Reposting and drawing some insights from the Islamic Horizons article about ACC. Click here for the source!
A Continuous Charity offers Muslim students with halal interest-free loans! More than 1.2 million students in the United States applied to four-year institutions for the 2023 academic year, according to the Common Application. Many of them use student loans to pay for tuition, which sometimes have high rates of interest. As a consequence, many Muslim students struggle to afford higher education while avoiding riba. Unfortunately, others feel obligated to give up their goals and dreams.
ACC Founded by a Community of Muslim professionals, Charity aims to empower the next generation of leaders in the Muslim community. They formalized their approach and filed ACC as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to serve additional Muslim students with halal interest-free loans. ACC has expanded nationwide, with branches in Illinois, California, Florida, Ohio, and other states. This year marks the tenth anniversary of ACC. As of now, it has saved over $3 million in interest and offered over $5.5 million in educational assistance to 400 students worldwide.
ACC Impact on Young Muslim Students
Sara Bawany, one of the many students whose life has been touched by ACC, expresses her relief, saying, “I prayed for something to come along and relieve me of this burden. And then I found ACC.” Sara’s journey represents the struggles faced by numerous Muslim students nationwide who yearn for education without compromising their faith or drowning in the overwhelming weight of debt.
Abrar’s story echoes Sara’s views, illustrating the shared experience of countless individuals striving to pursue education while navigating financial hardships. Christopher Azdar, too, stands as a testament to the transformative power of ACC’s initiative, showcasing how students across the nation are empowered to pursue their dreams without the shackles of crippling debt.
Ismael Gad, a master’s student in landscape architecture at the University of Ohio’s Knowlton School of Architecture, discovered ACC through an exhibit at the MAS-ICNA Convention in Chicago. Gad was among a few students chosen to receive an Architectural Research Travel Award, allowing him to study Palestine’s geography and culture and speak with locals. The ACC loan alleviated Gad’s stress by covering the cost of the trip until the institution compensated him.
Christopher Azdar, a Juris Doctor student at the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent School of Law, discovered ACC in late 2020 while seeking scholarships and grants to fund his law school expenses. He saw ACC as unique in its focus on avoiding riba and promoting Islamic knowledge for further education. Azdar secured the loan and loans for the next three years of his studies after submitting all the required paperwork and completing the interview.
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A Continuous Charity Loan and Refinancing Structures
ACC is a non-profit organization that provides loans to students seeking higher education. Its loans are designed to make repayment easier for students by creating personalized repayment plans. The maximum length of a loan is four years, and loan amounts are calculated based on a student’s income and field of study. ACC also works with students who cannot repay their loans due to extenuating circumstances by reassessing their repayment schedule. If they cannot repay their loans due to becoming eligible for zakat, ACC has limited capacity to forgive their loans with zakat donations. A Continuous Charity also offers options to refinance existing student loans during their application cycle.
The organization has created the Legacy Fund for continuous donation opportunities. When a donation is received, it is loaned to a student seeking higher education, and as the money is paid back, it is recycled to provide a loan for another student. The organization requires a minimum of $10,000 to start a legacy fund which can also be started in honour of another person.
ACC is committed to helping current students achieve their higher education goals through interest-free loans and is establishing an endowment called the ACC Waqf. To achieve this, ACC members aim to convince 100,000 individuals to donate $10 a month, believing in the “power of numbers” and aiming to reach their $10 million endowment fund goal quickly.
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