Expensive Things
Youths
Asked on 1st February 2021
Question
اَلسَلامُ عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَةُ اَللهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ Dear Shakyh , Getting expensive thing for example say cost of AED 400k car or house will be a extravaganza ? On the other hand fulfilling all the duties that Allah SWT has obliged as per Quran and Sunnah. Seeking your advise on this .
Answer
Wa'alaykumsalaam Wa Rahmatullah wa barakaatouh.
This depends upon the financial status of a person.
If he is a rich person and buying any kind of expensive stuffs is affordable for him, then this is totally fine.
If he is a middle class person and buying expensive things that are beyond his capacity, then this is excess and may fall into the verses, ' Allah loves not those who are extravagance..'
If he is a poor person, then it means he will have to borrow or take a loan to buy expensive things, then this is also something kind of a showing off and this goes against the teachings of Islam
Sheikh Ibn Uthaimeen said,
Excess or extravagance means overstepping the mark, and Allah, may He be exalted, has stated in His Book that He does not love those who commit excess. If we say that excess or extravagance means overstepping the mark, then excess varies. This thing may be extravagant in the case of one person, and not extravagant in the case of another. One person may buy a house costing two million riyals, and furnish it for six hundred thousand, and buy a car; if he is rich, then he is not committing excess, because these things are easily affordable for those who are very rich. But if he is not rich, then he is regarded as committing excess, whether he is one of the middle class or among the poor, because some poor people want to project an image of wealth, so you see them buying big houses and furnishing them with expensive furnishings, and they may have borrowed some of that from people. This is wrong.
So there are three categories, the first of which is one who is very wealthy. In this case, we say that at the present time – and we do not say that this is applicable in all times – if he buys a house for two million riyals, and furnishes it for six hundred thousand riyals, and buys a car, then he is not committing excess.
The second category is the middle class; in this case, such purchases are regarded as committing excess.
The third category is the poor; in the case of a poor man, such purchases are regarded as foolishness, for how can he borrow money in order to project an image for which he has no need
Allah knows best
This depends upon the financial status of a person.
If he is a rich person and buying any kind of expensive stuffs is affordable for him, then this is totally fine.
If he is a middle class person and buying expensive things that are beyond his capacity, then this is excess and may fall into the verses, ' Allah loves not those who are extravagance..'
If he is a poor person, then it means he will have to borrow or take a loan to buy expensive things, then this is also something kind of a showing off and this goes against the teachings of Islam
Sheikh Ibn Uthaimeen said,
Excess or extravagance means overstepping the mark, and Allah, may He be exalted, has stated in His Book that He does not love those who commit excess. If we say that excess or extravagance means overstepping the mark, then excess varies. This thing may be extravagant in the case of one person, and not extravagant in the case of another. One person may buy a house costing two million riyals, and furnish it for six hundred thousand, and buy a car; if he is rich, then he is not committing excess, because these things are easily affordable for those who are very rich. But if he is not rich, then he is regarded as committing excess, whether he is one of the middle class or among the poor, because some poor people want to project an image of wealth, so you see them buying big houses and furnishing them with expensive furnishings, and they may have borrowed some of that from people. This is wrong.
So there are three categories, the first of which is one who is very wealthy. In this case, we say that at the present time – and we do not say that this is applicable in all times – if he buys a house for two million riyals, and furnishes it for six hundred thousand riyals, and buys a car, then he is not committing excess.
The second category is the middle class; in this case, such purchases are regarded as committing excess.
The third category is the poor; in the case of a poor man, such purchases are regarded as foolishness, for how can he borrow money in order to project an image for which he has no need
Allah knows best