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Imam Ali (a) says:" one who is frugal in wealthiness and poverty, is indeed prepared for the calamities of time."

In another hadith he has said:" adhere to moderation, as it is the best aid for a good life. “

The abundance of hadith in this context, reflects the great importance of prudence and moderation in financial affairs of the family.

Finally we conclude that, if people recognize the limits for costs and expenditures well, and spend their money wisely and prudently, they will never experience (financial) failure and poverty.

► How to increase wealth in the family

Another consequence of moderation in finance, is the increase in wealth; that is to say people can increase their property and wealth through moderating in life expenditures

For instance if three people with equal conditions (the same amount of funds and property) begin a job, while one spends in moderation, the other in scrimp and the third is extravagant in spending, the one who has adhered to moderation in his life will have a stable wealth.

Amir al-Mu'minin (Leader of the Faithful) Ali (a) says herein:" Whoever adheres to moderation, Allah will make him wealthy and needless."

► Failure in moderation: Prodigality

Unfortunately in Islamic countries (due to the will of some anti-Islamic superpowers that are always eager to see consumerism, dependence and poverty in Islamic nations) extravagance and squandering is so common.

In many verses of the Holy Quran, Allah has addressed the Muslims, saying that your enemies envy you and do not like you to have any success.

Consumerism and extravagance is too common in Islamic countries; though if people are vigilant enough, they would be able to counteract this problem easily.

There are a lot of warnings in the Holy Quran and Hadiths (quotes from the infallibles) for believers, which mention the Prodigality as a deadly sin, for which God has promised great punishments.

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► Recognizing the boundaries of extravagance

We have learned so far that financial provisioning of the family has a series of principles and rules, which if respected by the family members, would prevent the family from facing financial failure and bankruptcy.

► What is extravagance and who is called an extravagant person ?

Imam al-Sadiq (a) says herein:
“The extravagant person has three signs;
He buys things which are not congruent with his stature
He wears things which are not congruent with his stature
He eats things which are not congruent with his stature”

These three are the indicative signs of an extravagant person.

This trait of human, which always looks for the best and likes to be known as the best in the eyes of others, or enjoys showing off his belongings in front of others, is the trait that leads him to extravagance.

For instance, the wife puts a lot of pressure on the husband and leads the life toward extravagance ...., or on the other hand, sometimes the husband is extravagant while his wife is frugal, and prevents him from squandering.

It is mentioned in some Hadith that some attributes are reprehensible for men, but admirable for women; miserliness is one of those traits. Woman's miserliness in spending, is desirable for the family, as it prevents her husband and children from being extravagant with spending; this function, is even considered a duty for a housewife.

We also should care not to always desire the best products when shopping. This does not mean we should buy low quality and junk products; but we are not supposed to always have the best ones either. This kind of outlook (to want and to be satisfied with only the best products) is very unhealthy and dangerous, and has terrible impacts on both worldly (which manifests itself as financial and behavioral problems) and otherworldly life, and brings about great punishments in the afterlife.

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Are we included among the extravagant in God's eyes?

► An extravagant person buys things which are incongruous with his condition.

For instance he buys an expensive car which he cannot afford unless by going into a big debt. Buying such items which are incongruous with one's situation and income, is an example of extravagance.

Buying items which are incongruous with one's situation and income, and therefor forces a lot of pressure on the person, is an example of extravagance and is haram (forbidden) and also a deadly sin, which causes a lot of worldly and otherworldly harm.

Following the rules of moderation in financial affairs, does not depend on the amount of poverty or wealth of the person, but on the wisdom, piety and faith of him; it depends on the fact that whether or not he has found that his true value, stature, and honor is not based on the external tools and items, but instead is something internal which is within himself and is in his essence.

There are a lot of people who are rich and also moderate at the same time, they never overspend or waste money, and live calmly and happily. These people share their ease and comfort with others as well, and Allah bestows blessing upon them too.

► Another sign of the extravagant person is that he eats things which are incongruous with his condition.

For instance he goes to a costly restaurant, even though the prices of the foods served there have no congruency with his salary and the amount of money in his pockets.

🌸Imam Ali (a) says: “spending money except in its right place is dissipation and extravagance."
The Arabic words used in this hadith of Imam Ali (a), show two sides of this type of behavior:

1- Spending money in a place which is incongruous with the person's condition.

2- Spending money, in a place which will not lead to any gain for the person.

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Some examples of extravagance in our daily life:

for example, the pen holders that are bought for most of the managers, and just sit on their table and is rarely used, or the huge bouquets of flowers that are bought for funeral ceremonies, which have no use either for the deceased or his family, are some of the examples of extravagance.

► Extravagance in foods and beverages

Continuing with our topic about knowing the extravagant person, we refer to a hadith from Imam Ali (a):
"It behooves you to oblige yourself to (have) moderation in food (in both eating and feeding), as it keeps you away from extravagance."

By “keeps you away from extravagance", Amir al-Mu'minin (Commander of the Faithful) is referring to the fact that it distances you from Hell and worldly and otherworldly pains. For example the great extravagances which take place in gatherings and ceremonies, especially in Ramadan, is a good example of this kind of extravagance. Compared to other times, these kinds of prodigality is much more prevalent and egregious during Ramadan; even though the main purpose of fasting in Ramadan is to train human to overcome his animal aspect (animal side) and to put pressure on it.

