Verbal warning for men, kidnapping for ladies and girls: a fair categorization of robbery with force that has become, overnight, a widely spread phenomenon in Egypt. Indeed, all this was expected by the long-practiced incident-news journalist of Egypt, Mahmoud Salah, years before. He kept on telling me that, some day I would see robbers dominating theft scene in Egypt, that Cairo streets would be storming with cases of robbery with force in the middle of the day. I, then, imagined that the man was drawing the longbow, till I came to hear the stories of Egyptian young men as well as woman who were exposed to robbery with force. One of female relatives told us once that, a daughter of one of her friends died defending herself against one of those robbers who used force. She said that, the robber tried to strip her of her bag, which contained her money and a mobile phone. Strongly resisting, the poor girl was stabbed by the villain robber who, after killing her, took everything and run away. In such amazement shown by her family as well as her colleagues, the poor girl just passed away. The same situation was encountered by a young fellow studying engineering. That promising-future young man was also exposed to robbery with force that resulted in his death. Defending his money as well as his sense of manhood, the young man insisted that he should fight back the robber manly and courageously, which led to his unfortunate death. Now, all Egyptian boys and girls have become so afraid of these kinds of incidents to a great extent that they just leave their most valuable belongings at their own homes or their friends'. They go out taking only a small amount of money with them. However, when asked about their opinions concerning the current issue, they shared a variety of answers. Some of them, driven by the great zeal of youth, would say that they never cared whether they should live or die, rather, they cared for honorable manly death. Some would disagree with this, wondering why they should die. They, instead, thought they might let the robber take whatever he wanted and leave them in peace. Another group of them resorted to the Noble Prophet of Islam, Mohammed – peace be upon him – in dealing with such problem. They quoted some parts from the Noble Prophet's saying that reads: "Those of you who ever die in defense of their possessions are martyrs. Those of you who ever die in defense of the honor of their women are martyrs. Those of you who ever die in defense of their land are martyrs." It seemed that they believe this prophetic saying demands them to die for some trivial belongings. Hoping of a change, I tried my best to convince them that the application of the Noble Prophet's words is to be restricted to states of wars as well as facing mortal enemies. In fact, I was extremely aggrieved by the fright they encountered from the robbers; however, I was much more aggrieved by deteriorated circumstances of my dear Egypt. To such deteriorated circumstances, no solution is available in police or security forces of huge numbers. Rather, it is right in reconsidering the issues of social justice, poverty and the wide gab between the rich and the poor. Methods of committing crimes have, indeed, undergone some material a change; they changed from fraud to robbery with force to murder. It has become an extremely dangerous issue. Decision makers have to pay great attention to it. Such dangerous phenomenon keeps growing and it shall continue to grow until it becomes a monster that shall swallow poor Egypt. The era of old good humble peace-loving poor no longer exists.
Instead, has started the era of "I came to revenge and shall survive using the power of my fists. What on earth should people do, were they to be exposed to such situations? A police officer advised me not to fight back the robbers with force. "Either killer or killed, this is their motto when they attack. Often, each one of them carries a weapon with him; a Swiss piece may be! A sharp knife may be! And you know the rest,' added the officer. For all these reasons, it is time that security bodies allow people to use rightful means of self-defense such as spray or paralyzing electric stick. To be known, Egyptians have grown so worried about their daughters and sons. They have all the right to do so. But again, the solution does not come from the poor solider standing in the streets, but rather from decision makers sitting in their offices.
