Aya Financial Halal Mortgage, Reviewed
Ontario's longest-running halal home financier — declining-balance Musharaka with 20% down, reviewed from Aya's official documents, including the scholarly ruling against its contracts.
What Aya is
AYA Financial Inc. is a Markham, Ontario company offering halal home financing through a declining-balance Musharaka (Musharakah Mutanaqisah) — you and the financier co-own the home, and your monthly payments combine a user fee for living in it with buybacks of the financier's share until you own 100%. Aya's advisory-board page says it has maintained its own community advisory board since its 2007 inception, making it the oldest of the four providers reviewed on this site. Its institutional page claims over 20 years of experience and 500+ properties financed worth more than $550 million, plus 30+ mosques and communities financed. Beyond homes, Aya offers commercial real-estate financing for community centres and mosques, halal savings accounts, and sukuk term deposits.
Read this before anything else. This is the one provider on this site with an on-the-record scholarly ruling that its contracts are not Shariah-compliant: Mufti Ebrahim Desai's Darul Iftaa reviewed Aya's actual financing documents and ruled against them (details in the Shariah question below). Aya's own advisory board, meanwhile, maintains the products are compliant and published a signed fatwa to that effect in 2022. We present both sides with sources; the ruling is for scholars, not for this site.
Coverage
Aya holds FSRA Brokerage Licence #11730 — an Ontario mortgage brokerage licence, printed on its own site footer. It publishes no province-by-province list, and its licence is Ontario's. Third-party references (Wikipedia's "Islamic banking and finance in Canada" table) list Ontario as Aya's serving province. Its head office is at 90 Allstate Parkway, Suite 501, Markham, Ontario, with a satellite office at 2200 South Sheridan Way, Mississauga, Ontario. If you live outside Ontario, confirm in writing whether Aya can serve you before going further.
The structure: declining-balance Musharaka
Aya's home financing page describes the model plainly: you and AYA Financial buy the property together, each owning a share matching what was put in — yours starts at 20% or more. Every monthly payment does two things: a user fee for living in the home (Aya's FAQ calls this the profit portion, granted in exchange for exclusive use of the property), and an equity portion that buys back a piece of the financier's share. As your share grows, the fee shrinks. Title is registered in your name from inception; the financier holds a charge over the property, removed once 100% is paid off. Capital gains go entirely to you — the financier takes only what is needed to cover the outstanding financed amount (Aya notes a separate program exists where both parties can share gains or losses).
How it worksper Aya's published pages
Sign the agreement setting out each side's ownership share, then buy the home together. Pay monthly: part user fee, part equity buyback. Once you've bought back the last of the financier's share, the home is yours alone. Aya's FAQ says approval usually takes about one business week after documents are submitted, with funding within one month. An existing financing agreement can be transferred to a new property when you move. Contract terms run 5 years, renewed at the end; Aya illustrates the paydown over a 25-year schedule and offers an interactive Musharakah calculator on its site.
The "who is the financier" questionthe honest complication
Aya's licence is a brokerage licence — it is licensed to arrange mortgages in Ontario. When Mufti Ebrahim Desai's Darul Iftaa reviewed Aya's contracts (circa 2019), it described Aya as "an intermediary that links the customer and the financer" and named the actual financier as MOYA Financial, a credit union based in Hamilton, Ontario. Aya's current marketing instead says "you and AYA Financial buy the property together," while its FAQ refers to "the financiers" (plural) and its institutional page courts institutional investors as funding partners. The current financier is not named anywhere on Aya's site. Before signing, ask exactly whose money funds your transaction — and read that party's contracts too.
Missed payments, per Aya's FAQ: a fixed fee may be charged, applied toward the administration costs of recovering the late payment. Property taxes, insurance, and utilities fall to you as the owner-occupant.
Rates & pricing
Aya Financial publishes no profit-rate card. There is no rates page, no rate sheet, and no figure we could verify — so we show none. What Aya's FAQ does say:
- Profit is set to stay "competitive." Per Aya's FAQ: "Profit rates are calculated to keep them competitive with the rates prevalent in the market." The rate of return expected by the financiers, the contract length, and the amortization period determine it.
- No invented comparison. We will not pick a conventional rate to compare against — any number we chose would be invented. Aya's interactive Musharakah calculator illustrates payments on a property you enter; the only real number is the one in your written offer.
