Mortgages

Halal Mortgage Comparison: Manzil vs Aya vs EQRAZ vs IjaraCDC

Four providers, four different contracts, and very different levels of transparency. This page puts Manzil, Aya Financial, EQRAZ, and IjaraCDC side by side — financing structures, provinces served, down payments, published profit rates, fees, Shariah oversight, and financing limits — drawn only from each provider's own published documents and our full provider reviews. Every figure here already appears on the provider's review page; anything a provider has not published is marked "not published," not guessed at.

By the Canadian Halal Investor Editorial Team · Updated October 1, 2026

Last verified September 2026, against Manzil's published rate sheet and Shariah documents, Aya Financial's program pages and published fatwa, EQRAZ's rates page and product documents, and IjaraCDC's site pages plus provider-confirmed snapshots. Profit rates change — confirm current terms with each provider directly.

How to read this comparison

Four quick rules before the table. First, "not published" is a finding, not a gap in our research — where a provider does not publish a figure, we do not invent one. Second, only Manzil and EQRAZ publish profit rates; for Aya and IjaraCDC, the only real number is the one in your written offer. Third, the table compares the Musharaka program for Manzil (its only published rate sheet), the declining-balance Musharaka for Aya, the monthly Murabaha for EQRAZ (its only product), and the Ijara lease-to-own for IjaraCDC (its flagship). Fourth, scholarly positions are summarized in the dispute section below with attribution — this comparison takes no side.

Side-by-side comparison

Qualification bars where published: Manzil requires a 680 minimum credit score, 39% maximum GDS, and 44% maximum TDS. EQRAZ requires a 700 minimum beacon/FICO score, 39% maximum GDS, 44% maximum TDS, and disallows rental income as qualifying income. Aya publishes no credit-score or income-ratio criteria. IjaraCDC publishes no criteria on its own site; a 2026 provider-confirmed snapshot reports a 500 minimum credit score.

The four providers, in brief

Manzil

Manzil, the Toronto-based halal finance company, is the only one of the four to offer both Musharaka and Murabaha structures, and the only one with a published Musharaka rate sheet — starting at 6.35% (2-year fixed) on its September 2026 sheet, with maximum financing of CAD 1.5 million at up to 80% finance-to-value across four provinces (ON, AB, BC, SK). Its Shariah Supervisory Board (Dr. Shaher Abbas, Mufti Faraz Adam, Dr. M. Anouar Gadhoum) certified both products against AAOIFI Shariah Standards in November 2020, with audits that Manzil says are conducted annually by IFAAS. The gaps: no published Murabaha rates and no published fee schedule — get both in writing before comparing.

Aya Financial

Aya Financial, the Markham, Ontario company operating since 2007, offers a declining-balance Musharaka through an Ontario mortgage brokerage licence (FSRA #11730), with 20% down, 5-year renewable terms, and — per its own badge — no financing limit, plus title in your name from inception. It publishes no profit-rate card, no fee schedule, and no qualification criteria beyond the down payment, and the current financier behind its transactions is unnamed on its site. Most importantly, Aya is the one provider on this site with an on-the-record scholarly ruling that its contracts were not Shariah-compliant: Mufti Ebrahim Desai's Darul Iftaa ruled against the ~2019 contracts, while Aya's own advisory board endorses the products in a signed October 2022 fatwa.

EQRAZ

EQRAZ, the Mississauga-based company, is the most transparent rate publisher of the four: monthly profit rates on its September 2026 page run 9.03% to 9.70% posted (8.03% to 8.70% special-offer), well above Manzil's starting rates, and it is also the only one of the four with verified fee figures — CAD 500 application, CAD 2,500 deposit, and a commitment fee of the higher of CAD 5,000 or 2%. Its monthly Murabaha gives you full title from day one, with a four-scholar board and Shariyah Review Bureau audits behind it, though EQRAZ's own certificate states it is not the financier — funding flows through a Wakala agreement with a Canadian Schedule One bank. The hard constraint: it is not licensed as a mortgage brokerage in Ontario, so Ontario residents cannot be served.

IjaraCDC

IjaraCDC, a Michigan 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is fundamentally different from the other three: by its own description it is "not a lender or a broker" but a Sharia compliance structuring organization that wraps a licensed lender's funding in Ijara (lease-to-own) paperwork, with 100+ residential and 200+ commercial funding partners per a 2026 provider-confirmed snapshot. It claims the widest reach — all Canadian provinces and all 50 US states — and the lowest barriers, with a reported 500 minimum credit score and Canadian down payments from 5%, though these figures are not published on its own site. The catch is twofold: pricing is set by partners and never published, and it is the most contested model here — AMJA's 2014 fatwa committee and scholar Monzer Kahf ruled against the trust-based model, while IjaraCDC markets a current board-approved process.

Where scholars disagree — presented neutrally

This site does not issue fatwas. Two of the four providers carry documented scholarly criticism, and honesty requires presenting both sides with dates and sources rather than burying them.

Aya Financial: the Desai ruling

Around 2019, a questioner sent Aya's actual financing documents — the AYA Residential Property Financing Agreement, Additional Provisions, and related schedules — to Mufti Ebrahim Desai's Darul Iftaa (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." Four reasons were given: the contracts did not reflect a real musharakah but treated the contract as a conventional diminishing-balance mortgage; the financier did not share property-maintenance expenses; the financier did not share profit or loss at sale; and a "liquidated losses" user fee at end of term showed loan treatment. The review also identified MOYA Financial, a Hamilton, Ontario credit union, as the actual financier at that time.

