r/pakistan • u/PearMaleficent7333 • 1d ago

Discussion Show theft in masjid

My Husband’s shoes were stolen from the local Masjid today at Friday prayer. I tried to console him that the person may have accidentally taken his shoes, but my Mom told me it’s commonplace in Pakistan to have shoes stolen during prayer. My Husband ended up walking home barefoot, in the rain and cold.

I’m wondering why the Masjid’s in Pakistan haven’t thought of a solution to the shoe theft problem if it’s commonplace there?

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58

u/Umerr 1d ago

Not common but it happens at times, there's also a slight chance that someone mistakenly wears yours. Hard to find a solution though, unless there's a locked cabinet for everyone, which isn't possible.

6

u/Individual-Trifle104 1d ago

Some of the vendors/stores outside the masjid can offer to store shoes for a small fee. People who come in expensive footwear can avail of it. This is how it works in many temples in India. Don't think the masjids do it though, one of my roommates had his shoes stolen when he went for Friday prayers.

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u/PearMaleficent7333 1d ago

My Husband said that the only shoes left behind were broken slippers. He had just bought his winter shoes, so they were brand new.

Why can’t each person put their shoes in a locked metal container and open it with their own keys after salah?

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u/Meherjan 1d ago edited 1d ago

Too tough a solution. I like Türkiye’s better. They let you take your shoes in in a plastic bag or keep it inside the mosque in the back. Their mosques also date 100s of years old (the one in Bursa) but that’s their solution throughout the country

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u/StraightUpHaram 1d ago

Turkey does mosques right. Bazaar right outside for post and pre namaz 3rd place gathering too.

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u/ProWest665 1d ago

Turkey is a strange place. I heard that when Ataturk came to power they turned masajid in government/municipal grounds into bars among other things. One in particular had "La Allah" and "La Muhammad" painted over some ornate ceiling, but I haven't been able to find out where exactly this happened.

In the 1990s there was a camping to remove the stigma of eating and drinking in public when not observing the fasts of Ramadhan. I don't think I have met a religious Turk.

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u/_Paulie_Walnuts_ 1d ago

There is a solution we did in our boarding college days. You place one shoe in one place of the mosque and another at another place, this way no one will take your shoes accidentally or otherwise unless he is stalking you.

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u/Jade_Rook 1d ago

The only thing you can realistically do is to wear inexpensive footwear to the mosque. Any other solution is far too expensive or far too hard to manage. We are talking about hundreds of people, thousands in some mosques. How on earth are you going to find the funds, then manage lockers with all those keys and everything when there is such a crowd of people, many of them visiting that particular mosque for the first time without any idea of the procedure? It's not practical.

8

u/MayfairHedgeFund 1d ago

Are you serious?

This is a masjid. Not a bank.

How impractical and disproportionate would that be?

I would say just don’t wear your Gucci shoes to the mosque. Simple. In a country where over half the population are below the poverty line, it can and will happen. It’s not a big deal.

If you stress this much over a pair of shoes, then I dread to think how anxious you’d be walking as a tourist in any major metropolis, like London or New York, where pickpockets are everywhere.

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u/PearMaleficent7333 1d ago

Exactly. A masjid should not attract theft. You sound like you’re justifying this behaviour.

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u/PearMaleficent7333 1d ago

It shouldn’t be a ridiculous idea to assume your shoes are kept safe in a Masjid while you pray.

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u/PearMaleficent7333 1d ago

Have lived in these cities all my life, Alhumdulilah. No anxiety over shoes (you missed the point completely). A lot of pain though that my Husband had to walk home without shoes. He could have been cut and or acquired a disease walking like this, especially on a rainy day when streets flood with sewage water in Pakistan.

Please check your anger and attitude. If you have nothing nice to say, please don’t say it.

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u/mope11 1d ago

Walking bear foot home is on your husband. You can talk to molvi in masjid to give spare shoes (usually their houses are attached with masjid or close by)

I would say your husband is not street smart

0

u/Alive_Recording_4183 1d ago

So if someone prays 5 times a day they're not allowed to wear nice shoes, because brokies will steal shoes from house of God instead of asking God not to be broke

1

u/me_arsalan PK 1d ago

yes it’s hard to comprehend but you’re not wrong. Many mosques in Pakistan even have the water tap locked/chained because druggies even steal those. It all depends on the locality and if you’re wearing nice shoes you need to look after them yourself here.

2

u/PearMaleficent7333 1d ago

Why isn’t it possible?

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u/DarkDare_Devil 1d ago

Masjids wont be able to build this many containers and give keys to all peoples

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u/PearMaleficent7333 1d ago

Whenever I have visited Pakistan, they have a security system in place for grocery stores, where you can leave your things. Like Masjids, grocery stores are busy places.

I recall that my campus also has a bag check system. Thousands of students arrive to the bookstores to buy their books for the school year and the university has a policy that each student leave their backpacks with security before entering the bookstores to buy.

12

u/Comfortable-Luck6816 1d ago

It's because the grocery store or other stores earn money by selling stuff but the Chanda given by people is not enough to build this much of containers. My masjid has like thousands of people,it's not possible to build this much

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u/DarkDare_Devil 1d ago

Umm it wont work. After jumma prayers every gonna leave so fast with this system it will take 10 mins at minimum. It can work for people who pray sunnah after jumma in masjid

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u/PearMaleficent7333 1d ago

Perhaps we shouldn’t be leaving so fast from Juma. This is a modern times problem because people see coming to the Masjid, a burden. And you know what? Changing systems can condition people to change.

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u/DarkDare_Devil 1d ago

We already live in Pakistan. How can we make other people stop and wait in line and get their shoes one by one🥲

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u/PearMaleficent7333 1d ago

You wouldn’t have to wait one by one, if shoes are secured properly. I’m imagining a locker system.

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u/DarkDare_Devil 1d ago

Umm if a masjid can hold 150 prayers. We will have to create 150 locks which will cost alot ans Masjids have very very tight budgets. And even if they do make. Keys wont be option there can be passcode system that one can set and open and it gets reset and can be able to set again. It will be hars to tell everyone how to use. And also raat ko koi nashai aya sakta ha. I am talking about typical street masjids. They are big ones as well with maximum capacity in thousands.

3

u/Direct-Row-8070 1d ago

I have seen people put their shoes/skippers and keep it in front of them.

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u/bored-fish2 1d ago

If mosques have such a large budget, then it will be possible.