Scholarships

Scholarship for Muslim Students 2026–27: Who Can Apply and How

Published

1 week ago

October 26, 2026

What Counts as a Scholarship for Muslim Students?

A scholarship for Muslim students is any award that names Muslim identity, minority-community status, Zakat eligibility or the study of Islam as a condition of eligibility. Funders create these awards to widen access to education for a community that they identify as under-represented or financially disadvantaged. Four types dominate the landscape.

Government minority schemes

Government minority schemes fund students from notified minority communities. In India, the six notified communities are Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi. The Ministry of Minority Affairs runs the central schemes, and most applications go through the National Scholarship Portal. Key central schemes include the Pre-Matric Scholarship for Class 1 to 10, the Post-Matric Scholarship for Class 11 to PhD, the Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship for girls in Class 9 to 12 and the Maulana Azad National Fellowship for research scholars. State governments add their own schemes. Tamil Nadu, for example, allocated INR 3.60 crore (about 40,000 USD) in 2025–26 so that 10 minority Muslim students could pursue postgraduate study abroad, with INR 36 lakh for each student.

Foundation and community awards

Foundations and community organisations fund Muslim students through smaller, often essay-based awards. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) offers the Dr. Abdulmunim A. Shakir Scholarship, worth up to 1,000 USD. The Islamic Center of Fayetteville (ICF) in North Carolina awarded two 500 USD scholarships in its 2026 cycle. The Muslim Youth Leadership Awards run the Islamic Education Scholarship for students in formal Islamic education programmes. The Aziz Foundation funds Muslim postgraduate students in the United Kingdom.

University and Islamic-studies awards

Universities fund awards for students who study Islam or the Muslim world. The University of Birmingham Islam Scholarship covers up to 100 percent of tuition for the MA in Islamic Studies. Michigan State University’s Gliozzo Scholarship gives 700 USD to undergraduates who study the Muslim world. The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) lists a Muslim Student Association Scholarship for students in its School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Zakat-based aid

Zakat is obligatory charity in Islam. Some Muslim foundations fund scholarships from Zakat and ask applicants to show that they qualify as Zakat-eligible, which means they cannot pay for education costs from their own resources. The Aziz Foundation applies this test in its Imperial College London hydrology scholarship.

Scholarships for Muslim Students: Comparison Table

Scholarship	Funder	Level	Amount	Latest deadline seen	Core eligibility
Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship	Maulana Azad Education Foundation	Class 9–12	INR 5,000 (about 55 USD) in Class 9–10; INR 6,000 (about 67 USD) in Class 11–12, per year	31 Oct 2026	Girls from notified minorities; family income below INR 2 lakh
Post-Matric Scholarship for Minorities	Ministry of Minority Affairs	Class 11 to PhD	Varies by course	Around 31 Oct 2026	Notified minority student; income and marks conditions apply
Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB Joint Programme	YTB and Islamic Development Bank	Associate to PhD	Tuition, accommodation, health insurance and stipend	10 Jan–20 Feb 2026	Citizens of IsDB member countries or Muslim communities worldwide
Dr. Abdulmunim A. Shakir Scholarship	ISNA	First-year undergraduate	Up to 1,000 USD	26 Jun 2026	Muslim US high-school senior; US citizen or permanent resident; GPA 3.0 or higher
Islamic Education Scholarship	Muslim Youth Leadership Awards	Undergraduate	Varies	30 Apr 2026	Enrolled in a formal Islamic education programme; income caps apply
Aziz Foundation – Imperial Hydrology Scholarship	Aziz Foundation	MSc	Full home tuition	30 Apr 2026	Offer for MSc Hydrology; community contribution; Zakat-eligible or in financial need
University of Birmingham Islam Scholarship	University of Birmingham	MA	Up to 100% tuition	25 Mar 2026	New MA Islamic Studies student
Gliozzo Scholarship	Michigan State University	Undergraduate	700 USD	9 Jan 2026	MSU student; GPA 3.3 or higher; 300-word statement
ICF Annual Higher Education Scholarship	Islamic Center of Fayetteville	Undergraduate	500 USD (two awards)	6 Mar 2026	Muslim student from the Fayetteville, NC community; proof of enrolment
Tamil Nadu Overseas PG Scholarship	Government of Tamil Nadu	Postgraduate abroad	INR 36 lakh (about 40,000 USD) per student	Annual notification	Minority Muslim students from Tamil Nadu

Rupee conversions are approximate. Amounts and deadlines refer to the latest cycle we found, so confirm them on the official page before you apply.

Who Should Apply and Who Should Not Apply

You should apply if your country, level of study, community status and income match a scheme’s written conditions. Eligibility rules decide the outcome before any ranking begins, so read the conditions first.

You should apply if

You are a girl in Class 9 to 12 in India, you belong to a notified minority community and your family income is below INR 2 lakh per year. Begum Hazrat Mahal fits you.
You are an Indian student in Class 11 or above who belongs to a notified minority community. The Post-Matric Scholarship is the broadest central option.
You are an international student with strong grades who wants a fully funded degree in Türkiye. Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB accepts students from Islamic Development Bank member countries and from Muslim communities in other countries.
You are a Muslim high-school senior in the United States with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, plus volunteer and leadership experience. The ISNA scholarship rewards that profile.
You are a postgraduate applicant in the United Kingdom who can show community service and financial need. The Aziz Foundation awards target that profile.
You plan to study Islam or Muslim societies. University awards at Birmingham and Michigan State reward that choice.

You should not apply if

You already hold another government scholarship. Students are usually allowed to take only one government scholarship at a time.
You belong to a community that the scheme does not list. Minority schemes cover only the notified communities.
Your family income exceeds the ceiling. The ceiling is a hard cut-off in most government schemes.
You hold another award that the new award excludes. The University of Birmingham Islam Scholarship, for example, cannot be held together with any other scholarship.
You live outside the funder’s geographic scope. The Fayetteville award serves only that local community, and the ISNA award serves only US citizens and permanent residents.

Step-by-Step Application Guide

The application route depends on the funder. The four routes below cover the most common cases.

Route 1: Indian minority scholarships (National Scholarship Portal)

Visit the National Scholarship Portal and read the guidelines for your scheme.
Complete One-Time Registration (OTR). The portal issues an OTR ID that you reuse every year.
Log in and fill the application form for the 2026–27 session.
Upload your documents in the required format and size.
Submit and finalise the application. The portal rejects unfinalised drafts automatically on the closing date.
Wait for institute-level verification. Your school or college must verify the application, and verification continues for roughly 15 to 30 days after the student deadline.
Receive payment through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The funder pays the amount into your Aadhaar-linked bank account only after every verification level approves the application.

Route 2: Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB Joint Programme

Check the eligible countries and fields on the official Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB announcement.
Apply only through the Türkiye Scholarships website. The programme accepts no applications elsewhere.
Select “Yes” under the “Joint Scholarship Programs” section of the application screen. Without this selection, the system does not consider you for the joint programme.
Choose your level: Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD.
Submit within the window. The 2026 window ran from 10 January to 20 February.

Route 3: US community and national awards

Confirm residency and status. The ISNA scholarship requires US citizenship or permanent residency.
Prepare your essay. ISNA requires an essay, and the ICF Fayetteville scholarship asks you to explain why you attend college and how your education benefits your Islamic community.
Document your volunteer work and leadership. ISNA selects on academic achievement, leadership and volunteer service.
Attach proof of enrolment or acceptance where the funder requests it.
Submit before the window closes. The ISNA window ran from 29 April to 26 June 2026.

