Speaking to Khaleej Times, Nassir Al Tawar, a businessman in Dubai, said: “I don’t miss my prayers at the mosque, but this practice is really irritating me. Although I should not, but this is a fact that even while praying, I keep thinking whether I will find my shoes where I left them.”

“In just two months, I have lost two expensive pairs of shoes in the Al Rashidya Grand Mosque and I had to walk to the car parking area bare foot to rush home to wear another pair of shoes,” he said.

Mohammed Al Amin, a government employee in Sharjah, said that thrice has he lost a pair of shoes to thieves each. This happened during Friday prayers at Khan Sahib Mosque in Sharjah, he said, adding that  ever since he had decided to offer prayers at the King Faisal Mosque, despite the mosque being far away from his house as compared to Khan Sahib Mosque.

Al Awadi bin Hindi, an employee at Ajman Municipality, said that he, his friends and relatives were fairly disturbed due to this practices.

Al Awadi bin Hindi’s shoes have been stolen several times during Juma prayers from various mosques. Now, he said, he had decided to wear cheaper or old shoes when heading for the mosque to offer prayers.

Saif Al Jabri, Head of the Islamic Guidance at Dubai Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities, said that this practice of shoes being stolen from the mosque premises is worsening in Dubai.

“A large number of complaints in this regard have been lodged by the people with Dubai police and other concerned departments. In coordination with the Dubai Police, the department has organised a campaign to curb the practice and arrest those involved in stealing shoes. The police have posted officers at the gates of mosques during prayer times, especially on Fridays, to arrest the thieves red-handed,” he said.

A source from Sharjah Police told Khaleej Times that more than 40 complaints of shoes theft from mosques are received every month by various police stations in the emirate.

The police have managed to arrest some of the thieves recently, by setting a trap at King Faisal Mosque.

The thieves confessed to the police that they were stealing only expensive shoes with unique designs not available in the UAE markets. They said that the stolen shoes are sold to shoe manufacturers in Oman who duplicate them and offer them on sale cheaper than the original prices. These manufacturers pay them Dh50 per pair of shoes, they said.

According to the source, the Sharjah Police have also instructed the Imams of the mosques to advise the worshippers not to wear expensive shoes when coming to offer prayer at the mosque.

The police have also called for arranging closets with lockers at the entrance of the mosques so that the worshipper can keep their shoes safely.