Begging: A lucrative form of income in Hadramout [Archives:2006/941/Reportage]
By: Saeed Al-Batati
albatati88@yahoo.com
Hadramout mosques are on the verge of losing their sacredness due to an ever-increasing number of money seekers. Beggars have turned a place of worship into a place to practice their profession.
A few days ago, I left my home early in the morning and went to the nearby grocery to buy something for breakfast. I saw an elderly man sitting on the pavement in front of a building. He was in miserable condition.
“When does the mosque open?” he asked me. The man was on tenterhooks waiting for the mosque to open.
Similarly, a woman and her children were waiting outside the mosque. Both waited until the imam came and opened it.
Then, out of the blue, the frail man appeared and stood in front of the congregation asking for money. The woman was at the door for the same purpose.
Unlike begging on the street, where citizens have their hands full, beggars think mosques are a unique place to get money, as they are quiet and frequented by those who genuinely are charitable.
Hadramout is blessed with a high number of Gulf expatriates whose remittances provide financial stability for many families. This tempts beggars like “Abdullah,” who came from Aden to collect money to treat his daughter.
“My father heard a lot about openhanded people like Bouqshan and Al-Amoudi. I'm told it's easy to get a million riyals if these people know my problem,” he said, showing a medical report of his sister's health. “My sister has a small hole in one of her heart arteries. We need $3,000 urgently to treat her in Cairo.”
Beggars use different means to draw attention and compassion from philanthropists. They often display a sick child, telling worshippers stories of their sufferings. “I have 15 children and I must feed them. I've sold all of my possessions. I have nothing now. Please help me. What do you want us to eat? Do you want us to eat sand?” a beggar said with tears filling his eyes.
According to some locals, in some governorates, the physically handicapped are borrowed from their parents for a short time with some money paid in advance. They are used as a tactic to arouse citizens' sympathy and collect more money.
For some worshippers, the loud weeping of beggars gets on their nerves. “Mosques are now similar to theaters where beggars perform their play. We can't pray quietly,” Zain Bel Faqih complained.
Some imams believe their duties are restricted only to leading worshippers in prayers. “What do you want me to do? It's the responsibility of police to prevent them,” replied the imam of Al-Mukalla's Abu Baker Al-Sadeeq Mosque.
However, others like Khalid Al-Jabri prevent beggars from begging inside mosques. “I discovered four cases of deception. Beggars came to this mosque to scrounge – they either didn't have enough money to pay off debt or they couldn't afford food. When they were given the required money, they went to another mosque and did the same.”
Islam loathes begging. Islamic scholar professor Ali Mudaihi said begging in general is prohibited in Islam, which discourages such wicked behavior except if the beggar desperately needs money.
“If they are in need of money, then they must go to benefactors and charitable societies to get help. For me, it is difficult to identify professional beggars,” Al Shafei Mosque imam Hussein Alawi said. “If we didn't allow them to beg in mosques, they would resort to illegal means to get money.”
He laid the blame on wrong distribution of zakat. “If zakat is given to deserving people, no one would stand here asking for financial help,” he said.
Darweesh Saweed, manager of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor office, said they launched many campaigns in cooperation with police to clean streets and mosques of beggars and eradicate the dishonorable phenomenon. “Police rounded up dozens of beggars and put them in jail. Unfortunately, they all were released because there was no funding for food in Al-Mukalla Prison.”
According to official statistics, 95 percent of beggars come from Hodeidah governorate's Tihama, forming organized begging groups in Hadramout.
Saweed continued, “They come to the governorate in groups and then are deployed in main cities like Al-Mukalla and Sayoun and some nearby villages to practice their immoral profession.
“If the government gave us the required funds for food, I assure you we would crack down on the phenomenon within a week,” Saweed added.
The Ministry of the Endowment, which is in charge of mosques, has a leading role to play in stopping the farce in mosques. Manager Sheik Mohammed Ahmed expressed his profound sadness over the abusive phenomenon's proliferation. “Begging in mosques is a bad phenomenon that gives a negative picture of our society. It also indicates two things: Yemen's abject poverty and the habit of lying corrupting society.”
Mohammed added that he recently received a decree from the Minister of Endowment concerning the matter. “The minister ordered us not to prevent any type of money seeking in mosques, including begging for campaign contributions.”
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[archive-e:941-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-04-27-p:report]
