Tuition Fee Loan Via The Government

Question

I want to start my degree but in order to start it I have to take out a tuition fee loan to cover the cost of the degree course. What happens is that the government pay on behalf of the applicant to the university (no money is handed over to the applicant, the government directly hands it over to the university).

Thereafter once the degree is completed then after a certain amount of years on the condition that the applicant is earning more than $15.000 a year the applicant will have to pay the government back in instalments every month. This is taken directly from the persons wages. A certain amount of interest is accrued which is called inflation.

My question was that is taking out such a loan permissible?

On the one hand the government is calling it a loan but based on the fact that they do not hand over any money to the applicant but give it directly to the university is it even considered a loan in Islamic Shariah? If it is not then would it be seen that the applicant when paying back the ‘loan’ is just paying the government for his fees whether that includes the interest or not?

And if it is considered a loan then if a person is certain that he will not earn that amount every year so in effect will not have to pay the loan back is it still permissible?

Darul Ifta, Darul Uloom Azaadville · Accepted Answer

Whether the bank hands over the loan to you, or it pays the university directly on your behalf, it will still be regarded as a loan in terms of Shari’ah. In Shari’ah, the term used for such a loan is Dayn.

And when a person is handed over the money then it is termed as Qardh. There is a slight difference between the definitions of Dayn and Qardh according to the Fuqaha (jurists). However, in both cases, any surplus amount charged on the primary loan will be regarded as interest and it will be impermissible for a Muslim individual to take out such a loan.

Even though a person is certain that he will not earn $15000 every year, the mere fact that he is taking out an interest bearing loan and is taking benefit from it will render it to be impermissible. In a Hadith of Muslim, Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has cursed the consumer of interest, he who fed it to others, its two witnesses and him who recorded it.

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