This is a kind of act which most of us do in our daily life one way or the other without even knowing that we might be disobeying our Lord in some ways.
Definition of Israaf: Being excessive, wasteful of our God given bounties of nature and nurture, food, etc.
Allah commands us not to waste by being excessive in either direction and states that Allah does not love those who are wasteful:
**
There are three kinds of people whom Allah does not love who do Israaf (wasteful):**
** 1.** ** Those who spend excessively beyond ones limit **and give away everything for a good cause without keeping some to fulfill the rights of their family. The example given is the story of Thabith bin Qais: He gave away for a good cause his entire date garden and left nothing for his family, at which time the ayah regarding israaf was revealed
** 2. Those who buy or serve for themselves excessive amounts **and neither use it for themselves nor give it to someone else but let it waste and rot and then throw it away. (Depriving others who could have benefited from it.)
** 3.** ** Those who use Allah’s bounties for the disobedience of Allah** (The Kuffar used to reserve the cattle and entire fields and gardens of fruit and vegetables for the false Gods and prevented people from eating from them.
Surah Al Isra:017.029 Make not thy hand tied (like a niggard’s) to thy neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach, so that thou become blameworthy and destitute.
** Hadith:** Do not give so much away that you become dependant on others. Even at death one is not allowed to give away more than one third (heba) so that the rightful heirs are not deprived of their inheritance.
007.031 O Children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters.
Which areas in your life are you consciously not wasteful ? Is there any area where you were previously wasteful but learned with time to be less wasteful. Would you like to share for the benefit of other brothers and sisters ?
Water would be one such resource that I used carelessly in the past but now I make a conscious effort to use only as much as needed.
Time is another thing that I still waste and end up feeling guilty over and even losing sleep over
Time is a predator that stalks us all of our lives
as opposed to:
Time is a companion that goes with us on the journey. It reminds us to cherish every moment, because they will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we’ve lived.
i agree with femme , water is one thing ( & time is precious only for those who knows how to use it ;-0 ), also for me buying too many grocery items -or- cooking too much food , and buy too many clothes , shoes which i couldn't use or consume and hence end up discarding comes under israaf...........
i remember once our tuitor ( a college lecturer) was @ my home and we all ( tuitor + me + friends ) were served cold drinks , he told us to have even the last sip of the drink otherwise it's gonna be considered israaf.
also paper is something i try to use sensibly and really feel awful when i end up wasting it esp while printing stuff for work
When it comes to food I rarely waste, alhamdolillah. Only take as much as i can eat and finish what I take. also try not to throw away leftovers and finish them asap before they go bad or you just don’t want to eat them any more.
I have wasted a lot of money on clothes and shoes and jewelry and makeup. wasted cos I only use a few things on a regular basis the rest just lays there wasted I have cut down on all of them now but am guilty of having wasted them in the recent past.
Time is a predator that stalks us all of our lives Spock
^Some good points mentioned, JazakAllah khair for sharing. I agree that time and water are wasted the most. I really feel guilty about it, and am hopeful that I might be able to care more in future.
Few of my friends decided to do a survey in our own rooms and try to pick out the things which could be useful for daily life but were not used by us since we bought them. In few days all of us were able to fill a bag with such stuff. One of us advised that we should visit the backward areas in our city and see if anyone accepts these stuffs. Our focus was not on beggars but people mentioned in the Quran as "Safaid Posh" those who are in intense need of daily life things but their self respect prevent them from requesting anyone for help.
I can't write here the joy on their faces and the glow in their eyes when we told them that it was a gift from our side as brothers. Some of them even said with tears in their eyes, " We don't get enough money for our work, so just today we prayed to Allah (s.w.t) for help. It seems He sent angels this time in the form of you."
I am thankful to my friends for such a great idea and making me part of their plan, which I hope and pray would help in forgiveness of my past mistakes in life"
It is amazing that things that are lying in our rooms and get expired without our use hold so much value for people in other parts of the city.
Time, Water, Electricity, money, un necessary things. We waste lots of money on designer things that is too foolish in my opinion and oh yesss people don't take it as an offence I don't like it for myself and I'm not stopping anyone. Cause Everyone has to give their hisab in their qabr and on judgement day.
I myself try to keep away from bayja israaf.
But some places I myself do some israaf too. Now I'm trying to stop myself.
It is at times really painful to realize that there are a number of things that we waste carelessly in our daily life, but in other parts of the world people are dying for every bit of it.
true pb i didn;t think about all that!
I have cut down on all of them now but am guilty of having wasted them in the recent past.