List of Islamic banks in the world

List of Islamic banks: a directory of institutions that operate according to Sharia, meaning without interest and with contracts based on real assets, trade and profit sharing. It brings together fully Islamic banks and Islamic subsidiaries that are separate legal entities with their own licence, while excluding the simple Islamic windows of conventional banks. Each bank below has a short description and a link to its official website.

What an Islamic bank is and how it works

An Islamic bank is a financial institution that organises all of its activity around the principles of Sharia, the body of Islamic law applied to commercial dealings. In practice this means that the bank does not charge or pay interest, known as riba, does not finance activities considered prohibited such as alcohol, gambling or pork products, and avoids contracts built on excessive uncertainty. Instead of lending money against interest, it buys, sells, leases or invests alongside the customer, and it earns its income from trade margins, rents or a share of profits.

Anyone who consults a list of Islamic banks should therefore expect to find institutions that rely on a specific set of contracts rather than a simple loan. These contracts are what separate Sharia-compliant banks from conventional lenders, and understanding them helps a customer compare offers on a fair basis.

The main contracts used by Islamic banks

• Murabaha: the bank buys an asset such as a car or equipment and resells it to the customer at an agreed price that includes a disclosed margin, payable in instalments.
• Ijara: the bank buys an asset and leases it to the customer for a fixed period, sometimes ending with a transfer of ownership.
• Musharaka and diminishing musharaka: the bank and the customer jointly own an asset or a project, and the customer gradually buys out the bank's share, which is common in home finance.
• Mudaraba: one party supplies the capital and the other the expertise, and profits are shared according to a ratio fixed in advance, while losses fall on the capital provider.
• Salam and istisna: forward purchase and manufacturing contracts used to finance agriculture, trade and construction.
• Sukuk and wakala: investment certificates and agency arrangements often used for deposits and treasury operations.

The role of the Sharia supervisory board

Every serious Islamic bank has a Sharia supervisory board, sometimes called a Sharia committee or council, made up of scholars of Islamic jurisprudence. This board approves products, contracts and documentation before they are offered, and it reviews operations afterwards. Several banks in this list of Islamic banks mention their Sharia board openly, for example Safa Bank in Palestine, Premier Bank in Somalia and Amana Bank in Sri Lanka. A visible and independent board is one of the first signs of a credible Sharia-compliant bank.

Islamic bank, conventional bank and Islamic window: the differences

A conventional bank lends money and charges interest, and it earns the difference between the rate it pays depositors and the rate it charges borrowers. An Islamic bank links its income to real assets and real trade. Deposits are usually held under a profit-sharing or agency arrangement, so the return is not guaranteed in advance, and the bank cannot lawfully profit from lending money alone.

An Islamic window, sometimes called an Islamic counter or Islamic desk, is a different case. It is a section of a conventional bank that offers a few Sharia-compliant products while the rest of the institution keeps operating on interest. Windows can be useful, but the funds are still held by a bank whose main business is conventional. For this reason, a serious list of Islamic banks leaves out simple windows and keeps only institutions that are either entirely Islamic or that operate through a separate Islamic legal entity.

Sharia-compliant banks: fully Islamic banks and Islamic subsidiaries

The list distinguishes two types of institution. A fully Islamic bank is a bank whose entire balance sheet and every product comply with Sharia, from its articles of association to its daily operations. Examples include Bank Islam Malaysia, Meezan Bank in Pakistan, Al Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Finance House and Jordan Islamic Bank.

An Islamic subsidiary is a distinct legal entity, usually created by a conventional banking group, that operates only according to Sharia but belongs to a larger parent. Maybank Islamic, CIMB Islamic Bank, HSBC Amanah Malaysia and Emirates Islamic are well-known cases. Because the subsidiary has its own licence, capital, management and Sharia board, it is treated as a bank in its own right, which is the reason such entities appear alongside fully Islamic banks in this list of Islamic banks worldwide.

The difference matters for customers. With a fully Islamic bank, no part of the institution deals in interest. With a subsidiary, the Islamic activity is separated by a legal and operational wall, although the parent group may be conventional. Many customers accept this structure as long as the subsidiary has its own Sharia governance and separate accounts.