Because during Ramadan, what our animal aspect desires, is not always given to it; but unfortunately we do not pay attention to this point and mostly care for having colorful tables for fast breaking and the meal we eat before dawn.

The same is true for the seeds and cores of some fruits like pumpkin, melon, watermelon..... Which unfortunately are thrown away and not used, even though their benefits and good effects are mentioned in many hadiths.

There are a lot of things in our houses which are looked upon as rubbish, which aren’t rubbish and have value, and if thrown away, we have to spend money for them later on again.

Hazrat says that pouring away the leftover water in the glass after drinking, is considered as extravagance too.

Due to our wrong eating habits, we Iranian always squander a lot and sometimes this behavior is considered as a classy trait which gives the person a kind of misplaced dignity. For example we believe that there should be something left in our dishes after eating, and the food should not be completely eaten. This is also a case of extravagance.

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Small examples of extravagance in life

Regarding the topic of extravagance and recognition of the extravagant, we mention a question which was asked from Imam al-Kadhim (a), and he has delineated proper boundaries of prodigality for Muslims in his answer to the question.

Imam al-Kadhim (a) was asked:
"if a person has ten clothes, has he squandered or not?"
Imam replied: "there is no problem with that. Not only it is not squandering, but it also causes the clothes to last longer and be usable for several years."
he continues" if you wear your formal clothes in an unclean place, it will be extravagance."

In another quote from Imam al-Sadiq (a), we have
"Extravagance is when you wear your formal clothes at home."

Others examples of extravagance:
Some people change their furniture and household goods very often, or throw them out while they are still usable for several years and replace them with new ones. This causes an increase in expenditure, and is an example of squandering.


Another example of prodigality is when a person buys whatever he sees (and likes), be it clothing, foods, etc.
Regarding foods, the holy prophet says:" Extravagance is when you eat whatever you see and desire."

It is true that humans have to eat and should enjoy eating, but immediately buying any delicious thing that we glance at, it is not an admirable trait

Another sign of an extravagant person is that he (strictly) follows his desires.

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Each and every one of us, have a duty to correct our eating and dressing habits in a way that's acceptable by God and the infallible Imams. This is one of the best deeds and prevents a lot of worldly and otherworldly harms.

We need to reach this belief that what God almighty says, is right and truth. But unfortunately, many of us don't truly believe in God and the infallibles, and the opinion of others have more importance for us than theirs; and therefore we blindly follow others and this causes a lot of excess in our affairs.

► Reasons and motivations for extravagance.

Extravagance, both has internal and mental reasons and motivations, and external ones.

One of the important reasons that cause extravagance in the life of people, is competition, which is normally referred to as "keeping up with the Joneses"

Competition and rivalry is caused by the fact that (most of the) humans, unfortunately don't know their true value, and where their true value and honor lies.

Due to our insufficient knowledge, we compete with others in a number of different affairs (to which we associate value), for example in buying houses, cars, decorations...

And this characteristic unfortunately exists in all humans, besides those who have found their true value and don't believe that they can gain greatness with anything outside their own existence and self.

As long as we don't know what our character, nobility and honor depend on, we can't avoid trying to compete with other in the superficial aspects of life (to keep up with the Joneses).

Of-course, it should be noted that positive and useful competitions also exist, and these are when the competition is done over human values.

In the Holy Quran we are advised to avoid negative, destructive competitions, and instead to compete with each other over true human values and even to try to overtake each other in these areas.

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► If your friend finds out that you are depressed, s/he may distance themselves from you.

To maintain a friendship, one must be happy and joyful, avoid depression and sadness, and refrain from talking about his problems to their friends over and over again. These actions will lead to stronger friendships.

► Tyranny and deceit can ruin friendships and relationships

The most destructive behaviours which cut the ties of friendly relations are tyranny and deceit.
Tyranny means that a person harms his friend outright and intentionally, to the extent that the friend witnesses his clear enmity, thereby leading to an end in their friendship.
A tyrannous person presents continuous harm to his friend.

Sometimes, a person may do wrong to his friend. Even if he makes a serious mistake, a true friend can forgive; because he does not view his friend as a cruel person, and knows that his friend may have made the mistake unintentionally. On the other hand, a person may mistreat his friend intentionally, even while persisting on his wrongdoings. These actions may cause for the destruction of an enduring friendship.

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As mentioned earlier extravagance has spiritual, moral, internal as well as external factors.
Rivalry or keeping up with the Joneses, was introduced as a major factor for extravagance.
It was stated that rivalry has positive and negative aspects.
Positive aspect of rivalry is related to what human dignity and excellence depends on.
While in negative rivalry, people look for things which are unessential for human prosperity, character, grandeur and magnanimity, and moreover they are not in line with the purpose of human creation.

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In Quran, negative rivalry is defined as self-glorification, and that's when people try to show themselves off to others by pursuing things that are not part of their character (money, fame, land, ...) as factors that would give their character more value.
Herein there are Some verses in Quran : "Do not extend your glance toward what We have provided to certain groups of them, and do not grieve for them, and lower your wing to the faithful.

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