Studying scholarships in non-Muslim countries

3-12-2008 | IslamWeb

Question:

are study scholaships , where food, lodgings ,etc is free , in a non-islamic country , considered to halal ?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

In principle, residing in a non-Muslim country is forbidden except in case of necessity or a religious dire need, like doing Da’wah, seeking treatment, or seeking knowledge that is needed by the Muslims and that is not found in Muslim countries. It is in this case that it is permissible to travel to those countries for whoever is safe from being afflicted in his religion and is able to establish his religious rites there.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 90561, 82091, 86405.

The permissibility of residing in non-Muslim countries is not based on education, food and drink being free as accepting the gift from the non-Muslim is permissible if the gift itself is permissible, rather, what should be taken into account is the kind of knowledge that you are seeking there, and your need and the need of Muslims for it, and it being not available in Muslim countries and your ability to preserve your religion there, as already explained.

Allaah Knows best.