Route 4: UK and university awards

Secure an offer or submit a complete programme application first. The Aziz Foundation – Imperial award requires an offer or a complete application for the MSc.
Write the statement. The Aziz Foundation asks for a statement of no more than 1,000 words that explains how you meet its criteria and how you will use the scholarship.
Submit the funding form. For the University of Birmingham Islam Scholarship, you complete a specific online funding application form alongside your MA application.
Respect the timing. Birmingham set its 2026 deadline at 25 March at 12:00 noon GMT.

Required Documents Explained

Required documents prove identity, community status, income and academic standing. Funders reject applications when a document is missing, unreadable or inconsistent with the form.

Documents for Indian minority scholarships

Document	What it proves	Common problem
Aadhaar card	Identity	Name spelling differs from school records
Income certificate	Family income below the ceiling	Certificate is expired or missing
Minority community certificate or self-declaration	Membership of a notified minority	Wrong format uploaded
Previous-year marksheet	Academic eligibility	Blurred or cropped scan
School or college bonafide certificate	Current enrolment	Not signed or stamped
Aadhaar-linked bank passbook	Payment destination	Account is not seeded for DBT

Documents for international and private awards

Essay or statement of purpose: shows motivation and community contribution.
Transcripts or GPA proof: show academic standing against thresholds such as 3.0 (ISNA) or 3.3 (Gliozzo).
Proof of acceptance or enrolment: shows that you will use the award at an accredited institution.
Proof of financial need or Zakat eligibility: required by need-based and Zakat-funded awards, such as the Aziz Foundation award and the Islamic Education Scholarship, which sets family income caps from 80,000 USD for small families up to 120,000 USD for families of seven or more.
Passport and nationality evidence: required for the Türkiye programme to confirm your country or Muslim community status.

Common Mistakes Applicants Make

Most rejections follow avoidable errors rather than weak profiles. Applicants repeat the same mistakes across schemes.

Linking the wrong bank account. The funder pays through DBT, so your account must be active, seeded with Aadhaar and mapped for DBT. A mismatch blocks payment.
Leaving the form in draft. The portal auto-rejects incomplete or unfinalised applications on the closing date.
Ignoring institute verification. The institute must verify your application, and unverified applications do not reach the next level.
Uploading the wrong income certificate or none at all. Income-based schemes cannot process an application without it.
Applying in the last week. Servers slow down near deadlines, and several guides advise finishing before the final weeks.
Applying to a scheme you cannot hold alongside another. Duplicate benefits can disqualify you.
Writing a generic essay. Essay-based awards reward specific community service, leadership and field-of-study reasons. The ICF Fayetteville award, for instance, asks how your education benefits your Islamic community.
Missing the funder’s own entry condition. Türkiye applicants who skip the “Yes” selection in the Joint Scholarship Programs section do not enter the joint programme.

Selection Process Explained

Selection combines eligibility screening, verification and, for some awards, ranking by merit or need. The process differs by funder type.

Government schemes

Government schemes screen for eligibility first. Then they verify documents at several levels. For Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Maulana Azad Education Foundation fixes quotas state by state and community by community, based on Census 2011 minority population figures. The funder releases payment only after all verification levels approve the application. Because of the quotas, a strong applicant in a state with a small quota can face more competition than the same applicant elsewhere.

Foundation and community awards

Foundations rank applicants on stated criteria. ISNA selects on academic achievement, leadership experience and volunteer service. The Gliozzo Scholarship uses a minimum GPA of 3.3 and a 300-word statement about your interest in the Muslim world. The Aziz Foundation assesses advocacy, community service and financial need.

University awards

Universities often assess scholarship applications together with the admission application. Birmingham evaluates the Islam Scholarship as part of the application to the MA Islamic Studies programme, so a weak admission file weakens the funding case.

International merit programmes

The Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB Joint Programme targets high-achieving students from Islamic Development Bank member countries and from Muslim communities in other countries. The Islamic Development Bank co-funds the programme with the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB). Applicants who complete postgraduate study under this programme have previously been required to repay 50 percent of their monthly stipend in instalments after they find employment, so confirm the current repayment terms before you accept.

