Sheikhah Umm Jamaal ud-Din
Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
All praise and gratitude are due to Allah SWT. May the blessings and peace of Allah SWT be upon His Messenger PBUH.
Dear brother/sister,
As HECS debt is a type of debt that may be deferred and paid periodically, it is permissible to give priority to marriage over paying it off, and this is especially in the case where you fear falling into fitnah (temptation) due to remaining unmarried.
Even in cases where the payment of the debt was due immediately, you feared falling into fitnah, and you weren’t able to pay it off, nor were you able to afford the costs of marriage, scholars recommend negotiating with the creditor to extend the time available to you to pay off the debt, in order to enable you to get married. However, if the debt was immediately due and you didn’t fear falling into fitnah, this is generally where paying off the debt would take precedence, due to the words of the Prophet PBUH narrated in Al-Bukhari and Muslim: “ مطل الغني ظلم”, which translates to “Delay in payment by one with wealth) is a transgression.”
And Allah knows best.