Salam aleikum sheikh. I have a very important question about riba. I know its very haram to take riba. But me and my husband and our 3 small children live in a koffar country. My husband is trying to find job which is very difficult bcz the goverment discriminate foriners in this country especially muslims. Så until my husband have not find a job he is forced to study in school and take riba. I have niqab and if he dosent take the riba we will be forced to take money from the goverment but if we do that they will force me to take of my niqab which i wear bcz i have the opinion its fardh . I have look for a job where i can wear my niqab and work from home like daycare for small children and i will be their teacher. And when i get the job insha allah allhamdolillah my husband dosent need to take riba anymore. We both feel very sad that we are forced to take riba. We wish insha allah that allah will forgive us bcz we dont do it with happiness but we r forced for to keep my niqab . And also our plan is to in some years make hijrah insha allah for to save our children. Please give advice

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

What you have mentioned does not make Riba (interest and/or usury) permissible. Also, there is no harm in taking money from the government in a legitimate manner. Revealing your face in case of necessity is less serious than being involved in Riba, because anyone who consumes Riba or gives it to others to consume has been cursed; so Riba is only permissible in case of necessity. Allaah says (what means): {But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allaah is Forgiving and Merciful.} [Quran 2:173]

The degree of necessity that makes it permissible to consume what is forbidden is when a person with full legal capacity is in a situation whereby if he does not consume what is forbidden he will die or experience extreme hardship which he cannot endure without significant harm, and this hardship cannot be avoided except by consuming what is forbidden. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 103791.

Allaah knows best.