Question Summary:
Zakat on student grants

Question Detail:

So my tuition fee is 9k a year, right now I'm in 27k of debt. The terms of the student Loans are as follows:
 
- I only repay the loan once I start earning 21k or higher in employment (so I'll start repaying as soon as I leave uni)
- they will take 9% of my income every year to repay the loan
- I can also make voluntary payments to reduce the loan
- I will be charged 3 percent interest
 
So far I've been paid the following the grants from uni which don't need to be payed back
 
Year 1 - £3962
Year 2 - £3737
Year 3 - £6387
 
Let me know if I need to pay zakat on the above, I have no other income besides the above.

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In principle, a person will be liable to give Zakat when one’s wealth reaches the Nisaab.[i] Thereafter, on the same date of the lunar calendar starting from next year, one will have to give Zakat if one has Zakatable assets equivalent to the Nisaab on that date each year.[ii] It is not necessary for the person to hold the cash for the full year for it to be liable for Zakat. Rather, the person must have Zakatable assets equivalent to the nisaab in the beginning and end of the year for Zakat to become obligatory. Any increase or decrease will have no effect, so long as the person has the nisaab in the beginning and end of the year.
In the enquired situation, Zakat will be liable on the cash in hand you have on your Zakat date. Whatever you have remaining from the student grants will be added to the cash in hand and will be liable for Zakat.
As for the debt from the Student loan, then this is a long-term loan, and you will not be paying any of the loan in the next 12 months. Therefore, such a loan will not affect the Zakat.[iii]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Ridhwan Ur Rahman
Student Darul Iftaa
Cardiff, Wales, UK 
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai