UAE | General
Sick and homeless woman finds mosque is sole refuge
Maheena Ali Hassan, a woman in her 60s who suffers from diabetes, has been living in a mosque for the past six months after she could no longer rely on the kindness of strangers.
- By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:03 June 26, 2008
- Image Credit: Mariam M. Al Serkal/Gulf News
- Maha, who is diabetic, does not hold a passport. She married twice but both her UAE national husbands refused to give her citizenship before divorcing her.
Sharjah: Maheena Ali Hassan, a woman in her 60s who suffers from diabetes, has been living in a mosque for the past six months after she could no longer rely on the kindness of strangers.
Calling herself only Maha, she is barely to survive on her own and often has to visit one of the government hospitals during the night shift to receive treatment. Maha said she takes her medical certificate as proof that she is diabetic and receives her meals there sometimes.
"I like going to the hospital because every time I get my medicine the doctors give me a meal," she told Gulf News.
Maha does not hold a passport and only travels with documents, as she arrived in Dubai when she was only three years old and has lived in the city for 35 years. Her parents were from Iran but died when she was young, leaving her alone without any siblings.
Orphaned in youth
As a child, she was then put under the care of a state-owned orphanage in Dubai until she married a UAE national, who refused to give her the nationality.
"I was under his control and he was a bit mad because he used to beat me every night for no reason. He eventually divorced me and left me on my own again," she said.
Maha eventually managed to find a job with Dubai Police for five months as an inspector at Dubai Airport in 1976, but quit after five months when she became diabetic.
"I remarried in 1983. [The] UAE national from Sharjah ... also refused to give me UAE citizenship. We stayed married for nine years until he divorced me," she said, adding that she has been living in Sharjah for over 20 years.
In 1992, Maha's life was secure as she received financial aid from a shaikh, who would give her Dh10,000 every month. Since 1996, however, she has been alone again and had to sustain herself by her own.
The savings she had disappeared a long time ago after she bought a plot of land in Al Qadisiya for Dh95,000, she said. "The owner refused to hand over the land since I do not have UAE citizenship but that did not stop him from keeping my money," said Maha.
"From time to time I would go to people's houses for charity and some would let me live with them for two days or sometimes a month and I would help them around with the house chores, but that has stopped now. That was when I started sleeping in the mosque," she said.
When contacted by Gulf News, the local authorities in Sharjah refused to give her immediate aid as they claimed that the emirate of Dubai is responsible for Maha's welfare.
From time to time I would go to people's houses for charity and some would let me live with them for two days or sometimes a month and I would help them around with the house chores, but that has stopped now. That was when I started sleeping in the mosque."
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