Saudi Gazette report MAKKAH — A number of pilgrims and visitors have confirmed that the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah and their outside plazas (courtyards) are free of beggars, thanks to the efforts of all the concerned parties including the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques. They, however, said the moment they are out of the plazas, they will find beggars, in large numbers, resorting to all kinds of tricks to gain their sympathy and support. The pilgrims and the visitors held different views over the presence of beggars in large numbers in the Two Holy Harams but were unanimous that the beggars were there especially to gain money from the pilgrims and visitors who are usually generous and giving during the fasting month. Fadi Ibrahim, an Egyptian pilgrim, who was spotted by Makkah daily giving money to one of the beggars, said he was going to give his Sadaqa (alms) to this beggar anyway because he waited a long time before he was given the permission to do the Umrah for his dead father. "I am offering this Umrah to the spirit of my father. I am also giving Sadaqa for him. Therefore there is no way I cannot give this poor beggar a Sadaqa money even if I was quite certain that he was cheating me and was not really poor," he said. Ibrahim said he was very happy to give Sadaqa to the poor in the name of his father so that Allah might reward him for this good deed. "I will not hesitate to do it again if I come for Umrah or Haj next time. I hope Allah will accept my alms and reward my dead father for this welfare act," he said. Ibrahim said he noted the absence of beggars from the interior of the two Holy Harams but was quick to spot them when he crossed the plazas. Thabit Al-Otaibi, a pilgrim from Makkah, lauded the efforts of the presidency in preventing begging inside the holy mosques but said outside the boundaries of the two Harams, it is a different story. "The responsibility of the presidency is limited to the boundaries of the two Holy Harams only. Outside these limits, it is the duty of other government parties to ban begging which in fact they are not," he said. Al-Otaibi said the success of the presidency in preventing begging inside the two Holy Harams is enough proof that this bad phenomenon could also end outside them. He said nobody can blame the philanthropists and welfare lovers for giving money to beggars. "These benevolent people are seeking reward from Allah for their good deeds. Nobody can blame them for this act of benevolence but it is the responsibility the concerned government departments to completely end the existence of beggars outside the two holy mosques," he said. Al-Otaibi asked the concerned government and private authorities to spread awareness among the charitable people not to give money to the poor because they may use it to finance criminal operations against the country and its people.