The other side: Aya's Islamic Finance Advisory Board — Dr. Mohammad Iqbal Masood al-Nadvi (chairman), Dr. Hamid Slimi, and Shaikh Mohamed Nafis Bhayat — published a signed fatwa dated October 17, 2022 endorsing AYA's products as Shariah-compliant, with regular audits promised. Aya's model, documents, and funders may have changed since the 2019 review; the 2022 fatwa postdates it. A careful buyer asks whether the current contracts differ from the documents the Darul Iftaa reviewed, and has a scholar they trust review the current documents — not the marketing.

IjaraCDC: the AMJA and Kahf rulings

In 2014, the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America's resident fatwa committee addressed "Ijara Loans" directly: the company "starts by directing the purchaser to get a standard interest-based loan and then creates a trust with the purchaser a partner in the trust, in order to borrow from the bank and then get ownership of the property." The committee's ruling: "it is not allowed to deal with this company as their model contains clear and explicit interest." Independently, scholar Monzer Kahf wrote in his published 2016 fatawa that the trust-assignment model "does not change the fact that you are still the contractor and payer of interest," because the legal difference between the trust and its founder is not accepted in Shariah.

The other side: IjaraCDC states its CIHF Ijara process has been approved by its Sharia Advisory Board (chaired by Mufti Muneer Akhoon), tracing its contracts to a 1995 Dallah Al Baraka / Al-Amin fatwa signed by scholars including Mufti Taqi Usmani. IjaraCDC markets a current, board-approved process and says its documents are available for comparison. A careful buyer asks whether that process differs from the model the 2014–2016 rulings addressed, and has a scholar they trust review the actual trust, lease, and promise-to-purchase documents.

For Manzil and EQRAZ, no adverse scholarly rulings have surfaced on this site's reviews — but board certification is a governance signal, not a unanimous ruling. Scholars differ on halal mortgage products generally.

How to choose

There is no best provider — only the provider whose facts fit your situation. Map yourself to the verified facts:

• If published rates matter most: only Manzil and EQRAZ publish them. Manzil's Musharaka starts from 6.35% (2-year); EQRAZ's published rates start at 8.03% (1-year special-offer). Get each rate in a written commitment letter, because published rates are indicative only.
• If you are in Ontario: Manzil, Aya (FSRA-licensed brokerage), and IjaraCDC (by its claimed coverage) can potentially serve you; EQRAZ explicitly cannot. Confirm your province in writing with whichever you shortlist.
• If you are outside Ontario: EQRAZ becomes available (it advertises funding "across all provinces" except Ontario) and serves alongside Manzil (AB, BC, SK) and IjaraCDC's claimed coverage — but EQRAZ publishes no province-by-province list, so confirm before applying.
• If your down payment is below 20%: Manzil, Aya, and EQRAZ all require 20% down. Only IjaraCDC reports Canadian programs from 5% down (via third-party comparisons — not published on its own site).
• If your credit profile is thin: Manzil requires 680, EQRAZ requires 700. IjaraCDC reports programs down to a 500 credit score (provider-confirmed snapshot). Aya publishes no criteria — ask before you apply.
• If the scholarly question matters most to you: read the dispute section above alongside each provider's full review, and take the actual contracts — not the marketing or the fatwa alone — to a scholar you trust. Our Ask a Scholar service can relay your specific question to a scholar.
• If you want full title from day one: EQRAZ (full title; financier holds a mortgage charge) and Aya (title registered in your name from inception; financier holds a charge) structure ownership that way. In Manzil's Musharaka and IjaraCDC's Ijara, ownership transfers to you over time.

And whatever you shortlist: compare the full-term total of each written offer against a conventional lender's written offer over the entire amortization. Monthly payments alone hide the real comparison, and halal financing can cost more, less, or about the same — the point is knowing the number.

What to verify before signing

• Get the commitment letter, not just the rate sheet. Published rates are indicative only and can change without notice. Only the signed commitment letter binds both parties — read it fully before accepting.
• Confirm your actual profit rate and payment schedule. For Manzil and EQRAZ, confirm whether published rates (and EQRAZ's special-offer conditions) apply to you. For Aya and IjaraCDC, the written offer is the entire pricing disclosure.
• Get every fee in writing. Only EQRAZ has verifiable fee figures; the other three publish no fee schedule. Application, legal, appraisal, broker, and discharge fees should all be disclosed before you compare total cost.
• Confirm your province is served — in writing. Only Manzil publishes a province list; EQRAZ excludes Ontario explicitly; Aya's footprint is its Ontario licence; IjaraCDC's "all provinces" is a claim, not a list.
• Identify who funds the transaction. Aya's financier is unnamed on its site; EQRAZ's funding flows through a Wakala agreement with a Canadian Schedule One bank; IjaraCDC's money comes from its licensed partner lenders. The brokerage's marketing is not the funding contract — read both.
• Trace the ownership and exit mechanics. Who holds legal title, when and how does it transfer to you, and what happens on early payoff? Manzil's early exit runs through an Early Termination Sale Price; EQRAZ's through the greater of three months' profit or the profit rate differential (above the 20% annual prepayment allowance).
• Ask for the current Shariah certification. Manzil's published fatwas are from November 2020; Aya's from October 2022; EQRAZ's certificates from 2021–2022. Ask for the current annual certificate or compliance report and the most recent audit — and read the dispute section above alongside them.
• Take the contracts to a scholar you trust. Not the fatwa alone, not the marketing — the actual financing agreement, trust, lease, or promise-to-purchase documents you would sign. Our Ask a Scholar service can relay the question.