Al-Shabaab displays some of the livestock the group says it collected as zakat in a video posted online on December 16th. The group said they distributed the animals to Somalis suffering from drought, but residents say they received no such donation. [File]
By Fuad Ahmed
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MOGADISHU — Al-Shabaab says it collected $9 million worth of livestock as annual alms from residents in 2014, but religious leaders and residents say the animals were looted and the group's methods are contrary to Islam.In a video released online last week, the militant group said it collected 6,500 camels, 100,000 goats and 2,500 cattle as annual alms to distribute to people who are suffering from drought in southern and central Somalia, but residents in those areas say they received no such donations.
Sheikh Omar Abdulkadir, chairman of Ahlu Sunna wal Jamaa's ruling council, said the way al-Shabaab collected livestock from the public disguised as zakat was wrong and contrary to Islamic law.
"They looted people's property by force," Abdulkadir told Sabahi. "It is not legal within Islamic law and it is not zakat, but property that was forcefully taken."
"It is similar to when they kill Muslims and then say, 'God is great' and 'Thank God'. This is one of those things that can make one leave Islam," he said.
Abdulkadir urged the Somali people not to be misled by al-Shabaab's recent video by thinking the livestock shown was collected lawfully.
Sheikh Ahmed Sheikh Dahir, who teaches a Qur'anic school in Mogadishu's Hamarweyne district, told Sabahi that al-Shabaab continues to encourage the looting of people's property, which is clearly against the teachings of Islam.
"Distorting Islamic teaching is one of those things the public has come to expect from the al-Shabaab extremist group," he said. "But as scholars who have a deep understanding of the religion of Islam, we want to make it clear to al-Shabaab and anyone else who thinks like them that all of the livestock al-Shabaab has forcefully taken from the public cannot be called zakat."
Dahir called on al-Shabaab fighters, who are shedding the blood of innocent civilians and stealing pastoralists' livestock, to repent from their crimes.
Where is the livestock?
Faduma Abdi, a 35-year-old mother of eight in El Bur in Galgudud region, refuted claims that al-Shabaab provided assistance to poor families affected by the drought, saying her family has struggled for food after they lost all of their livestock last January due to the severe drought.
"We lost 35 goats and 15 camels," she told Sabahi, adding that al-Shabaab was in control of most of the area at time.
"We were in need of dire help, but we never received any livestock from al-Shabaab," she said. "We did not really expect any help as the drought that killed our animals and al-Shabaab are the same to us."
Farah Jama, a 53-year-old traditional elder in Bulo Burde, said Hiran region was one of the areas from which al-Shabaab looted the most livestock and expressed scepticism about the group's claims.
"Given the fact al-Shabaab created the report, I suspect the value of the livestock they claimed to have collected is not correct because they encountered resistance in many communities when they attempted to steal the livestock," Jama told Sabahi.
Al-Shabaab's claim that they distributed livestock to 500 impoverished families in the same small community that they had collected it from is also indicative of the level of untruth in the video, he said.
"It is not believable to claim that the same civilians who were robbed of their animals also received some of the animals that were stolen, and that proves the level of fabrication and distortion of Islamic teachings that al-Shabaab does," he said.
With the video, the group's leaders are attempting to boost the morale of foot soldiers to encourage them to steal more on their behalf under false claims of zakat, he said.
"My understanding is that these terrorists want to continue robbing civilians and they want to encourage their militants by presenting the amount of revenue they generated last year," Jama said.
He called on the Somali government and African Union Mission in Somalia troops, as well as ordinary civilians, to strengthen the fight against al-Shabaab.
"I am asking all the Somali people who were robbed by al-Shabaab this year to take part in eliminating al-Shabaab by working with Somali security forces," he said. "It is certain we can defeat the terrorists if we work together."