A "right" to beg

Also published in Daily Trust 

Street beggars staging a protest in Kano

As an utterly embarrassing social phenomenon that constitutes a choking public nuisance, street begging has for long been targeted for eradication by successive federal and state governments in the country. However, due to policy inconsistency, lack of effective implementation mechanism and some socio-cultural challenges, they have not been able to eradicate it.

It is noteworthy that, begging is basically haram i.e. forbidden under Islamic laws, hence the proceeds made from it are illicit. Yet, it is allowed under some specific and urgent circumstances, and for specific categories of people, as explained in the relevant verses of the noble Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah.

Incidentally, physical deformity or bodily disability per se is not an excuse let alone a license to beg. While an able-bodied man for instance could find himself in one of the circumstances allowing him to beg within the allowed framework, a disabled person can, within his limited physical ability, still pursue and acquire expertise in various fields and/or engage in various types of jobs and businesses to earn a living.

Anyway, as Kano state government moves to ban street begging, it remains to be seen how it would go about enforcing the laws, in view of the stiff opposition and possible resistance it faces from the army of street beggars and their apparently very influential apologists in the society, who have however failed to propose any realistic and sustainable alternative solution to the problem. This is because ban of street begging is one thing and eradicating it for good is another. For instance, while all what it takes to officially ban it are mere legislative and administrative formalities, eradicating it requires a deliberate implementation mechanism coupled with a firm resolve and political will to sustain the momentum until it is eradicated.

My scepticism is borne out of realization that, there are huge socio-cultural misconceptions, which in reality not only tolerate begging but effectively encourage it in the society. The persistent growth of the population of wandering people with various bodily disabilities can rightly be attributed to the failure of families and also the community at large, to live up to their responsibilities towards their dependents, the vulnerable and the less privileged in the society, due to sheer negligence or the influence of such socio-cultural misconceptions.

For instance, perhaps it is only in Hausa-Fulani dominated communities that one sees unkempt, barefooted and barely clothed children as young as two or three for instance being neglected by their parents and allowed to go out of their homes unaccompanied to roam the alleyways of the neighbourhood thereby exposing them to serious risks, exploitation and abuse.

After all, it is perhaps only the Hausa-Fulani that stigmatize the act of showing and expressing enough love and care to children based on the misconception that it may spoil their moral upbringing and undermine their ability to become righteous, self-sufficient and productive when they grow up.

Besides, the notorious culture of almajirci, which encourages dependence and begging under the pretext of pursuit of expertise in Qur’anic recitation and memorization, is equally responsible for the persistence of the culture of street begging in the society. By the way, in “Implicationsof being too emotionally reserved” {Daily Trust, Friday, March 23, 2012}, I discussed the implications of being too cold to show and express enough love to children and its negative impacts on their attitudes and how it affects their self-esteem when they grow up, which in turn affects their ability to achieve their potential in various aspects of life.

Anyway, though people in the society realize and admit that begging is bad; many of them don’t seem to realize the extent to which Islam abhors and warns against it. As a matter of fact, due the fact that beggars are particularly condoned in mosques and other Islamic centres, where they take advantage of people’s moments of utmost spirituality to manipulate their emotions with emotional invocation of some of the scared names of Allah the Almighty, they unfortunately managed to turn begging into a virtue of a sort pretending as though it is allowed or even encouraged in Islamic religion. They therefore barefacedly assume that it is their right to engage in this self-degrading business.

Interestingly enough, though I had expected the recent move to ban street begging by Kano state government to generate some controversy, I never thought that the beggars would go to the extent of staging a protest against it. In fact, they were quite unapologetic to the extent of repeatedly chanting Allahu Akbar during the protest, as I heard them on BBC Hausa service. To my utter shock, they were shamelessly determined to frustrate the ban as though they were deprived of one of their fundamental human rights. Perhaps, if this unfortunate situation persists, one can’t rule out a move by them to set up an organization to protect their “right” to beg, join the labour union and even go on strike to push for better recognition and “working” condition.

On a serious note anyway, in view of these challenges, one can easily conclude that the unfortunate phenomenon of street begging in Kano and other cities in particularly northern Nigeria can’t be simply eradicated at the stroke of a pen. In addition to legal instruments, it necessarily requires sustained and concerted efforts with the cooperation of Muslim scholars to sensitize parents and guardians on their responsibilities towards their children and dependents, as well as their duty to take a particular care of their disabled dependents by ensuring that they give them appropriate education, sound moral and professional training as their disabilities would allow.