Meeting College Bursary Requirements

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat clarifies rulings on accepting college bursaries.

I wanted to ask a question about money that I gained from college.

My college gives bursaries to eligible students which comes to £20. I was eligible for such bursary. Now when the winter months started to come, I had to find a way to pray without missing the prayer time, so I spoke with my personal tutor and was able to leave classes about 10 minutes early to prepare to go and pray.

The reason I went early was to avoid praying Asr in the disliked time just before Maghrib. Now for some time I did read Asr and then later pray Maghrib and it may have been okay for me to actually delay Asr but that may have been for a short period. As time went by, if I delayed Asr I would either be in the disliked time or missed the prayer. Now I think I found out that it would have been okay to delay asr into disliked timing as it was out of necessity.

I ask this because one of the conditions of bursary is that the attendance be around 94% which mine still was. Based upon this, would the money I got be halal or haram? As I thought that I should be praying out of disliked times but then someone said that out of necessity it could be done, so I’m not sure that in a way whether I was entitled to that money and the benefits that came from that (such as free college meals, printing credit).

I contacted the college asking whether late marks affect attendance and the response was that they don’t. Based upon this would what I used to do with regards to my prayer result in the money I still got be halal, or would it be considered haram. And if the latter, how should I go about repaying this?

(Will the same apply to those times where it would be okay for me to actually delay Asr close to Maghrib without falling into makruh timings?)

I pray you are well.

It is fine for you to take the bursary, especially since they said had that punctuality, etc, does not affect the arrangement. Usually, only actually attendance is what matters.

Do your best to pray asr before the makruh time enters, work hard, show good character, and be an ambassador of Islam to the people around you with the intention to please Allah. “And whatever you send ahead for yourselves of the good, you will find it with Allah to be better, and much greater in reward; and ask for Allah’s forgiveness. Indeed Allah is the Forgiver of Everything, and Ever-Kind.” (Sura al-Muzammil 73:20)

May Allah grant you every success of this world and the next.

Abdul-Rahim

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.