Muslims Defying Ulama: Giving Zakatul Fitr to Street Beggars

Muslim Street Beggars

Zakatul fitr is a compulsory charity that matured Muslims give to the poor either in the last three days of Ramadan or in the few hours preceding Salatul Eid. 

In recent years, scholars in Nigeria have been voicing their
disapproval of Muslims giving their Zakatul Fitr to beggars on the streets. According to them, street beggars do not fall in the category of people who deserve to be given charity. 

In Nigeria, there has been a growing trend of Muslims scorning beggars. This is ironic considering the fact that most of the beggars in Nigeria are Muslims; particularly from Northern Nigeria. 

The beggars are on the streets for different reasons. Some of them are old people who cannot  work, some of them have been incapacitated by fatal injuries, some of them have lost their eye sights (blind), some of them have been crippled by polio and congenital diseases and for some; they have simply looked front and back and found no assistance. 

Some Muslims scorn beggars because non Muslims often make a mockery of Muslims. They say Muslims are so unproductive that begging has become a profession among Muslims. 

Northern Nigeria is a place where there is a strong chain between the political leaders, the traditional leaders, and the ‘Muslim’ scholars. 

Whatever the political leaders want; they relate to the traditional leaders. The traditional leaders relate this message to the Muslim scholars and the scholars pass it down to the Muslim masses using twisted interpretations of the scriptures to hold the masses to ransom.

Poverty is widespread in Nigeria. According to World Poverty Clock in June 2018, 50% (86 million) of Nigerians live in extreme poverty. From local observation, most of the poor in Nigeria are Muslims of northern origin. An update from the World Poverty Clock showed that the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty has increased to 91 million in 2019. 

Poor leadership and corruption have been identified as the major causes of poverty in Nigeria. Poverty manifests itself in different ways depending on the nature of the people involved. 

Northern Nigeria being the most Islamic part of Nigeria has its own mechanism for coping with poverty. In this region, poverty majorly manifests itself in street begging and the almajiri system. 

In southern Nigeria where people combine religion with idol worship, people venture into prostitution, ritual killing armed robbery, kidnapping, baby farming, vandalism, militancy and a host of other societal vices to cope with poverty. 

In a bid to hide the irresponsibility of political leaders, ‘Muslim’ scholars have been trying to put a damper on the poverty crisis among Nigerian Muslims, particularly in the North. Consequently, ‘scholars’ have been doing their damnedest to lay a guilt trip on the Muslim community; blaming individual Muslims for the poverty in the community thereby exonerating the leaders. 

Several Masajid have stopped beggars from coming to seek assistance within their vicinities arguing that the beggars make other worshippers uncomfortable. Despite the pulchritude of this argument, its proponents seem to be casting a pall over the fact that the wealthy, influential and the intelligentsia of the Muslim community owe a duty to the destitute in the community. 

The nature of this duty might be subject to debate but the duty exists scripturally.

“And in their wealth is a recognized right. For the (needy) who asks and the one who is deprived.”  Suratul Ma'arij (70:24-25)

On the day of Eid, Muslims are still being seen giving their grains (Zakatul fitr) to waiting beggars on the streets in defiance of the Imams who keep preaching against it on pulpits across the nation. 

This made apparent two things:

• Muslims are willing to assist their poor brothers and sisters and
• There is a growing gap between the Muslims masses and scholars.

If scholars keep trying to make Muslims scorn beggars without addressing the issues that push people to beg in the first place then, the scholars will go on to lose the little reputation they have left and become a nonentity in the Ummah.