The Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America, in its 6th annual conference held in Montreal, Canada, Oct. 2009, and after studying the papers submitted by Amja’s members and discussing them in detail, has reached the following decisions on Student Loans:
- University education is one of the most important needs of the time for Muslims living in the United States, and it could be considered one of the necessities on the basis that necessity refers to something the lack of which entailsharm on the Muslim and there is no other alternative to it.
- Muslim students must expend their strenuous efforts in finding lawful sources to fund their studies, such as grants,financial aid, scholarships, and labor programs of the university.
- If the student can decrease his study load and work part time to financially support oneself, or take a subsidized loan, he shall do so.
- If the student cannot do that and needs a subsidized loan, he will be allowed to take the loan on condition that he takes only the amount needed and tries his best to settle his debts in the repayment period to avoid paying the interests.
- When the subsidized loan (which is interest-free) is not enough, and there is no other way except borrowing in interest, it will be permissible for him to borrow in interest only an amount that obviates his necessity. That is because necessity must be answered proportionately. Borrowing should take place after he has already enrolled in his study, since things which were not tolerable at the beginning can be tolerated later.
The Assembly urges all Muslims to cooperate together in order to fulfill their needs through lawful ways and try their best to guarantee education of their children and provide funding resources which agree with the ruling of the purified Sharee‘ah.
Full document: Status_of_students_loans_in_the_US-_Dr.Main_Alqudah