Islamic Thoughts

Islamic Prohibition of Wasting: What, Why & How

Wasting: In matters of spending for personal needs, Islam takes a position between misery and wasting: “Eat and drink, but do not waste by excess, as God does not love the wasters” (7:31). The prohibition of wasting is however not absolute. For example, you should not consume stale food, salty food and greasy food respectively as precaution from your diarrhea, hypertension and heart disease. Or you do not have to lick your residual food to the bottom of your plate. Likewise, you cannot remain discontent from showering on a summer Friday by using only 3 mugs of water. You need to balance between wastefulness and necessity by using your common sense. The Prophet urged you to avoid wasting of water even at the bank of a flowing river. Here flowing river is like a metaphor of a billionaire who, despite having abundance, cannot throw away usable resources that could otherwise be donated to the needy people.