Avoiding extravagance and waste

Despite the verbal and published appeals urging people to curb waste and extravagance in eating and drinking, especially in the blessed month of Ramadhan, the reality is different in many Arab and Islamic countries. The conditions that nations live in today are very different from that of the past two decades. Many countries suffer from poverty, unemployment, poor economic and living conditions. This requires us to rethink our eating and drinking habits so as to avoid throwing surplus food in the trash, especially in this holy month.

These issues have already been reiterated by many scholars about the need to stay away from the manifestations of extravagance and waste in these societies, although Islam has not deprived us of the good things of sustenance. There are many Quranic verses that urge us to do this, including the Almighty’s saying: “O children of Adam, take your adornment at every mosque, and eat and drink, and do not be extravagant, for He does not love the extravagant.” In such manifestations, everyone is responsible for how he acquires money. He is also responsible for avoiding extravagance and wastefulness in the use of vital public utilities that serve people, such as water and electricity, as animals and birds benefit from them as well, and this means not blaspheming the blessings that God has granted us, and not throwing them in the garbage while many poor people suffer for lack of money and food.

The squanderers are the brothers of the devils, and Satan was ungrateful to his Lord, as this harms people in their bodies, their religion, and their worldly affairs. We also see this type of waste that takes place during feasts, marriages, religious and social occasions, as evident from the amount of food and drink that are eventually thrown out with the rubbish. Very little is distributed to the needy and to charitable organisations.

We should rationalise our eating, drinking and spending keeping in mind that how many people elsewhere around the world meet their requirements. They do not purchase any commodities or products that they don’t need, but limit their purchases to only food, fruits and vegetables in limited quantities based on their requirements. We don’t need to follow the culture of spending but rationalisation of consumption.

We also have to be aware of these issues in such circumstances that Islamic countries and the world are going through in the midst of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis that is causing great challenges in the supply of grain, cooking oils, meat and other staples from these countries. With most Arab and Islamic countries depending a lot on food imports, these disruptions can harm the food security that we are working to achieve.

Haider al Lawati

haiderdawood@hotmail.com