The Houthi militia imposes 10 million riyals in zakat on each exchange shop

English - Sunday 26 March 2023 الساعة 10:25 pm
Sanaa, NewsYemen, Exclusive:

The owner of an exchange shop in the city of Al-Qaeda in Ibb governorate said that the Houthi militia imposed on him the payment of 10 million riyals in zakat for this year, stressing that the militia imposed the same amount on every exchange shop in the areas under its control.

He added that the Houthi militia refused the money changers' request to determine the amount according to the quota established in Islamic law, and informed them that it would close any money changer that did not pay the amount it specified, during the first ten days of the blessed month of Ramadan.

The owner of the exchange shop, who asked not to be named, explained to "Newsyemen" that the owners of exchange companies who own more than one branch, the militia forced them to pay 10 million for each branch.

 During the month of Ramadan every year, the Houthi militia publishes armed campaigns to collect zakat from merchants, companies, and small and smaller shops, according to amounts imposed on them, accompanied by a campaign of extortion and forced closure of hundreds of establishments on the pretext of refraining from paying zakat.

The statistics of the zakat revenues and expenditures of the Houthi militia for the year 2020 showed that zakat revenues amounted to 75 billion riyals, other than the zakat in kind of grain and livestock.

 Reports confirm that the Houthi militia's revenues from zakat increase every year, and the Houthi militia has achieved great financial resources by imposing zakat on many new activities, during the past two years.

 For years, zakat was administered at the level of local authorities, but the Houthi militia adopted a more centralized approach and issued Law No. 53 in 2018, establishing the General Authority for Zakat, according to which it turned the zakat authority into a private resource for its dynasty and serving its sectarian ideas.

The Bertelsmann Foundation said in its report "Special Transformation Index 2022" that the Houthi militia has systematically diverted religious zakat, which has led to further paralysis of local councils' budgets.

Merchants complain that the Houthi militia imposes on them imaginary amounts, and does not recognize their accounting data, and they confirm that the zakat they provided does not reach those who deserve it, which God imposed from the money of the rich for the poor, but rather goes to the militia leaders who used to loot everything.