Previous Years’ Trends

Deadline windows for Muslim-student scholarships repeat from year to year, and the funders change amounts, names and conditions more slowly than dates. The table below shows what we found.

Scheme	Earlier cycle	Latest cycle	Observation
Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB	10 Jan–20 Feb 2023	10 Jan–20 Feb 2026	Identical window across at least three years; the 2026 page lists Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD levels
National Scholarship Portal	Annual session	Opened 1 Jun 2026; most scholarships close around 31 Oct 2026	Portal opens in June and closes in late October
Begum Hazrat Mahal	Earlier called the Maulana Azad National Scholarship for Meritorious Girls Belonging to Minorities	Applications for 2026–27 opened 1 Jun 2026	Scheme renamed; Class 9–12 scope retained
Tamil Nadu overseas scheme	Earlier cycles not verified	INR 3.60 crore for 10 students in 2025–26, announced 3 Oct 2025	Fixed number of awards, so competition stays high
ISNA Shakir Scholarship	Earlier cycles not verified	29 Apr–26 Jun 2026	Spring-to-summer window

Three trends stand out. First, windows repeat, so last year’s dates predict next year’s dates reasonably well. Second, the portal’s heavy traffic arrives in the final weeks before 31 October. Third, overseas and fully funded schemes offer few seats for many applicants, while domestic minority schemes serve far more students.

Our Research Notes

We compared twelve Muslim-student scholarship windows to find the timing pattern and to give you a practical planning tool. These notes come from our own review of official and funder pages.

Finding 1: Seven of twelve tracked deadlines fall between January and April

We tracked twelve application windows. Seven close between January and April: Gliozzo (9 Jan), Türkiye–IsDB (20 Feb), UMKC (1 Mar), ICF Fayetteville (6 Mar), Birmingham (25 Mar), and both the Aziz Foundation – Imperial and Islamic Education Scholarship awards (30 Apr). The remaining five close between June and December. A student who starts in January misses most of the first group, so start your preparation in the autumn.

Finding 2: The deadline calendar

Month	Window to watch
January	Gliozzo (MSU) closes; Türkiye–IsDB opens
February	Türkiye–IsDB closes; Islamic Education Scholarship opens
March	UMKC, ICF Fayetteville and Birmingham close
April	Aziz Foundation – Imperial and Islamic Education Scholarship close; ISNA opens
June	ISNA closes; National Scholarship Portal opens
October	National Scholarship Portal central schemes close; Karnataka SSLC and 2nd PUC minority incentive listed for 31 Oct
November–December	Karnataka overseas scholarship (30 Nov) and MPhil/PhD fellowship (31 Dec) are listed by an aggregator; verify on the state portal

Finding 3: Choose your lane in under a minute

If you are…	Start with…
A girl in Class 9–12 in India	Begum Hazrat Mahal
An Indian student in Class 11 or above	Post-Matric Scholarship, then your state scheme
A student who wants a fully funded degree in Türkiye	Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB
A US high-school senior	ISNA, then local masjid awards
A UK postgraduate applicant	Aziz Foundation and the university’s own awards
A student of Islamic studies	University-specific awards such as Birmingham and Gliozzo

Finding 4: The rejection-risk checklist

Run this check before you press submit:

Bank account is active and linked with Aadhaar
Income certificate is current
Minority certificate or self-declaration is in the required format
Names match across Aadhaar, marksheet and bank records
Application is finalised, not saved as a draft
Institute knows that it must verify the application
You hold no other scholarship that conflicts
You submitted at least one week before the deadline

For related planning, read our guides to scholarships for girl students, scholarships for children of single parents and fully funded scholarships abroad.

FAQs

Which scholarship is best for Muslim students?

No single scholarship is best, because the right award depends on your country, level of study and income. School-going girls in India suit the Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship. College students in India suit the Post-Matric Scholarship. Students who want a fully funded degree abroad should check Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB.