- 0% interest is the claim, not the price. Aya's badges read "0% Interest" — meaning no interest is charged at any stage of the structure. The cost of the financing is the user fee / profit, which is not published.
Because the profit rate is unpublished, the written offer is the entire pricing disclosure. Compare its full-term total against a conventional lender's written offer — monthly payments alone hide the real comparison.
Eligibility
Aya publishes no qualification-criteria document — no credit-score floor, no income ratios, no maximum financing figure was found on its site. What is published:
| Criterion | Published requirement |
|---|---|
| Minimum down payment | 20% ("20% or more" — your share starts at 20%) |
| Contract term | 5 years, renewed at the end; paydown illustrated over up to 25 years |
| Financing purposes | Purchase and refinance |
| Maximum financing | None published — Aya's badge claims "No Financing Limit" |
| Credit score / income ratios | Not published |
| Approval timeline | About one business week after documents submitted; funding within one month (per FAQ) |
| Property title | Registered in the customer's name from inception; financier holds a charge |
The application itself is a downloadable credit application (the 2022 version is still linked on Aya's site), which authorizes Aya to verify credit and employment history. What Aya's underwriters actually require is not published — ask before you apply.
Fees
Aya publishes no fee schedule. The only fee figure anywhere on its site:
- Missed-payment fee: a fixed fee may be charged on a missed instalment, applied toward the administration costs of recovering the late payment (per FAQ). The amount is not stated.
Application, legal, appraisal, broker, and discharge fees are not published. As with every provider on this site: get every fee disclosed in writing before you compare total cost.
The Shariah question — presented in full
This site does not issue fatwas. But honesty requires presenting a documented scholarly ruling in full rather than burying it. Here are both sides, with dates and sources.
The case for Aya's model (their claims). Aya's Islamic Finance Advisory Board (IFAB) — chaired by Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Masood al-Nadvi, with Dr. Hamid Slimi and Sheikh Mohamed Nafis Bhayat — published a signed fatwa dated October 17, 2022 endorsing AYA's products as "Sharia Compliant" to the best of the board's knowledge, with each product given an independent ruling and regular audits promised to keep products compliant. Aya's advisory page says the board has overseen its products since its 2007 inception.
The case against (documented ruling). Around 2019, a questioner sent Aya's actual financing documents — the AYA Residential Property Financing Agreement (Schedule B), Additional Provisions (Schedule A), the Schedule of Additional Provisions, and the General Assignment of Rents — to Mufti Ebrahim Desai's Darul Iftaa (IslamQA / AskImam, answer #127492). The ruling, written by student Mirza-Zain Ibn Ameer Baig and checked and approved by Mufti Ebrahim Desai, concluded: "it is our submission that AYA is not Shariah compliant", for four reasons:
1. AYA advertises a diminishing musharakah, but the contracts do not reflect any musharakah in any shape or form — the financier treats the contract as a conventional diminishing-balance mortgage. 2. The financier does not share in the expenses of maintaining the property. 3. The financier does not share in profit or loss at the time of sale. 4. If the shares are not fully bought by the end of the contract, the financier charges a user fee for "liquidated losses" — showing it treats the agreement as a loan, not an investment venture.
What this means for you. The Desai ruling addressed Aya's contracts as they existed around 2019, funded then through MOYA Financial. Aya's model, documents, and funders may have changed since — the 2022 IFAB fatwa postdates the ruling. The questions a careful buyer asks: (1) have the contracts changed since the documents Desai's office reviewed, and how; (2) who is the financier in my transaction, and do their contracts share maintenance costs and sale profit/loss; (3) what does a scholar I trust say about the current documents — not the marketing, the documents I would sign. Our Ask a Scholar service can relay your specific question to a scholar.
Shariah governance — as Aya states it
Presented exactly as Aya states it — the company's claims about its own governance, not our endorsement:
- Islamic Finance Advisory Board (IFAB). Aya says it has maintained its own official community advisory board since its 2007 inception, with all products "developed in close scrutiny on the Islamic Finance principles and reviewed and endorsed by the Islamic Finance Advisory Board." The FAQ describes IFAB as "an independent body that oversees the development of Shariah-compliant products and services in Canada," comprising leading Canadian scholars in Islamic transactional jurisprudence (Fiqh-al-muamalaat).
- Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Masood al-Nadvi — Chairman and Board Member. Aya's bio: PhD in Shariah (Umm al-Qura University, Makkah), former professor of Shariah and Fiqh at King Saud University, former president of ICNA, currently chairman of the Canadian Council of Imams and the Fiqh Majlis of Canada.
- Dr. Hamid Slimi — Board Member. Educator, imam, and chaplain in Canada since 1997; chairman and professor at the Canadian Centre for Deen Studies; resident scholar and founder of Sayeda Khadija Centre, Mississauga; chairman of the Muslim Council of Peel.
- Shaikh Mohamed Nafis Bhayat — Board Member. Executive member of the Canadian Council of Imams and the Canadian Council of Muslim Theologians; head imam and director of religious services at Jame Masjid Mississauga (Islamic Propagation Centre of Ontario) since 1992.
- Signed fatwa, October 17, 2022. Published on Aya's site as a scanned PDF, signed by all three scholars, endorsing AYA's products as Shariah-compliant and stating the board conducts regular audits.
One honest caveat: Aya both maintains this board ("maintaining its own official community advisory board since inception in 2007") and describes it as an independent body. Those two descriptions sit side by side on Aya's own pages — weigh them accordingly. And the board's endorsement does not erase the documented ruling above; read the two sections together.
Strengths & trade-offs
| Strengths | Trade-offs |
|---|---|
| Longest track record. Operating since 2007; 500+ homes and $550M+ financed claimed — the most experienced of the four providers reviewed. | Documented ruling against the contracts. Mufti Ebrahim Desai's office ruled the ~2019 contracts not Shariah-compliant. Unresolved in public since. |
| FSRA-licensed Ontario brokerage. Licence #11730 — regulated mortgage-brokerage oversight, unlike unlicensed arrangers. | Brokerage, not funder. Licensed to arrange; the actual financier is unnamed on the current site. Your counterparty risk sits with a party you haven't met. |
| Named Canadian scholars, standing board since 2007. Signed 2022 fatwa, published on the site; direct phone and email contact. | No published pricing. No profit rate, no fee schedule, no eligibility criteria beyond 20% down. Everything material is quote-only. |
| Title in your name from day one; all capital gains go to you. | Ontario only. FSRA licence; no published province list. Smaller footprint than Manzil's four provinces. |
| Fast process claimed: approval in about a week, funding within a month; existing agreements transferable to a new property. | "Independent body" vs "our own board." Aya maintains the board it calls independent — weigh the governance claim accordingly. |
| Commercial and mosque financing arm — community infrastructure, not just homes. | 20% minimum down — higher bar than EQRAZ's 20% (same) but no low-down-payment programs like IjaraCDC's reported 5%. |
Before you sign
- Read the Desai ruling and ask what's changed. Get Aya to explain, in writing, how the current contracts differ from the documents Mufti Ebrahim Desai's office reviewed around 2019.
- Identify the financier. Who funds your transaction? What do their contracts say about maintenance costs, sale profit/loss, and end-of-term shortfalls? The brokerage's marketing is not the funding contract.
- Get the profit rate and full payment schedule in writing. Nothing is published — the written offer is the entire pricing disclosure. Compare its full-term total against a conventional lender's written offer.
- Get every fee in writing. No fee schedule is published. Application, legal, appraisal, broker, and discharge fees should all be disclosed before you compare.
- Confirm availability. Ontario is the licensed footprint; no province list is published. Confirm in writing.
- Ask for the current Shariah endorsement. The published fatwa is dated October 2022. Ask for the current annual position and the latest audit the board promises.
- Take the documents to a scholar you trust. Not the 2022 fatwa alone — the actual financing agreement, additional provisions, and assignment of rents you would sign. Our Ask a Scholar service can relay the question.
