Ibn Daud - A Handbook of Spiritual Medicine

CHAPTER 8
اإلسْرَاف [Isrāf] Extravagance
EXTRAVAGANCE
Extravagance is demonstrated through a lack of restraint in
spending money or using resources, and is also referred to as
wastefulness (tabdhir) or lavishness. It is when one, for instance,
oversteps the mark by spending or consuming more than is
necessary or reasonable.
Allāh has created a natural balance and harmony. He says, “As
for the sky, He raised it (high), and set the balance (of justice) so
that you do not defraud the scales.” [Ar-Ra#mān 55 :7-8]
The Prophet said, “By Allāh, it is not poverty that I fear for you,
rather what I fear for you is that worldly riches may be given to
you as they were given to those who came before you, and you
will compete for them with one another as they competed with
one another, and it will destroy you as it destroyed them.” [%a#ī# Al-
Bukhārī 3158]
ا
'Āishah is reported to have said, “The first calamity for this
nation after the Prophet’s death is fullness of their stomachs;
when their stomachs became full, they became obese: their
hearts weakened and their desires became wild.” [Al-Jū’u Ibn Abī Dunyā: 22]
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