Before I begin, I want to make clear that I don't mean any disrespect to anyone here in asking this question.
So I just came back from the supermarket and while I was paying for my groceries, the cashier asked me if I would like to donate some small amount of money to a charity that feeds the poor. I paid the money and this got me thinking.
The Saudi prince who was just arrested in London is one of ~5,000 (!) Saudi royals who receive any annual stipend equal to or exceeding $200,000. And I am sure in places like Abu Dhabi and Dubai and Qatar it's probably the same thing. In addition, hundreds of billions of dollars are spent each year on the construction of 5 star hotels and various white elephant projects (my opinion) and furthermore, many more billions are spent constructing mosques and madrassas around the world. But what I don't understand is if there is so much money in the Gulf countries, then why are there even poor and hungry people in the Middle East or even in the Arabian peninsula? Isn't Zakāt
one of the 5 pillars of Islam? I understand that some people will say that "there is only so much money to go around" or that "the construction of mosques and madrassas around the world IS an act of Zakāt", but if there are so many starving, disease-ridden, uneducated, unemployed, destitute people across the Muslim world (and even in the Middle East), then how is it possible to justify the construction of Mosques and madrassah's, for instance, "at the expense of" these peoples' lives? I guess what I don't understand is that if there is so much wealth in the Gulf countries, how is it possible that there still exists poverty anywhere on the Arabian peninsula?
Note: I have nothing against the construction of Mosques and madrassah's; but I question the priority of doing this when many people in the communities served by these facilities live in abject poverty. My question isn't worded exactly as I would like it to be, but I hope my point is clear.
So I just came back from the supermarket and while I was paying for my groceries, the cashier asked me if I would like to donate some small amount of money to a charity that feeds the poor. I paid the money and this got me thinking.
The Saudi prince who was just arrested in London is one of ~5,000 (!) Saudi royals who receive any annual stipend equal to or exceeding $200,000. And I am sure in places like Abu Dhabi and Dubai and Qatar it's probably the same thing. In addition, hundreds of billions of dollars are spent each year on the construction of 5 star hotels and various white elephant projects (my opinion) and furthermore, many more billions are spent constructing mosques and madrassas around the world. But what I don't understand is if there is so much money in the Gulf countries, then why are there even poor and hungry people in the Middle East or even in the Arabian peninsula? Isn't Zakāt
one of the 5 pillars of Islam? I understand that some people will say that "there is only so much money to go around" or that "the construction of mosques and madrassas around the world IS an act of Zakāt", but if there are so many starving, disease-ridden, uneducated, unemployed, destitute people across the Muslim world (and even in the Middle East), then how is it possible to justify the construction of Mosques and madrassah's, for instance, "at the expense of" these peoples' lives? I guess what I don't understand is that if there is so much wealth in the Gulf countries, how is it possible that there still exists poverty anywhere on the Arabian peninsula?
Note: I have nothing against the construction of Mosques and madrassah's; but I question the priority of doing this when many people in the communities served by these facilities live in abject poverty. My question isn't worded exactly as I would like it to be, but I hope my point is clear.