Sources
- Home Financing Program —
ayafinancial.com/home-financing-program/· declining-balance Musharaka mechanics, 20% down, 5-year renewable term, 25-year illustration, purchase & refinance - FAQ —
ayafinancial.com/modus-operandi/faq/· instalment structure, profit-rate policy, IFAB description, approval timeline, title/charge, capital gains, missed-payment fee - Advisory Board —
ayafinancial.com/about-us/advisory/· IFAB, board since 2007 inception, three scholar bios, fatwa link - Fatwa (PDF, scanned) —
ayafinancial.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Oct17-FATWA-AYA-1-1.pdf· IFAB endorsement dated October 17, 2022, signed by all three scholars - Financial Institutions —
ayafinancial.com/financial-institutions/· "over 20 years of experience," 500+ properties, $550M+ financed - 500+ Homes Financed —
ayafinancial.com/500-homes-financed/· 500+ families financed claim - Homepage —
ayafinancial.com/· 17+ years, 30+ mosques/communities, FSRA Brokerage Licence #11730, head-office address - IslamQA / AskImam #127492 —
islamqa.org/hanafi/askimam/127492/is-aya-financial-shariah-compliant/· Darul Iftaa review (checked & approved by Mufti Ebrahim Desai): AYA not Shariah-compliant, four reasons; financier identified as MOYA Financial - Wikipedia: Islamic banking and finance in Canada — Aya Financial row: Diminishing Musharakah, funding from banks/credit unions, Ontario, external review Ebrahim Desai
- Credit application (PDF) —
ayafinancial.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AYA-Credit-App-2022-v7-1.pdf· downloadable application authorizing credit/employment verification
All four provider deep-dives
Manzil, EQRAZ and IjaraCDC deep-dives live — Aya Financial below. Leave your email and you'll hear when the next mortgage research lands.
No spam — mortgage research updates only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Questions, answered
Is Aya Financial's halal mortgage Shariah-compliant?
Aya's own Islamic Finance Advisory Board — chaired by Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Masood al-Nadvi, with Dr. Hamid Slimi and Sheikh Mohamed Nafis Bhayat — endorsed Aya's products as Shariah-compliant in a signed fatwa dated October 17, 2022. However, Mufti Ebrahim Desai's Darul Iftaa reviewed Aya's actual contracts around 2019 and ruled they were not Shariah-compliant: the contracts did not reflect a real musharakah, the financier shared neither maintenance costs nor sale profit/loss, and a "liquidated losses" user fee showed loan treatment. Aya's model may have changed since — consult a scholar you trust on the current documents.
What profit rate does Aya Financial charge?
Aya publishes no profit-rate card. Its FAQ says profit is "calculated to keep them competitive with the rates prevalent in the market," determined by the financiers' expected rate of return, the contract length, and the amortization period. An interactive Musharakah calculator on ayafinancial.com illustrates payments. Get the actual rate and full schedule in a written offer before comparing.
Which provinces does Aya Financial serve?
Aya holds FSRA Brokerage Licence #11730 — an Ontario mortgage brokerage licence — and publishes no province-by-province list. Third-party references list Ontario as its serving province. Confirm your province is served before applying.
Is Aya Financial the actual financier?
Aya holds an Ontario mortgage brokerage licence — it is licensed to arrange mortgages. In a circa-2019 review, Mufti Ebrahim Desai's Darul Iftaa described Aya as an intermediary and named MOYA Financial (a Hamilton, Ontario credit union) as the actual financier. Aya's current marketing says "you and AYA Financial buy the property together," but the current financier is not named on its site; its FAQ refers to "the financiers" in the plural. Ask who funds your transaction and read their contracts too.
What down payment and terms does Aya offer?
Published terms: minimum 20% down payment (your share starts at 20% or more), 5-year renewable contract terms, paydown illustrated over up to 25 years, purchase and refinance, and — per Aya's own badge — no financing limit. Title is registered in the customer's name from inception, with the financier holding a charge. Aya publishes no credit-score, income-ratio, or maximum-financing criteria.
What fees does Aya Financial charge?
Aya publishes no fee schedule. Its FAQ states only that a missed instalment may trigger a fixed fee applied toward the administration costs of recovering the late payment. Application, legal, appraisal, broker, and discharge fees are not published — get every fee disclosed in writing before comparing total cost.
Who oversees Aya Financial's Shariah compliance?
Aya says it has maintained its own community advisory board since its 2007 inception, reviewed and endorsed by the Islamic Finance Advisory Board: Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Masood al-Nadvi (chairman; chairman of the Canadian Council of Imams and Fiqh Majlis of Canada), Dr. Hamid Slimi, and Sheikh Mohamed Nafis Bhayat. IFAB's signed fatwa (October 17, 2022) endorses Aya's products as Shariah-compliant and promises regular audits. These are Aya's claims about its own governance. Contact: 647-479-6063, info@ayafinancial.com.
← Back to halal mortgages Manzil deep-dive → EQRAZ deep-dive → IjaraCDC deep-dive →