Financing Qarḍ al-Ḥasan Scholarship Schemes through Zakāt: A Contemporary Juristic Viewpoint

This viewpoint considers whether zakāt may fund a qarḍ al-ḥasan scholarship
scheme in which repayments are recycled for future beneficiaries. The principal
juristic difficulty concerns the compatibility of a repayable loan with tamlīk, the
transfer of ownership generally required in zakāt distribution. Drawing on
contemporary interpretations of al-ghārimīn and fī sabīl Allāh, it argues that the
proposed model may be accepted as a qualified contemporary ijtihād when the
student is independently eligible for zakāt, and the arrangement prevents exposure
to interest-bearing debt. This permissibility is not a settled consensus, and direct
scholarships remain the safer and more widely accepted approach. Where the
model is adopted, repayment must depend on the beneficiary’s financial capacity,
and the scheme must maintain fund segregation, transparent administration, and
continuing Sharīʿah oversight.