Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Sixth Fascicle

supposing he is married; it is permissible for him to dispense his
entire property as alms. If any one of these conditions is missing,
then it will be makrûh for him to give alms. In fact, his alms will not
be accepted, according to some scholars.” So did ’Umar ‘radiy-
Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ say.
As is understood from these narrations, even almsgiving may
entail isrâf. If a person does not have property in excess of the
amount of his debt or does not have property in excess of the
amount sufficient to meet the needs of his family although his
family consists of people not patient enough to do without
property, or if he himself is in need although he is a person not
patient enough to do without property, then it will be isrâf for him
to give alms.
FIFTH HEADING — There are three medications for isrâf:
1– Medication by way of knowledge is to know its harms, which
we have explained, and to ponder over them.
2– Medication by work and strouggle is to endeavour not to
dispense your property and to tell someone you know about your
weakness and request them to help you by checking your
expenses, warning you upon seeing your isrâf, and using force to
prevent you when necessary.
3– To extirpate the causes of isrâf. There are six causes of isrâf:
The first cause is sefâhet (dissipation, foolish squandering).
This is the most usual reason for many a person’s indulging into
isrâf. Sefâhet is the thirty-first of the (spiritual) heart diseases.
Sefâhet is mental weakness and poorness of wisdom. It is called
rekâket (mental incoherence) as well as sefâhet. Its antonym is
rushd, which means mental perfection and competence,
powerfulness of wisdom, right judgment. After the âyat-i-kerîma
which purports, “Do not give your property to sefîh (dissolute,
prodigal) people,” Allâhu ta’âlâ adds His commandment, as is
purported: “If you observe rushd on their conduct, then deliver
their property to them!” Many people are sefîh by creation. From
time to time this weakness becomes even worse for some reasons.
Sometimes people come by easy property without having to work,
without the sweat of their brow. Bad friends beguile them into
dispensing it and, in order to lay hands on their property, they
make them believe that it will not be manly and valorous
behaviour to save it or to try to economize it. Thus they cause isrâf.
It is for this reason that we have been commanded to avoid bad
company. There are many wealthy families whose children are
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