Stop helping street beggars: Saudi top scholar

Saudi Arabia’s top Islamic scholar has urged the public to stop giving money to street beggars, saying the alms is only giving rise to this negative behavior.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Shaikh, the Gulf Kingdom’s Mufti (Islamic spiritual chief), said most of those who beg on the country’s streets are not really poor as they can work.

“Most of these beggars practice this negative phenomenon although they are able to work…giving them money is only encouraging them to continue begging,” he said, quoted by newspapers in the world’s largest oil exporter.

“We should be careful about such things…we need to make sure those who ask for money really deserve to be given…not every beggar should be given money.”

Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy, has been locked in a campaign against begging following a surge in their number, mostly Arab, African and Asian expatriates. More than 10,000 beggars were arrested in 2012.

Begging is strictly banned in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil producers on the grounds expatriates come as per job contracts.

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