non-Qataris, rising to QAR 15,000 if your employer is not on the bank's approved list. Without salary transfer: QAR 100,000 initial deposit for Qataris, or a QAR 350,000 initial fixed deposit for non-Qataris, which prices out most of the workforce. Returned cheques cost QAR 400 each, and dormant accounts below QAR 500 bleed QAR 10 a month.
Savings account: real disclosure, thin economics
The core savings account is an unrestricted Mudaraba: deposits join the bank's investment pool and profit is shared. AlRayan publishes the split, which almost nobody does: the bank keeps 95% of pool profit on savings accounts as Mudarib, leaving 5% to depositors, and the standard expected rate surfaces as 1.15% per annum via the Al Thahabi undertaking schedule. Entry is nationality-tiered again: QAR 20,000 initial deposit for Qataris, QAR 50,000 for non-Qataris who must also earn QAR 20,000 a month. Minors open from QAR 500. The honest read: fine as a fee-free base layer, wrong as a yield product, and the bank's own shelf agrees, which is why Al Thahabi exists.
Al Thahabi: the strongest design in Qatari savings
Al Thahabi is AlRayan's answer to Dukhan's Faseel, and read closely it is the stronger design for most savers. The published tier table (in the customer undertaking PDF): 2.00% per annum expected on the first QAR 100,000, 3.00% on QAR 100,001 to 2,000,000, and the standard 1.15% above QAR 2 million. Profit accrues daily on the day-end balance and credits monthly, so a mid-month dip costs you only the days it lasts, where Faseel's minimum-balance method wrecks the whole month. It pays 2.00% from the first riyal, where Faseel pays nothing below QAR 100,000. The discipline rule is identical in spirit: one debit per month, with a POS tap counting; a second drops that month to 1.15%. The undertaking is a small model of honest Mudaraba drafting: it names the 95% Mudarib share, the profit equalization reserve, the loss-bearing clause, and states that profit above the expected rate belongs to the bank. QAR only, one account per customer, opens in seconds in the AlRayan Go app.
Al Tijori: the best-documented prize account
Al Tijori's annual prize pool is QAR 7.6 million across 256 winners: twice-monthly draws of QAR 10,000 for 10 winners each (240 a year), a monthly QAR 100,000 draw, and a quarterly QAR 1,000,000 grand draw. What sets it apart is published mathematics: one entry per QAR 10,000 of average monthly balance from a QAR 10,000 floor, plus salary-transfer bonus entries by band (one entry at QAR 20,000 to 34,999, two at QAR 35,000 to 49,999, three at QAR 50,000 plus, first transfer only). The full draw calendar is published through September 2026 and winners are listed publicly. The underlying account is a Mudaraba where the bank's published Mudarib share is 90%, better for depositors than the 95% on ordinary savings. The expected profit rate on balances is not published, so treat it as entertainment plus capital preservation. Our prize account comparison has the full duel.
Term deposits: the contract is public, the rate is not
AlRayan's term deposit is the most contractually transparent deposit in Qatar: the full unrestricted Mudaraba terms are published bilingually, naming you as Rabb Al Mal, the bank as Mudarib, and the loss rules. The bank's Mudarib share declines with tenor, genuinely rewarding commitment: 90% at 1 to 3 months, 85% at 6 months, 80% at 9 to 12 months, 70% at 3 years, 60% at 5 years. Entry is QAR 20,000 (also bookable in USD, EUR, GBP and GCC currencies). Two flaws keep it from full marks. The expected-rate grid (effective 15 December 2025) is published as an image-based PDF that cannot be read online, so you must call or visit for the one number that matters. And the terms let the bank amend the Mudaraba percentages unilaterally with effect from website publication. Early withdrawal forfeits the entire profit share, and deposits auto-renew unless you give written notice four days before maturity.
Kids, youth and trainee packages
The Kids Savings Account opens from QAR 500 for minors with no minimum balance and quarterly profit, explicitly board-approved on-page, though no expected rate is published and non-Qatari minors need a guardian with an AlRayan salary-transfer account. Two promotional packages run 7 July 2026 to 6 July 2027: the ARB Youth Package for Qatari nationals aged 18 to 21 (salary-transfer cashback of 7.5% of gross monthly salary capped at QAR 3,375, 25,000 Go points, and a 3.99% rate on first financing against the standard salary-backed 5.85%), and the NextGen Qatari Trainee Program for stipend earners of QAR 4,000 plus (savings access at up to 3% expected, vehicle finance eligibility to QAR 250,000, QAR 1,000 referral rewards). Both are Qatari-only; expatriate youth get nothing. Details in our kids and youth banking guides.
The shelf in one table
| Account | Published rate | Entry | Key rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | None (no-risk demand deposit) | QAR 4,000 salary (Qatari) / 10,000 (expat) | QAR 350,000 FD route without salary |
| Savings | 1.15% expected | QAR 20,000 / 50,000 by nationality | Bank keeps 95% of pool profit |
| Al Thahabi | 2.00% to 3.00% by tier | Any balance, QAR only | One debit per month |
| Al Tijori | Not published, plus QAR 7.6m prizes | QAR 10,000 average balance | Entries scale per QAR 10,000 |
| Term deposit | Rates in image PDF | QAR 20,000 | Early exit forfeits all profit |
| Kids account | Not published | QAR 500 | Guardian requirements for expats |
Governance and Shariah discipline in the fee schedule
AlRayan's Sharia Supervisory Board is published with three named scholars: Sheikh Dr. Waleed Bin Hadi (chairman), Sheikh Dr. Mohamed Ahmeen and Sheikh Dr. Sultan Al Hashmi. No product fatwas are posted, but the fee schedule quietly evidences practice: late instalments incur a commitment-to-donate charge routed to charity rather than bank income, and early settlement of retail financing through another bank is charged 0%. Those are the fingerprints of a board that reviewed the tariff, not just the brochures.
Our verdict
AlRayan rewards the customer who reads PDFs. Al Thahabi is arguably the best-designed savings account in Qatar for balances between QAR 100,000 and 2 million, the prize account is the market's most verifiable, and the published contracts let a Shariah-sensitive customer do real due diligence before signing anything. The frustrations are equally specific: unreadable rate figures, a 95% Mudarib share on ordinary savings, and steep expatriate thresholds at every turn. Pair it against Dukhan's published-rate accounts and compare live options on our bank accounts page.
Frequently asked questions
What does AlRayan's savings account actually pay?
The standard expected rate is 1.15% per annum, visible in the Al Thahabi undertaking schedule (verified 2026-08-04). The dedicated savings rate-sheet PDF renders its figures as graphics, so confirm current numbers in branch or in the AlRayan Go app before committing.
Is Al Thahabi better than Dukhan's Faseel?
For most savers, yes on design: Al Thahabi pays 2.00% from the first riyal and accrues daily, while Faseel pays nothing below QAR 100,000 and computes on the month's minimum balance. Both pay 3.00% on the tier that matters and both punish a second monthly transaction. Dukhan's edge is receipts: its historic table proves Faseel delivered 3.00% through 2025, while Al Thahabi's delivery history is not published.
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Can non-Qataris open AlRayan accounts?
Yes, with higher thresholds: QAR 10,000 minimum monthly salary for a current account with salary transfer (QAR 15,000 if the employer is unapproved), or a QAR 350,000 fixed deposit without one, and QAR 50,000 plus a QAR 20,000 salary for the savings account. Kids accounts require the guardian to hold an AlRayan salary-transfer account.