Tabadulat vs IBKR: What Every Muslim Investor Needs to Know

Comparing Tabadulat and Interactive Brokers (IBKR) for Halal investing? Here's how a purpose-built Shariah-compliant brokerage stacks up against one of the world's largest conventional platforms, and what that means for your faith-aligned portfolio.

Introduction

Interactive Brokers is one of the biggest brokerages in the world. It gives you access to over 170 markets, low costs, and every asset class you can think of. If you already know exactly what you're doing, you can use it carefully enough to avoid the most obvious Shariah issues.

But IBKR wasn't built for Muslim investors. There's no Islamic account, no Halal screening, and no Shariah oversight. All of that work falls on you.

Tabadulat was built to remove that burden. This guide compares the two platforms so you can see exactly where they differ.

What Is Interactive Brokers?

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: IBKR) is a member of the S&P 500, offering automated trading and custody across 170+ global markets to individual investors, hedge funds, and institutions.

Pricing: IBKR has two plans. IBKR Lite gives $0 commissions on US stocks and ETFs, and is open to eligible US residents. IBKR Pro is built for active traders, with Fixed or Tiered commission rates. Beyond stocks and ETFs, IBKR also publishes per-product commissions: options from $0.15–$0.65/contract, futures from $0.25–$0.85/contract, spot currencies at 0.08–0.20 bps of trade value, bonds at 10 bps of face value, mutual funds at 3% (capped at $14.95) or $0 for no-fee funds, and prediction markets from $0.01/contract.

Interest on cash: IBKR actively markets interest on idle cash as a selling point, currently 3.13% on uninvested cash for IBKR Pro accounts with a NAV over $100,000, on cash balances above $10,000. This rate changes often, so always check IBKR's site for the current number.

No Islamic account: IBKR's product range includes stocks, ETFs, options, futures, currencies, bonds, mutual funds, and prediction markets, with no Shariah screening, no Halal account type, and no compliance alerts built in anywhere. If you use IBKR as a Muslim investor, you screen every holding yourself, avoid margin and derivatives on your own, and manage interest purification manually. IBKR doesn't help with any of it.

What Is Tabadulat?

Tabadulat is a self-directed, Shariah-compliant brokerage, regulated by the FSRA in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) under Financial Services Permission No. 250032, covering "Dealing in Investments as Principal (Matched)" and "Shari'a Compliant Regulated Activities."

On Tabadulat, compliance isn't something you manage yourself, it's built into the platform.

Key features:

• Halal screening: AAOIFI-based screening, applied continuously to every stock and ETF on the platform
• Real-time alerts: You're notified immediately if a holding's Shariah status changes
• Market access: Trading in US markets today, with UK, European, GCC, and Asian markets on the roadmap, with 40,000+ stocks and ETFs as the platform's stated target for full AAOIFI screening coverage
• No riba on idle cash: Client funds sit in non-interest-bearing accounts at Tier 1 banks, always, not as an opt-out
• AAOIFI membership: Tabadulat is an active AAOIFI member, helping shape the standards it applies rather than just following them
• Shariah Supervisory Board: disclosed under ADGM's Islamic Finance framework

Pricing: Whole-share US stock trades are commission-free. Holding positions carries a 0.25%/year custody fee (charged monthly), fractional-share trades carry a $0.94 flat fee, and UAE residents pay 5% VAT on those two charges. There's no subscription and no account minimum.

Savings: Tabadulat's Murabaha Savings (IBKR Has No Equivalent)

This is an area where the two platforms aren't even close, because IBKR doesn't offer a Halal savings product at all, interest-bearing cash is the closest thing it has, which is exactly what a Muslim investor needs to avoid.

Tabadulat's savings product is built on Commodity Murabaha, a trade-based transaction, not a profit-sharing or interest-based model.

• How it works: Your capital is used to purchase tangible assets, which are then sold at a pre-agreed markup. This gives you a fixed profit rate, set at the start of the term, with no interest involved, subject to the terms and conditions of the product..
• Tiers: A zero-fee tiered structure, Bronze ($1k–$9.9k), Silver ($10k–$99.9k), Gold ($100k–$499.9k), and Platinum ($500k–$999.9k).

For a Muslim investor, this matters more than it might seem: Tabadulat not only avoids riba on idle cash, but also provides a Halal way to grow that cash through Shariah-compliant savings solutions, an option not currently offered by IBKR.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Verified against tabadulat.com and interactivebrokers.com as of July 2026. Rates and fees change, check each platform's sit before investing.

Why It Matters: The Big Differences

1. Who does the Shariah work? On IBKR, you do. You screen every stock yourself, avoid interest-bearing products on your own, and re-check compliance over time. On Tabadulat, the platform screens everything before it's shown to you, and alerts you the moment anything changes.

2. Interest income is a significant part of IBKR’s business. IBKR earned $3.563 billion in net interest income in 2025, the single largest part of its $6.205 billion in total revenue. That's not incidental; it's the core of how the business makes money. Tabadulat generates zero riba from idle cash, by design.

3. Margin and securities lending. IBKR offers margin loans from 4.13% and runs a Stock Yield Enhancement Program that lends out client shares for interest. Tabadulat offers neither, so the question of whether a product involves interest never comes up.

4. Shariah oversight is a legal requirement, not a courtesy. IBKR's regulators (SEC, FCA, ASIC, and others) don't require any Shariah governance. Tabadulat's Shariah Supervisory Board and AAOIFI membership are part of how it's licensed to operate, not an optional add-on.

Which Platform Is Right for You?

Choose Tabadulat if:

• You want Shariah compliance built in, not something you manage yourself
• You want zero riba on your cash, while investing and while saving
• You want real-time alerts if a holding's status changes
• You're comfortable with a small custody fee in exchange for full Shariah oversight

Consider IBKR if:

• You're an active, professional investor who needs 170+ markets and every asset class
• You're confident screening every holding yourself and avoiding margin and derivatives entirely
• You need products, futures, options, bonds, forex, that Tabadulat doesn't currently offer

Conclusion

IBKR is a powerful platform, but it wasn't built with Muslim investors in mind, and it shows. Interest on cash isn't a footnote; it's the biggest single source of IBKR's revenue. Every bit of Shariah compliance is left up to you.

Tabadulat is the clear choice for a Halal investor. Shariah considerations that investors may need to manage independently- screening, compliance monitoring, avoiding riba, and growing savings without interest- are integrated into the Tabadulat experience. Tabadulat incorporates Shariah screening and governance processes designed to assist investors in maintaining a Shariah-compliant portfolio.

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Start screening for free on Tabadulat today.

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Disclaimer:

This article is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or Shariah advice.

Regulated by the ADGM FSRA.Capital at Risk. Not Investment advice.

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