Eight months after the explosion at Beirut port, mosques damaged in the deadly blast are struggling to find money for repairs.
But even those almost completely demolished in the August 4 explosion, like the Khalid ibn Al Walid mosque, which stands right next to the port, have managed to keep their doors open.
“My wish this Ramadan is to repair the mosque,” said Hassan Hussein, a resident of the area who has prayed there for years.
Unlike many countries in the region, Lebanon's mosques are allowed to open for prayers during Ramadan despite the Covid-19 pandemic, but only at 30 per cent capacity.
The pandemic is compounding Lebanon's economic and financial crisis, particularly for daily wage earners and low-income families.
Mr Hussein said this was not the first time the Khalid ibn Al Walid mosque had been damaged.
"This mosque was destroyed during the civil war but was rebuilt six or seven years ago, only to be destroyed again by the blast."
The detonation of tonnes of explosive ammonium nitrate stored at the port killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and caused an estimated $15 billion in damage to Lebanon's capital.
The blast damaged 10 mosques, said Sheikh Mohamad Anis, head of Endowments at Dar Al Fatwa, Lebanon’s highest Sunni religious authority.
Among them is one of the city’s oldest places of Islamic worship, the Emir Mansour Assaf mosque in central Beirut.
Maher Jaroudi, imam at the mosque that was built almost 500 years ago, said it continued to welcome believers despite the damage.
Mr Jaroudi said he was with worshippers at the mosque when the explosion happened. "We have been undertaking repair work since, but we never stopped holding prayers and didn’t close for a day,” he said.
Despite the economic crisis, the mosque is able to support needy families this Ramadan thanks to an increase in donations from individuals and other mosques, Mr Jaroudi said.
“The mosque is supporting 40 families throughout Ramadan,” he said, while urging people not to despair because of the crisis.
Mr Anis said Dar Al Fatwa estimated the cost of the damage to Beirut's mosques at between $4 million and $5 million, but only a fraction of the funds needed for repairs has been secured, mainly through local and international donations.
With the economic situation growing steadily worse, the government has given out only a fraction of the money needed to compensate blast victims and to finance reconstruction.
Lebanon's currency has plummeted more than 85 per cent in value against the dollar since the crisis began in late 2019, eroding purchasing power and fuelling hyperinflation.
According to a study by the American University of Beirut’s Crisis Observatory Unit, the average cumulative monthly cost of iftar for a family of five is now two and a half times the monthly minimum wage, which has dropped from about $400 in 2019 to less than $50 today.
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5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
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Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
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