Is there a scholarship only for Muslim students?

Yes, several awards accept only Muslim students. The ISNA Dr. Abdulmunim A. Shakir Scholarship targets Muslim high-school seniors in the United States. The Aziz Foundation targets Muslim students in Britain. Indian minority schemes cover Muslims together with five other notified communities, so they are not Muslim-only.

Who is eligible for minority scholarships in India?

Students from notified minority communities are eligible. The six communities are Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi. Each scheme adds conditions such as class level, minimum marks and a family income ceiling. Begum Hazrat Mahal, for example, accepts only girls in Classes 9 to 12 with family income below INR 2 lakh.

What is the income limit for minority scholarships?

The income limit depends on the scheme. Begum Hazrat Mahal sets the ceiling at INR 2 lakh per year (about 2,200 USD), and the Uttar Pradesh pre-matric minority scholarship lists the same figure. One Karnataka listing shows INR 16 lakh for its overseas scholarship. Always read the current guidelines before you apply.

Can Muslim girls get a scholarship for Class 9 to 12?

Yes. The Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship supports girls from notified minority communities in Classes 9 to 12. Students in Classes 9 and 10 receive INR 5,000 per year, and students in Classes 11 and 12 receive INR 6,000. Applicants apply through the National Scholarship Portal and need family income below INR 2 lakh.

Are there fully funded scholarships for Muslim students abroad?

Yes. Türkiye Scholarships – IsDB typically covers tuition, accommodation, health insurance and a monthly stipend at Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD levels. The University of Birmingham Islam Scholarship covers up to 100 percent of tuition for the MA in Islamic Studies, but it does not cover living costs.

Can international Muslim students apply for Türkiye scholarships?

Yes. The joint programme accepts students from Islamic Development Bank member countries and Muslim communities in other countries. Applicants apply only through the Türkiye Scholarships website and select “Yes” under the Joint Scholarship Programs section. The 2026 application window ran from 10 January to 20 February.

Can I hold more than one scholarship at a time?

Usually no. Students are typically allowed to take only one government scholarship at a time. Private awards vary, and the University of Birmingham Islam Scholarship cannot be held with another scholarship. Read each scheme’s rules before you apply, and confirm in writing with the funder if you plan to combine awards.

What documents are needed for minority scholarships?

Indian minority schemes usually ask for an Aadhaar card, income certificate, minority community self-declaration, previous-year marksheet, bonafide certificate and an Aadhaar-linked bank passbook. International awards add an essay or statement, transcripts, proof of acceptance or enrolment and, sometimes, proof of financial need.

Why do minority scholarship applications get rejected?

Most rejections follow avoidable errors. Reported causes include a bank account that is not linked to Aadhaar, a missing income certificate and an institute that never verified the application. The portal also rejects unfinalised drafts automatically on the closing date. Submit early and confirm that your institution completed its verification.

When does the National Scholarship Portal close for 2026–27?

The National Scholarship Portal opened on 1 June 2026. Most central scholarships close around 31 October 2026. Institute-level verification continues for roughly 15 to 30 days afterwards. Individual schemes and state portals can use different dates, so confirm your scheme’s deadline on the official portal before you start.

Is Zakat used to fund scholarships?

Some Muslim charitable foundations fund scholarships from Zakat, which is obligatory charity in Islam. These funders ask applicants to show that they qualify as Zakat-eligible, meaning they cannot meet education costs themselves. The Aziz Foundation uses this test for its Imperial College hydrology scholarship. Check each funder’s own definition.

Conclusion

Scholarships for Muslim students fall into three lanes: government minority schemes, foundation and community awards, and university awards. The right lane depends on your country, your level of study and your family income. Prepare your documents early, finalise your application well before the deadline and confirm that your institution completes its verification. After you choose a lane, read our guide to common scholarship application mistakes and our walkthrough of the National Scholarship Portal to complete your application with confidence.