The Prophet’s birthday.. an annual season to blackmail merchants and enrich Houthi supervisors
English - Tuesday 05 October 2021 الساعة 10:44 am
Sana'a, NewsYemen, private:
About 20 days before the occasion, the Houthi militia - the Iranian arm in Yemen - began imposing new royalties on workers in the commercial sector in Sana'a and its neighboring governorates under the name of participating in the celebration of the Prophet's birthday, which falls on the 12th of Rabi` Al-Awal every year.
The Houthi militia directed all officials of local authorities, executive offices, institutions, and official bodies to hold celebration events / appearances on the occasion and impose additional financial levies on residents and workers in the commercial sector.
According to workers in the commercial sector in Sana'a who spoke to (Newsyemen), they received written messages asking them to contribute to the expected event by providing sums of money, food and drinks to the participants in the revival of the religious occasion.
The Houthi militia claims that, with such activities, it calls for “inspiring lessons and lessons from the Prophet’s biography and adhering to the morals and approach of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),” but at the same time, it harms citizens and burdens them by imposing additional royalties on them.
The Houthi militia imposed on the shops in the markets and public streets the hanging of canvas and light banners (green) along the fronts of their shops and the streets and sidewalks opposite them.
In a high-level meeting chaired by the Houthi leader, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, on Saturday, October 2, the Houthi militia decided to deduct a one-day premium for all civil servants to establish what it said was a “hospital or medical city in the name of the Greatest Messenger in the capital and governorates’ secretariat,” coinciding with the occasion of the prophet birthday.
At the meeting, the Houthi leader Shams al-Din Sharaf al-Din considered the Prophet’s birthday “a great occasion to draw people to the morals of the Prophet and the divine teachings that he carried to the worlds,” claiming that “the veneration of the actual Messenger is to follow his path and follow his path, which represents a cure for any deviations,” as he put it.
Since the coup of the Houthi militia in 2014, the occasion of the Prophet’s birthday has turned from a central, spiritual celebration in the hearts of Yemenis in areas controlled by the Houthi militia, to hypocritical manifestations and material burdens, blackmailing merchants, and an annual season of collections and enrichment for the group’s supervisors and influential people.
This comes in light of the suspension of the salaries of state employees since September 2016, the high prices of foodstuffs, medicines and oil derivatives, the deterioration of living conditions, the spread of diseases and epidemics, and the high rates of poverty to record numbers.
