I recently saw a cell phone clip of a knife-wielding man approaching a dark-skinned boy, who appeared to be around seven years old. His arms and legs were tied. The man was shown brutally amputating one of the boy’s arms while the child hysterically screamed. The knife-wielding man then amputated the right leg of another child lying close by, who again screamed hysterically. Blood was splattered everywhere and the boys’ screams were horrific to listen.
I didn’t need any explanation to what I was witnessing. This was the work of a professional gang that kidnaps children and deliberately amputates their limbs in order to make them effective beggars. The only thing I was unable to identify was the filthy place where the horrible crime took place.
People psychologically feel compelled to give charity to anyone who may ask for their help. Islamic teachings prohibit Muslims from scolding beggars and the poor. Yet many people are unable to ascertain whether a beggar is truly needy and as a result many of us end up contributing to the ever-growing crisis of beggars across the Kingdom.
In other words, we complain about beggars, while we end up being one of the main reasons why the problem exists in the first place.
I have always wondered why no one knows about the gangs that control child beggars.
I recently discovered, through an official, that the majority of these children do not know the areas where they live. All that they know is that a car picks them up early in the morning and then picks them up again at the end of the day.
I believe that beggary is a dishonest way of making money; I also believe that governmental bodies cannot eradicate the problem by themselves. As long as citizens continue to give money to beggars, the numbers of people begging on our streets will continue to increase. People complain about beggars. The solution, however, lies in their own hands.
