✨Excessiveness and Extravagence

The religion of Islam is the religion of harmony, balance, moderation, justice and restraint. It is distinguished by these principles in all respects and in all areas. In its rulings and its directives. And its positions regarding practices and acts of worship, and dealings and transactions, and morals and behavior and reason and thought. And from this moderation and balance, Islam came with moderation in all matters and cautioned against a trait and blameworthy behavior that contradicts these principles. It is excessiveness and extravagance, which is disgraceful and a misguided behavior that is contrary to reason and the Islamic ordainments. The Quran censured it in 23 places as it censured its relative, wasting, in other places.

Excessiveness is exceeding the limit and transgressing the enjoined. And anything that that is spent inappropriately is waste. Allah prohibited and censured it and warned against its consequences. Allah Almighty said:
Al Anbiya (21) 9: And We destroyed the transgressors.

And Allah Almighty said:
Ghafer (40) 43: And indeed, the transgressors will be companions of the Fire.

And He does not like those committing excess. Allah Almighty said:
Al (6) Anam 141: And be not excessive. Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess.

And if the extravagant drowns in the sea of his excesses and becomes saturated with his desires, his insight is blinded. So he goes astray and does not become guided. And perhaps he may not be given success to repent until he dies upon his misdeeds and sins.

Regarding that, Allah Almighty said:
Ghafer (40) 28: Indeed, Allāh does not guide one who is a transgressor and a liar.

And Allah Almighty said:
Ghafer (40) 34: Thus does Allāh leave astray he who is a transgressor and skeptic.

And excessiveness is blameworthy in every case. And the prohibition even appeared upon mentioning Zakat and charity.

Allah Almighty said:
Al Anam (6) 141: And give its due [zakāh] on the day of its harvest. And be not excessive. Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess.

And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Eat and give charity and clothe yourselves, without being extravagant, and without showing off. [Sahih An Nisai 2558]

And Allah Almighty described the condition of many of the communities that He destroyed as wasteful. And that their destruction was because of their excesses. And it suffices to censure excessiveness and extravagance that it is an attribute of Satan. And the one characterized by it is from the party of the Satan.

Allah Almighty said:
Al Isra 26-27: (26) And do not spend wastefully. (27) Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful.

And it is wasting wealth and a loss in this world and the hereafter. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Indeed Allah dislikes three matters for you: vain talk, and too many questions (for there will be no benefit), and to waste wealth. [Bukhari 1477, Muslim 593h]

And Allah Almighty described the attributes of the servants of the Most Merciful at the end of Surah Al-Furqan:
Al Furqan (25) 67: And [they are] those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly but are ever, between that, [justly] moderate

Al Isra (17) 29: And do not make your hand [as] chained to your neck or extend it completely and [thereby] become blamed and insolvent.

This is the way of Islam. And the characteristics of the people of faith are balance and moderation. And balance and moderation are the way of the Lord that are commanded. And adhering to it results in self-sufficiency and not needing others, and closes the gap between the wealthy and the poor. And saves wealth for what is beneficial so that it can be spent on various public and private interests for the benefit of all.

And excessiveness is either more than what is sufficient or excesses in luxury and enjoyment or going beyond the halal (permissible) to the haram (forbidden) and this is its ugliest form.

Indeed warning against excessiveness does not mean commanding to abandon the permissible. Allah Almighty said:
Al Araf 31-32: (31) O children of Adam, take your adornment [i.e., wear your clothing] at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess. (32) Say, “Who has forbidden the adornment of [i.e., from] Allāh which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?”

And just as extravagance is blameworthy, so is miserliness and stinginess as well as hoarding wealth and being greedy with it.

At (9) Tawbah 34: And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allāh – give them tidings of a painful punishment.

And miserliness and stinginess are among the ugliest traits and attributes. What is required is moderation, neither extravagance nor stinginess. Ibn Qaym, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Exceeding the limit in every matter harms the interests of this world and the hereafter. Rather it also harms the body. For when his morals exceed the limits of justice and moderation, his health and strength diminish according to the extent of his excesses. And this is also the case in natural actions such as sleeping, staying up and eating and drinking and intimate relations and socializing and being alone and other than that.

Among the inflictions of extravagance is that it makes society degenerate, apathetic, and detached from striving and diligence. Just as it widens the gap between the rich and the poor. And it sows enmity and hate when the poor see the wealthy squandering and wasting their wealth. While he is in distress, want and need for necessities. And those with low or even middle incomes may seek to match the rich in their spending and extravagance. So it may upset the economies of communities or may even have wider impacts.

Most people today have financial difficulties in spite of the abundance of wealth. And most of the spending is on luxuries and excesses at the expense of necessities and needs. Rather, you see some people borrowing not to meet their needs but for luxuries and to keep pace with the rich and the affluent. So they imitate one another and go to excesses just as they go to excesses. And they chase after imitating and panting until they collapse from the burden of debt. And Allah Almighty said:
Al Shu’ara (26) 151: And do not obey the order of the transgressors,

And with that, the ignorant are blind to these consequences. Allah Almighty said:
Yunus (10) 12: Thus is made pleasing to the transgressors that which they have been doing.

Borrowing was enjoined for meeting needs not for luxuries that a person is not able to attain or sustain. The scholars have stated that it is strongly disliked to borrow money for other than a necessity. Wahb bin Manbah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: it is an excess for a person to dress, eat and drink from what he does not have. And what goes beyond subsistence is waste.

What is striking in this regard, is the great abundance of shops and markets and blowing away large amounts of money on buying what is not needed. To the point that our societies have become huge consumer markets for every commodity. And our homes have become exhibitions for everything produced by the factories of the world and marketed by companies. And advertising has played with people’s minds to the point it is as if they were created for shopping!!

Also, there is a great amount of spending on parties, events, celebrations and occasions. At the end there is nothing gained from them and the amount spent is so much that it would have been enough to sustain the celebrants for a long period of time.

The wise person should not give in to the desires of the immature and whimsical members in his household and those around him. He is responsible for them and looking after their welfare. And Allah Almighty said:
An Nisa (4) 5: And do not give the weak-minded your property, which Allāh has made a means of sustenance for you, but provide for them with it and clothe them and speak to them words of appropriate kindness.

Ali bin Abi Taleb, may Allah be pleased with him, said: what you spend on yourself and your household without excessiveness and waste and what you give in charity, is for you. And what you spend to show off and for reputation is the share of satan.

Oh Muslims: The abundance of wealth is neither an excuse nor a justification for excessiveness, even if the spender is able. And you have heard what was said regarding extravagance. For the owner of wealth will be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“A person’s feet will not move on the Day of Resurrection until he is questioned about…” and among them “about his wealth, how he earned it and on what he spent it” [Sunan At Tirmithi 2417]

Allah Almighty said:
Al Takathur (102) 8: Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure.

That is, what you have enjoyed in this world. So have we prepared an answer for the question ?! Have we prepared the right answer?

Indeed, it is not a call to miserliness and stinginess. And it is not an excuse for the miserly person who is stingy with his family. Rather it is necessary to reconsider many spending practices in light of the honorable characteristic indicated in the verse:
Al Furqan (25) 67: And [they are] those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly but are ever, between that, [justly] moderate

And enjoining moderation and balance in spending and consumption and warning against wastefulness is from enjoining good and righteousness. And it is from enjoining good and forbidding evil. And it is from counselling the Muslims. Rather it is what the Quran enjoined and it was repeated in many places. And the one striving to implement it within their communities through various channels such as building awareness should account for and anticipate the reward.

We ask Allah Almighty to make us among those who are moderate and balanced in all our affairs, and among those who enjoin all types of good. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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