Leadership
(Abuja)
S. B. Mohammed
8 October 2008
column
As the commuter bus I boarded negotiated the famous Apapa roundabout in Lagos, I was still contemplating the possibility of going back to Abuja that Wednesday afternoon.
Suddenly, my thought was interrupted by some exogenous forces. And I intuitively looked out of the bus to obey my senses. Lo and behold, They were still there in their multitude, passionately conducting their business, in spite of the suppressed scorn on the faces of their prospective benefactors. As usual, they were shabbily dressed, sweaty and scrawny. They represented a cocktail in terms of gender and age. They were, however, united by their ancestral root and profession: They were beggars (Almajirai) of Northern extraction!
I did my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Lagos about seven years ago and whenever I was going home after work, I passed through the Apapa roundabout. Because I always saw the beggars at that particular roundabout, their presence became so engraved in my subconscious mind. Little wonder, the gloomy and pitiable picture they presented, which I thought belonged to a distant past, came back to me forcefully this Wednesday afternoon. And as in the past, an avalanche of questions and emotions overwhelmed me; questions so germane and emotions so deep.
What is the origin of begging in northern Nigeria? Why are the majority of beggars in Nigeria Northern muslims? What is the position of Islam on begging? Who is/are responsible for this sorry state of affairs? What are the effects of begging on the society? How can this demeaning spectacle be eradicated in Northern Nigeria? I shall attempt to answer these questions in the course of this article.
The word "Almajiri", the singular form of "Almajirai", emanated from the Arabic word "Al-Muhajirin", meaning the emigrant. In its original form, it referred to Prophet Muhammad's migration from the hostilities of Mecca to the freedom of Medina. In Nigeria, the concept was popularised by the scholarly and reformist travels of Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio, the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate. Dan Fodio traveled from Gobir Kingdom to such places as Saudi Arabia and Sudan to seek for knowledge. He eventually became a globally revered Islamic scholar and wrote more than one hundred books concerning religion, government, culture and society. It is instructive that Dan Fodio's first teacher was his father, at whose insistence he left home for his itinerant scholarship. This was the golden kind of Almajiranci which flourished in Northern Nigeria for so many decades, but which, unfortunately, has been so compromised and corrupted by some parents who hide under the guise of educating their children to shy away from their responsibilities.
Today, begging, which could take many forms, has been promoted to an art by my Northern brothers and sister. It could take the shape of parents taking their under-aged children from the village to some mallam (mostly half baked and jobless) in the city with little or nothing for the children's sustenance. Auwalu Dan Bala, a Mallam, who runs a Makarantar allo in Kano tells us how these innocent kids are turned into beggars: "Parents just bring their children to us and never care to even visit or send food and money for their up keep. This leaves us with no option but to send them out to beg". These kids, therefore, organise themselves into a mob of shrill chanting, sympathy evoking group visible at motor parks, petrol stations, restaurants, beer parlour and even brothels begging for alms.
It could also manifest in the form of adults, some as healthy as any one can be – sitting, standing or walking at strategic locations begging. Some of the men shamelessly display injuries that they have deliberately allowed to fester, while some of the women brandish their infant children as if they were some wares.
Another kind of begging is that which Abba Gana Shettima, Daily Trust columnist, described as "blue collar beggars". These are the indolent men who spend the whole day in the house of an Alhaji who is responsible for the day's feeding. We also have in this class some lazy men who constantly go their friend's offices and houses for "welfare".
It is noteworthy that these beggars do not feel ashamed of their very shameful deed. In fact, they do it with amazing confidence, if not panache. How can a man be so immune to the slightest sense of self worth? Why do parents knowingly force their children into begging? These questions, indeed, beg for answers because Islam categorically forbids begging for all Muslims except in some rare occasions. The Holy Prophet (SAW) was very specific when he said: "Begging is not permissible except for one of three reasons: a man who has taken upon himself a large payment (for a good purpose such as achieving peace between two warring tribes), he may ask others for help until he can fulfill his pledge; a man who has suffered disaster that has left him without money, he may ask other people's help until he can meet his needs by himself; and a man who has suffered financial loss to an extent that makes three wise people in his community say that he has suffered such a loss, he may ask other people's help until he can get his situation improved. Except for these cases, begging is fire, devouring fire" (related by muslim).
In another tradition, the Prophet had said: "Begging is similar to scratching the flesh off your face; so if someone wants to save his face, he should avoid it, except for asking from your ruler or asking in case of dire need" (reported by Abu Dawud and An-Nisa'i).
Again, the Holy Prophet had averred that: "A person who keeps begging meets Allah on the day of resurrection with no flesh on his face".
From the foregoing, it is obvious that unless in very dire circumstances, which must be temporary, begging is prohibited in Islam and whoever engages in it should be responsible for the consequences. Then, why the plethora of Muslim beggars in Nigeria?
I think under-aged beggars are a product of our collective failure as Muslims. Article 7(a) of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) Declaration of Human Rights in Islam particularly states as follows: "At the moment of birth, every child has rights due from the parents, society and the state; to be accorded proper nursing, education and material, hygiene and moral care".
Without prejudice to this provision, however, the parents should get the stick for contaminating the innocence of these lads. Several verses of the Holy Qur'an and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) have educated us on the rights of children against their parents or guardians. Omran A. R. succinctly articulates these rights in "Family planning in the legacy of Islam (1992)". He emphasised that parents owe their children "the rights to genetic purity, to life, to legitimacy and good name, to breast feeding, shelter, maintenance and support (including health care and nutrition), to future security, religious training and good up bringing, education (irrespective of gender and other factors), training in sports and self defense, to equitable treatment, and to the fact that all funds utilized in their support derive only from legitimate sources". It is sad to note that going by the very conservative census of the National Council for the Welfare of Destitutes in Nigeria, about seven million children in northern Nigeria have been betrayed by their own parents and denied these rights!
For adult and "white collar beggars" however, the blame should go, first to the beggars, then the state. Most of my northern brothers don't exert themselves and they are ignorant of true Islam.
A true muslim is never lazy. He strives at all times to improve his lots, regardless of the accident of his birth or the circumstances of his existence. Indeed, laziness is one of the most detested bad characters in Islam, so much so that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) used to pray thus: "O Allah, I seek refuge in you from inability (to do well), laziness, cowardice, feebleness and stinginess".
It is necessary to note that in the last political dispensation, most of the Northern states were governed by leaders who were anything but patriotic. These men abused their offices and diverted resources meant for the development of their states into their pockets. By so doing, they encouraged, nay forced, some otherwise decent men to become parasites.
We, as members of the society also encourage begging. While it is debatable whether it is acceptable to give alms to under-aged beggars, it is certainly unacceptable to do so to able-bodied men. I took a decision a long time ago never to give alms to any able bodied beggar because it is wrong, very wrong! Have you ever seen the Igbo or Yoruba man begging? Probably. But I assure you that any Igbo or Yoruba man you see begging qualifies to beg even within the very strict exhortations of begging in Islam.
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