DOHA, April 2 (Reuters) - The shareholders of Qatar's Masraf Al Rayan, an Islamic lender, approved on Sunday the issuance of sukuk worth up to $2 billion to meet the bank's liquidity needs.

The Gulf state's second largest lender by market value appointed banks in January to handle a debut sukuk issue of around $500 million, banking sources told Reuters that month.

(Reporting By Tom Finn; Writing by Tom Arnold; Editing by Greg Mahlich) ((Tom.Arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +97144536265; Reuters Messaging: tom.arnold.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))