Are Muslims allowed student loans?

Associate
Joined
18 Jul 2015
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439
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London
My daughter did well enough to get a University place for this September. We were all very pleased. However, she was crying.
I asked her how her application for a student loan was going. She stated that she cannot get a student loan as it involves giving interest (6.1%).
She then said the options were for her to work and save money to pay for the course or that the bank of mummy and daddy will pay the fees.
I asked her where she obtained this idea that Muslims cannot get student loans. She refused to answer. My impression is she got it from the Internet.
It looks like I will pay the fees and my daughter will return the money to me when she starts work. My concern is I will probably not want the loan paid back!
Am I a mug?
 
Soldato
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18 Oct 2002
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Any one can take a student loan. However no one is exempt from the interest which might not be compatible with their faith. So a Muslim is more than welcome to a loan, but it’s up to them on how they reconcile that with their faith.
 
Soldato
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As I understand it, some interpretations of Islam forbid taking interest on monetary loans.

Doesn’t really matter what I think, if your daughter doesn’t want to take the loan then it’s up to her. If you want to pay the fees, it’s up to you! The SLC won’t discriminate on racial/religious grounds so she is free to decide for herself whatthe right thing to do is.

Sounds like you all need to sit down and have a discussion amongst yourselves as to how you all want to proceed.
 
Caporegime
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Any one can take a student loan. However no one is exempt from the interest which might not be compatible with their faith. So a Muslim is more than welcome to a loan, but it’s up to them on how they reconcile that with their faith.
Exactly. Nothing stopping her from taking a loan, it’s her own decision whether she wants to take it or not. There are plenty of Muslims that I know that are happy to take loans with interest and pay it back.
 
Caporegime
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IIRC there was a thread on here a while ago with everyone complaining about an Islamic compliant bank account that offered interest free overdrafts so I'm guessing it must be.
 
Caporegime
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Surely all are free to finance their educations however they wish. SLC loans are just one way to achieve this. The market is out there and if they can find someone to lend them money at 0%, or structure it differently such that it sidesteps the rules, or whatever, then fine. I'm not sure how UKGOV can intervene.
 
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