The Houthis compete with the poor in entitlement to zakat
English - Monday 03 May 2021 الساعة 01:15 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
The Houthi militia converted the blessed month of Ramadan into spoils to plunder people's money, under the heading of "zakat", and created the "General Authority for Zakat" outside the law, to acquire the remaining financial resources for the poor, which God Almighty has specified in his Noble Book.
Merchants in the capital, Sana'a, young and old, complain that the Houthi militia imposed on them amounts of "zakat" that exceeds one-tenth, without referring to the financial accounts and assets provided by the merchants.
One of the merchants told "NewsYemen", "We paid the Zakat imposed on us legally twice as much as we pay each year, and we will apologize to the poor families that we take care of every year, as we have paid it to the Houthis."
He added, "The illegal royalties that we pay to the Houthis under threat, took away the money we were paying to help poor families who used to receive money from merchants annually."
The merchants confirm that the zakat they provided does not reach those who deserve it according to what is specified by Allah's Book, but rather goes to the militia leaders who are used to plundering everything, including the zakat money that God imposed from the money of the rich for the poor.
The Zakat revenues of the Houthi militia last year amounted to about 70 billion riyals, but it is estimated that it will increase at a rate of double this year, as the militia has recruited groups and individuals to collect zakat from Yemenis, whose number exceeded more than 46 thousand people, supported by armed patrols.
Reports confirm that the Houthi militia has turned the Zakat Authority into a private resource for its dynasty and the service of its sectarian ideas.
Document and statements of disbursements and pledges of the General Authority for Zakat, which have been circulated by the media, confirming the Houthis' possession, especially of their political, military and security leaders, with the titles "Hashemite" from the top of their leadership hierarchy to the bottom, of billions of riyals of zakat funds.
Since the Houthi militia took control of the state by force of arms in late 2014, the number of poor people in Yemen has increased by 78 percent of the total population.
