Pakistan's Islamic fund industry is big enough that 'which fund?' is now a real comparison problem. Al Meezan alone runs Rs 702 billion, NBP Funds over Rs 600 billion with a large Islamic shelf, Al-Ameen Rs 191 billion, and a crowd of bank-owned managers between Rs 40 billion and Rs 112 billion each. This guide compares the funds you are most likely to shortlist, using June 2026 fund manager reports and fund pages, on the three things that decide outcomes: cost, performance against benchmark, and who signs off on the Shariah compliance.
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How to read this comparison
Two rules keep you honest. First, compare funds within a category: a money market fund returning 10% and an equity fund returning 30% are not competing products. Second, always check the return against the fund's own benchmark, because FY26 (the year ended June 30, 2026) flattered everything in absolute terms while most active equity funds actually trailed the index by 5 to 12 percentage points.
Money market: the tightest race
This category holds the most retail money and shows the widest fee spread. Alhamra's Cash Management Optimizer (Rs 59.5 billion) charged an actual 0.27% and returned 10.37% in FY26 against a 9.37% benchmark, arguably the category's best combination of scale, cost and result. Atlas Islamic Money Market Fund charged an astonishing 0.06% actual fee (10.32% one-year return), ABL's Islamic Money Market Plan-I charged 0.55% (10.34%), HBL's charged 0.75% (10.45%), and Mahaana's cash fund charged 0.60% (10.17%) with a Rs 1,000 minimum.
The giants are pricier. Al Meezan's Rozana Amdani Fund (Rs 63.76 billion) charges 1.10% and, remarkably for a retail product, requires Rs 500,000 to enter; the retail alternative is its Daily Income Plan. NBP's Islamic Money Market Fund (Rs 58.67 billion, fee up to 1.25%) carries a tiered front-end load reaching 3% on tickets below Rs 5 million, which peers simply do not charge on money market products. Faysal's Halal Amdani Fund charges the full 1.25% with a 1.58% TER and returned 9.29%, a touch under benchmark.
Equity: paying 3% for underperformance
The KMI-30 returned 39.18% in FY26. Here is what the active funds delivered: Meezan Islamic Fund (Rs 70.43 billion, the country's biggest Islamic equity fund) +33.22% at a 3% fee plus 2% load; Alhamra Islamic Stock +33.84%; Atlas Islamic Stock +30.49%; ABL Islamic Stock +29.24%; Alfalah GHP Islamic Stock +29.16%; HBL Islamic Stock +27.45% with a 4.81% total expense ratio. Faysal Islamic Stock printed +31.08% against its stated benchmark of +37.67%. Every one of them charged 3% and every one of them lagged.
The case for active is the longer run: Meezan Islamic Fund beat its benchmark by 13 points in FY25 (+59.22% vs +46.24%) and has returned 3,960% since 2003; Atlas Islamic Stock is up 1,887% since 2007. The case against is arithmetic: a 3% fee is a permanent headwind, and the cheap alternative exists. Al Meezan's own KSE Meezan Index Fund charges 0.75% and returned 38.09% in FY26, within 1.1 points of the index and 5 points ahead of the house's flagship active fund.
Income and sovereign funds: the middle ground
Between cash and equities sit the income funds. Meezan Islamic Income Fund (Rs 13.59 billion, 1.50% fee) returned 9.03% in FY26, slightly under its 9.43% benchmark. Alhamra Islamic Income (Rs 16.5 billion, 0.63% actual) returned 8.85%. NBP Riba Free Savings (Rs 26.97 billion) returned 9.9%. Al-Ameen's Islamic Sovereign Fund carries an AA(f) rating and focuses on government Ijarah sukuk, a useful building block if you want sovereign-heavy fixed income; note the FY26 lesson from Faysal's Islamic Sovereign Plan-I, which returned 7.44% against a 9.93% benchmark, the worst fixed-income shortfall in our research.
Governance: who signs the fatwa matters
Three models operate in Pakistan. In-house boards with named scholars: Al Meezan (Taqi Usmani chairs, with Dr. Imran Ashraf Usmani and Sheikh Essam Ishaq) and Alhamra (Taqi Usmani again, with Dr. Zubair Usmani and Dr. Ejaz Samdani). Outsourced advisory firms: Al Hilal Shariah Advisors, whose council is headed by Mufti Irshad Ahmad Aijaz, certifies HBL, ABL, Alfalah and Mahaana. Single named advisors: Faysal runs its entire 35-scheme shelf on one scholar, Mufti Abdul Basit (SECP/IFD/SA/192), and Atlas names per-fund advisors with SECP numbers on every report page. All three models are legitimate; what you should avoid is a fund whose advisor you cannot name at all. Our research found no published Shariah advisor for the Islamic funds at AWT, AL Habib, JS Investments or NIT on their public websites.
Minimums: where Rs 500 gets you in
Al-Ameen is the accessibility leader: Rs 500 initial across its shelf, including the Al-Ameen Shariah Stock Fund. Alhamra's core income and money market funds open at Rs 500 through its iSave platform, Alfalah at Rs 500 with Rs 100 top-ups, Mahaana at Rs 1,000, Al Meezan and Atlas at Rs 5,000, and NBP mostly at Rs 10,000 (its Islamic Savings Fund is the Rs 1,000 exception).
Our shortlists by use case
For parking cash: Alhamra Cash Management Optimizer or ABL Islamic Money Market Plan-I on the fee-to-scale trade-off; Mahaana Save+ if you want app-first simplicity; Atlas if you are comfortable that a 0.06% fee is promotional and may rise. For equity exposure: the KSE Meezan Index Fund or one of the two ETFs first, an active fund second. For monthly income: a daily-dividend money market fund beats an income fund on risk-adjusted simplicity for most households.
Whatever you pick, read the latest fund manager report before investing; fees shown as 'up to' caps often differ from what is actually charged, in both directions. The full provider directory is on the HalalWallet investing hub.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the biggest halal mutual fund in Pakistan? Meezan Islamic Fund is the largest Islamic equity fund at Rs 70.43 billion (June 30, 2026), and Meezan Rozana Amdani is the largest Islamic money market fund at Rs 63.76 billion. Size brings liquidity and operational stability, but not better returns: both are among the more expensive options in their categories.
Are Islamic mutual funds safe? Money market funds are low risk and carry stability ratings (AA(f) to AA+(f) among the funds above), but they are not deposit-insured and returns are not guaranteed. Equity funds are high risk: the same Meezan Islamic Fund that made 73% in FY24 lost 11.27% in FY22.
Do Islamic funds underperform conventional funds? Not systematically; screened universes simply behave differently. The honest FY26 finding is narrower: active Islamic equity funds underperformed their own Islamic benchmark, the KMI-30, by 5 to 12 points, which argues for indexing rather than for abandoning the category.
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See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
What fees should I expect? Roughly 0.06% to 1.25% on money market funds, 0.4% to 1.5% on income funds, and 2% to 3% on active equity funds, plus front-end loads of up to 3% on many actively sold products. Always check the total expense ratio in the fund manager report, which includes levies and running costs.
Can I switch between funds without selling? Most AMCs allow conversions between their own funds, and several offer administrative plans that automate allocation. Switching across AMCs means redeeming and re-investing, with the tax consequences that follow. Check each fund's conversion terms before you commit.