Countries where the financial system is wholly or partly Islamic

Most countries run a dual system in which Islamic and conventional banks coexist under the same central bank. A few countries have gone further. Sudan and Iran moved their banking systems towards Islamic principles, and Sudan's Faisal Islamic Bank, founded in 1978, belongs to that history. Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Pakistan have large and well-regulated Islamic banking sectors alongside conventional ones.

Other jurisdictions have created dedicated legal frameworks more recently. Morocco introduced participative banking, the local term for Islamic banking, and four participative banks in the data were launched in 2017: Bank Al Karam, Bank Al Yousr, Bank Assafa and Umnia Bank. Nigeria regulates non-interest banks, including Jaiz Bank, Lotus Bank and TAJBank. Ethiopia saw interest-free banks such as Hijra Bank and ZamZam Bank emerge in 2021. In Turkey the same activity is called participation banking, and the banks are named katılım bankası.

Islamic banks around the world: a regional overview

The geography of Islamic banking is wide, and it helps to look at the list of Islamic banks by region. The sections below name a few institutions from each area, and the table gives the complete picture.

The Gulf

The Gulf is the historical and financial centre of Islamic banking. Saudi Arabia is home to Al Rajhi Bank, Alinma Bank, Bank Albilad and Bank AlJazira, which completed its conversion from conventional to fully Sharia-compliant banking in 2007. Kuwait has Kuwait Finance House, Boubyan Bank, Warba Bank and Kuwait International Bank. Qatar counts Qatar Islamic Bank, Qatar International Islamic Bank, Dukhan Bank and Lesha Bank. The United Arab Emirates has Dubai Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Ajman Bank and Emirates Islamic. Bahrain, a long-standing hub for Islamic finance, hosts Bahrain Islamic Bank, Al Salam Bank, Khaleeji Bank and several wholesale banks. Oman has Bank Nizwa and Alizz Islamic Bank.

Middle East and North Africa

In the Levant, Jordan Islamic Bank, founded in 1978, was the first Islamic bank in the country, and it is joined by Safwa Islamic Bank and Islamic International Arab Bank. Palestine has Palestine Islamic Bank, Arab Islamic Bank and Safa Bank, while Lebanon has Arab Finance House, Syria has Cham Bank and Iraq has banks such as the Iraqi Islamic Bank for Investment and Development and Elaf Islamic Bank. In North Africa, Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt dates from 1977, Tunisia has Banque Zitouna and Wifak Bank, Algeria has Al Baraka Bank and Al Salam Bank, and Morocco has its four participative banks.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Islamic banking is growing in East and West Africa. Gulf African Bank in Kenya, Amana Bank in Tanzania, Salaam Bank in Uganda and Salaam African Bank in Djibouti serve the eastern side of the continent, while Somalia has Amal Bank, Premier Bank and Salaam Somali Bank. In West Africa, the data include Jaiz Bank in Nigeria and AGIB Bank in the Gambia. Al Baraka Bank South Africa has operated since 1989.

South and South-East Asia

Asia holds the largest concentration of Islamic banks by number. Malaysia alone has twenty institutions in the list, from Bank Islam Malaysia, established in 1983, to digital banks such as AEON Bank and KAF Digital Bank. Indonesia is represented by Bank Syariah Indonesia, formed in 2021 from the merger of three state-owned sharia banks, along with Bank Muamalat Indonesia and regional sharia banks. Pakistan has Meezan Bank and BankIslami, Bangladesh has Islami Bank Bangladesh and four other Shariah-based banks, Sri Lanka has Amana Bank, the Maldives has Maldives Islamic Bank, Brunei has Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam and Thailand has the Islamic Bank of Thailand.

Turkey and Central Asia

Turkey has a dynamic participation banking sector that includes Kuveyt Türk, Albaraka Türk, Türkiye Finans and several state-owned banks such as Ziraat Katılım, Vakıf Katılım and Türkiye Emlak Katılım, along with digital newcomers. In Central Asia, EcoIslamicBank operates in Kyrgyzstan.

Europe and the Americas

In Europe, BBI Banka in Sarajevo is regarded as the first Islamic bank on the continent. The United Kingdom has AlRayan Bank, formerly Islamic Bank of Britain, Gatehouse Bank, the Bank of London and The Middle East and Kuwait Finance House (UK). Germany has KT Bank AG in Frankfurt, a subsidiary of Kuveyt Türk. In the Americas, the data include Trustbank Amanah in Suriname, described as the first Islamic bank in the country and the region.

