This photograph was taken in a restaurant in Hadibou, the main town on Soqotra Island, Yemen. The restaurant is situated about one kilometer outside the centre of town and caters mostly for tourists, their drivers and guides. When we visited, we also observed a well-to-do local, possibly an official or entrepreneur, taking out a visitor from the Emirates.

While these customers would not be among the intended audience of the above sign, their custom might explain why the restaurant owner feels able to offer his less fortunate customers free service. And there are potentially plenty of needy on the island such as refugees from the wars in Yemen, Somalia and Sudan. Furthermore, not all Soqotran visitors to Hadibou have sufficient funds from remittances through migration to the Gulf countries or to income from the growing tourism industry or the export of fisheries. Finding a sign inviting them to eat even when they lack the necessary means saves them the embarrassment of begging.

Beyond informing the destitute of the opportunity to satisfy their immediate needs, the sign points to the owner’s faith in Islam. After all, donating to the poor constitutes one of the pillars of the religion, and is considered highly, thus most likely raising his prestige in the local commumity, quite in line with the rather high standards of the restaurant.

No matter what the precise background, social implications or other considerations of the restaurant owner are: The sign is a very simple, yet inviting indication of an inclusive everyday hospitality, deeply rooted in Islam.