In order to analyze modern forms of auto insurance and other automotive services, one must first look deeper into traditional understandings of employment and evaluate its scope for expansion to encompass modern day transactions. Based on traditional works of the jurists, this resolution focuses on service-based employment and establishes permissibility for collateral and comprehensive auto insurance, as well as AAA membership.

The crux of the objection to dry cleaning lies in the reusing of the same solvent through numerous wash loads, and that the latter loads come in contact with the solvent made impure through a prior load, assuming that load contained impure clothes, which renders clothes washed via dry cleaning impure. This resolution delves into the Sharia’s objective in its recommended washing procedures and how the current dry cleaning procedures serve that objective.

This resolution states that transgender individuals who undergo Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) and/or hormone therapy do not transform into another sex and the rulings of the original sex continue to apply. In order to determine sex transformation, one must understand the definition of sex, when the Sharia considers genuine transmutation, and the extent of the results of SRS and hormone therapy. The resolution also demonstrates the difference between transgender and intersex individuals and the flaw in deriving rulings of the former based off the jurists’ guidance in determining the sex of the latter.

This resolution states that the nisab of money must be set against the nisab of gold, as opposed to silver, in order to accomplish the zakat principle of maximizing benefit for the poor. Although the jurists instructed to use the lower of the two nisab based on their intent to maximize the benefit for the poor, the resolution argues that one does not find that benefit in the low nisab value of silver given its devaluation, along with increased living and udhiyyah costs.

The interest-based student debt crisis exceeds $1.4 trillion and impacts 44 million people in the US, including Muslims. A prepaid tuition plan lets an individual purchase units or credits, at current prices, for a beneficiary’s education in the future. This resolution analyzes such plans, along with its Sharia compliance, concluding that these are permissible forward service (ijarah mudafah) contracts.

This resolution declares that employer-sponsored life insurance does not meet the definition of impermissible insurance contracts and, instead, falls within the ruling of a gift. Employers rarely make these payments from their own accounts, but almost always contract with life insurance providers. This resolution analyzes whether the Sharia laws of financial transactions apply to non-Muslim dealings among one another in non-Muslim lands.

Scientists have successfully grown meat in labs by using cells extracted from live animals. It is possible to eat meat from an animal that is still alive, as well as meat that was never part of any animal. This resolution analyzes lab-grown meat using muscle stem cells from animals and induced pluripotent stem cells from bird feathers, and it explains the impermissibility of the former and the permissibility of the latter.

Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPP) offers employees a tax-advantaged investment option while securing increased motivation and loyalty in return. However, the plans combine a complex set of interactions and its structure raises a few objections. This resolution breaks down the ESPP into the relevant Sharia financial transactions and answers the potential objections raised against its permissibility.

Emergency contraception poses the juridical question of whether a postcoital contraceptive constitutes an abortifacient in Islam. In order to answer, one must first define whether a pregnancy starts from fertilization or implantation, and then understand the mechanisms of action of the common emergency contraceptive pills (Plan B and ella) and the copper intrauterine device (Paragard IUD).

More than 25 million people in the US rely on inhaled medication to control their asthma, which poses a challenge to Muslims for fasting. Valved Holding Chambers (VHCs) deliver the medication in the form of imperceptible aerosolized droplets and minimize oropharyngeal deposition. This resolution analyzes the principles of what invalidates the fast and applies it to VHCs.

Approximately 79% of Americans work for an employer that offers a 401(k), and more than 60 million participate in such a plan, including many Muslims. This resolution establishes principles of differentiating between trade and investment assets and applies them to determine the ruling on zakat on 401(k). It also addresses whether penalty and taxes are valid debts for subtraction in a 401(k) zakat calculation.

Alimony is spousal support from either gender that extends beyond the termination of the marriage. With statutes in all states, alimony forms a part of many Muslim divorce proceedings. This resolution addresses financial obligations for spousal support, securing rights through non-Muslim courts, and one’s personal responsibility if a court rules contrary to the Sharia.

This resolution addresses two contentious issues within a spousal separation: child custody and child support. It clarifies and contextualizes these rules with discussions on legal custody, physical custody, best interests of the child, visitation rights, and financial responsibility toward children, as well as one’s personal responsibility if a court rules contrary to the Sharia.