How to choose and check among Sharia-compliant banks

Appearing in a list of Islamic banks is a starting point, not a guarantee of suitability. Before opening an account or signing a financing contract, a customer should carry out a few simple checks.

• Licence: confirm on the website of the national central bank or financial regulator that the institution is authorised and that its Islamic activity is covered by the licence.
• Sharia board: find the names of the Sharia supervisory board members and check whether the bank publishes its rulings or its annual Sharia report.
• Contracts: ask for the contract templates and read which structure is used, for instance murabaha, ijara or diminishing musharaka.
• Costs: compare the profit margin, fees, early settlement terms and penalties for late payment, and ask how late-payment charges are handled under Sharia rules.
• Deposit protection: ask whether the deposits are covered by a national guarantee scheme and under what conditions, since coverage differs from one country to another.
• Eligibility: check whether the account is open to non-residents or only to people living in the country.

These checks apply equally to the largest groups and to the smallest local banks. Customers who find that a bank cannot answer such questions clearly should look at other Sharia-compliant banks.

Common products offered by Islamic banks

Islamic banks offer a range of products that mirror conventional banking but use different contracts. Current accounts are normally held without remuneration and are repayable on demand. Savings and investment accounts operate on a profit-sharing basis, so the return depends on the bank's results and cannot be promised in advance. For individuals, banks offer home finance through diminishing musharaka or ijara, car finance through murabaha or ijara, and personal finance through commodity-based murabaha arrangements. Businesses can obtain working capital, trade finance, leasing and project finance, and many institutions provide takaful, the cooperative form of Islamic insurance, directly or through partners.

Some Islamic banks are wholesale or investment-oriented, such as ABC Islamic Bank and BOK International in Bahrain, and they serve institutions and large clients rather than ordinary savers. The type of customer served is therefore another point to check when choosing among Islamic banks worldwide.

Questions to ask before opening an account

• Is the bank fully Islamic, or is it a subsidiary of a conventional group, and who owns it?
• Which scholars sit on the Sharia supervisory board, and how often do they audit the products?
• What happens to my deposit if the bank makes a loss, and how are profits shared?
• Which contract will be used for my financing, and what total amount will I repay?
• Is there a fee for early repayment, and how are late payments handled?
• Can I open the account remotely, and in which currencies?

Written answers to these questions make it easier to compare banks and to understand what is actually being offered.

Limits of the list of Islamic banks and how to use it

This list of Islamic banks covers institutions whose existence and official website were verified in November 2026. It does not replace verification with the bank itself and with its supervisory authority. The sector changes quickly: banks merge, change their names, close, or restrict their offer to residents of a particular country. A bank that is open to local customers may not accept applications from abroad, and a product described on a website may not be available in every branch.

The list also does not rank banks or judge the quality of their service. It does not cover every Islamic window, every small cooperative or every institution that may exist in a country, and it contains no personal advice or promise of return. A customer should always read the contract, ask for the Sharia board's approval of the product and confirm the current status of the bank on the regulator's register.

Recent mergers and name changes to know

Several entries in the list of Islamic banks have changed identity, and customers searching under an old name may be confused. Indonesia's Bank Syariah Indonesia was formed in 2021 by the merger of three state-owned sharia banks. In Qatar, Dukhan Bank was formerly Barwa Bank and Lesha Bank was formerly Qatar First Bank. Khaleeji Bank in Bahrain was previously Khaleeji Commercial Bank and is now part of GFH Financial Group. In the United Kingdom, AlRayan Bank was known as Islamic Bank of Britain, and Kuwait Finance House (UK) was formerly Ahli United Bank (UK) before it converted to Sharia-compliant banking in 2024.

Other examples include Al Baraka Bank Egypt, formerly Egyptian Saudi Finance Bank, Al Baraka Bank Tunisia, formerly Saudi Tunisian Finance Bank, Bank Al Karam in Morocco, formerly BTI Bank, KB Bank Syariah in Indonesia, formerly Bank Syariah Bukopin, and Trustbank Amanah in Suriname, formerly Trustbank Suriname. In Oman, a merger proposal between Alizz Islamic Bank and Bank Nizwa was announced in July 2026 but had not been completed at the time of verification. Because such operations can alter licences, websites and account terms, it is wise to check the latest status before acting on any entry.