Moderation in Expenditure

Guidance-I

“Do not keep your hand fastened to your neck nor outspread it, altogether widespread, for you will be left sitting rebuked, destitute.”

(Al-Qur’an – 17:29)

‘To keep one’s hand fastened to one’s neck’ is an Arabic idiom that denotes miserliness, and ‘to outspread it, altogether widespread’, denotes extravagance. Human beings are required to act with moderation in financial matters. They should neither prevent the flow of wealth out of miserliness, nor should they waste financial resources by irresponsible extravagance. Instead, they should have such an instinctive sense of balance and moderation that they should not shrink from spending when that is genuinely needed, and should abstain from spending when it is not truly needed or is not justified. If fact, every misdirected expense which is made at the expense of genuine needs and beneficial purposes amounts to ingratitude to God for His bounty. It is for such reasons that those who indulge in extravagance have been dubbed ‘brothers of Satan’.

The provisions that have been laid down here are not simply moral exhortations or mere guidelines for individual conduct. They rather suggest that through moral instruction, social pressure and legal measures people should be prevented from indulging in unjustified expenditure. Hence, when the state of Madinah came into existence, it adopted various practical measures to implement the purposes underlying these provisions. On one hand, several forms of extravagance and luxurious modes of living were legally prohibited. Indirect legal measures were also employed to prevent wasteful expenditure. Moreover, several customs involving extravagance were ended. Furthermore, the state was empowered to adopt administrative measures to prevent blatant forms of extravagance. Likewise, through zakah and sadaqat, a blow was struck at miserliness and steps were taken to prevent the kind of acquisitiveness which prevents the free flow of wealth. This enabled people to distinguish between generosity and wasteful expenditure on one hand, and between miserliness and judicious moderation in expenditure on the other.

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