How to deal with them?? especially in the month of ramadan?
Many of them, its obvious that they are just one of those professional ones..and some, if you question them a bit it can be guessed…
what i want to know is…
are we obligated to like give them money/help them?
or
if we know that one is a fraud …we can turn them away??
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
it happened to my husband and I yesterday. We went to a local arab bakery to pick up some stuff, and on our way out, a girl called after us. She was a young girl, probably 13 or 14, in a hijab, and she only spoke arabic (or she was only speaking to us in arabic, even though we dont speak arabic). She had a little note in her hand about how she has 3 sibilings to support, and what not. As my husband and I were fasting, we didnt want to lie and say we didnt have cash, so we gave her a few dollars and walked away. As we were walking away I asked my husband "who are we supposed to believe and who are we supposed to ignore?". Its really hard to know who is genuine and who is a fake. I just pray that that these people are real and not taking us for a ride. Cause then it makes us doubt the ones who are actually in need.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
as i said.....many a time....the fake ones are obvious........what to do??
some people say..you are giving in the name of Allah.......so he will accept it......you just give it...
some say...you are supposed to give to the real needy......if you refuse the frauds...there is nothing wrong..
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
good thread...
I tend to give to anyone that asks.......just because a buck or two isn't going to make a difference in my life and at least I know what my intention is.
I don't have the time to check everyone out and I don't think its fair to check one out and not the other....who knows, maybe one is a better performance artist than the oher......
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers…
^but you may not get as many beggers as we do here in pakistan 
if you give to one…then a whole gang keeps showing up with one person followed by another followed by another 
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
yeah....you're right.....we don't have as many.......especially not in the suburbs.
I am always reprimanded by family when I am in Pakistan because I will give to anyone that asks......
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
some say...you are supposed to give to the real needy......if you refuse the frauds...there is nothing wrong..
It only makes sense.
Islam stresses us to use our brain! By just handing over the money to any randomn person, we might just be denying somebody else the money who is actually deserving of it. It's easy to just grab some change and give the money, but the real thing is to make sure it is going to the deserved one. Neeyat is important but has to go along with logic too.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
What we do is keep snacks in car like biscuits, chips and give it to the beggar because 1) most are anyways asking money for food. 2) everyone is deserving of food. 3) you know it cant be used for wrong things i.e drugs, etc.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
There's a whole mafia of these beggars. Kids are kidnapped and then turned into beggars. In other cases kids are given to shrines and made into Dolay Shah ke choohay. These beggar kids don't even get to keep the money their bosses get the cut, most of these kids are made into handicaps so the average person would feel more sympathetic and donate money.
So should we give them money? Well its a tough decision. Sort of like how America and IMF are confused if they should give Pakistan more aid and loans.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
Anybody who resorts to begging in Pakistan is needy no one is going to resort to begging if they do not have to. You know how high the poverty rate is there , how low employment rate is and how high the inflation is. There is no social security system there are no unemployment benefits , health care is not free.
You will hear many stories back home where people will tell you that these beggars are rich and have everything blah blah blah , but they are fairy tales. No one can become rich in Pakistan by begging where majority is averse to giving to beggars because of these preconceived notions.
They are considered professional because they beg all their lives , but what other choices they have ?
Yes there are drug addicts too who beg but you can spot them easily.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
I sort of agree with Mirch.......nobody would select this as a profession if they had an option to do something else that brought them the same amount of money.
This doesn't mean that mafias don't exist....I'm sure they do.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
I don't agree with Mirch. I know of at least two cases where the beggers were simply fraud. And they I am sure had a choice to be honest and still beg. They were MAJOR fruads. And they are very rich.
I remember one time I tried giving money to a 7-8 year old boy who was selling some pocket size Islamic books. He came upto me and asked me to buy some of them from him so he could pay his tuition. He was very clean nice boy. I told him to keep 100 rs because that was the only money I had and I had no change. I told him to just keep it and don't worry about the book. He said "aap apnay paisay rakheen, main bhikari nahi hoon." An example of an honest person who is in need for money.
One of my brother's friend got engaged to a fraud begger. He staged everything to apper nice. Rented a nice house/cars. Hired naukars. Got some fraud refrence of job. The girl was a doctor and that begger wanted to marry one to be umm richer I suppose. Everyone happy. Girl's uncle by chance saw the guy begging on some signal few days after the engagement. Saw his parents on the opposite side of the road begging. That's a FRAUD......
Point is, there are some deserving people among them and there are some frauds!
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers…
^ Jeebus!! 
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
a few days ago one beggar approached and said that his baby is hungry and he needs money to buy milk for his baby. We said ok and went ahead got him a tetra pack milk which cost around Rs 65+ he refused it and said that he wants the formula milk powder which cost around Rs 600-700 for small tin. We did not bothered with him then and left . Seriously if ur child is so hungry you would take anything that would come your way.
Once I saw a man (beggar) he was looking drugged clearly and he was carrying a barely 10 -11 month old boy with him and seriously that boy was looking like he is from a good family . the way his hairs were cut and his clothes. It was so obvious that he was abducted I was so shocked and sad to see that boy in such a condition with that man. We can not imagine what the parents of that boy must be going through. Next day and after wards I never saw that boy again.
For me the best thing to do is that give money to saylani esp in Karachi they give free food everyday two times a day. They don't ask u who u r , what is your religion etc etc they just give you food as much as u want and anyone who is really needy can go there and eat without begging.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
slam,
nice question...i used to ask the same question 2 my abbu n he always says tht allah knows wht's hidden in ur heart,if u help any begger then it 'll b ur good deed but in thirg world countries like pak,beggary has become the business but still i 'll say tht don't return any begger.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers…
I don’t know about the others but this one is really professional and keeps on begging instead of having too much than others.
Vote bhi khappay te note bhi khappay!
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers…
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers....
I've seen way too many professional beggars during the two years that I was in Pakistan. In some instances, they were offered alternative alms in the form of fresh food and new clothes which they refused, while in other instances, I've personally seen some healthy individuals being offered gainful employment opportunities which were also refused. This sort of behavior allows one to infer that there are beggars who opt for the easier route to earn a living... that is, once they become remiss and apathetic about notions of self-respect and dignity.
In terms of whether I personally give to beggars, I can't assess someone's troubles or whether someone is genuine or not... so I would also simply give what I can at the moment and hope that I've contributed to a just cause. In the end, actions are judged by intentions and Allah knows best.
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers…
LOL
Re: Professional/Fraud beggers…
HAHAH are you serious? cmon meow. I don’t mean to appear insensitive by my LMAO but i always saw this play out in movies but never in real life.
i just cant imagine a girls father walking down the sideway and seeing his new soninlaw begging on the street..