You are encouraged to adopt a simple life with an intention to help the poor and needy around you, not to build bank balances and collect piles of wealth that does not get used.
Source/Credit: Public Opinion Online
By Dr. Amatul Khalid | March 18, 2016
The first time we went shopping upon our arrival in the USA, we were fascinated by seeing all signs of sales in the stores. I was very pleased to see so many things being sold for so little. We went overboard in buying most of the things on sale, thinking that we had saved so much money. I shared this with my father, who already had been here for almost 10 years. He smiled and said that we would learn more as we lived longer in this country.
Stores advertised 50 percent off, 75 percent off, out-of-business sales, end-of-the-season sales, Valentine’s Day sales, Thanksgiving, Black Friday sales, before-Christmas and after-Christmas sales - and everyone went crazy with the intention of saving money.
Like all other Americans and my other family members, I got carried away with shopping and buying, sometimes buying things I needed and sometimes buying things just because they were so cheap.
The first time we moved from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom apartment, I realized how much stuff we had collected just in one year, and this kept getting worse as we moved from the two-bedroom apartment to a town home and ultimately to a single-family home. The number of boxes kept growing higher and higher, they were heavier and heavier, and we kept dumping older stuff into the basements.
This continued as the children grew from teenage years to adulthood and left for college. We were Americanized and had become part of the normal culture of consumerism, looking higher and higher and buying better and better. I realized the significance of brand names as my children entered their teenage years, when they felt embarrassed going to school in non-brand name clothes and shoes.
When I got my first car, a Subaru Legacy, filled with excitement I called my sister. This continued from Subaru to Acura, to Mercedes, Lexus and on and on.
The ambition to achieve better and better makes one work harder and the country prospers. Those who spend with care, maintain balance and avoid debt and interest, and do not spend beyond their pockets, successfully go higher and higher in their social and financial status. However when some of us keep getting indebted in the never-ending vicious cycle of interest and debts and overspending, we end up in bankruptcy and ultimate collapse.
Islam and all other religions teach moderation - you are not supposed to be stingy or extravagant. Working hard, getting more wealth and improving your financial status is perfectly fine in Islam as long as you are spending on yourself, on near relatives, and needy around you. You are supposed to care about your neighbors and those who are wayfarers.
Collecting heaps of wealth is discouraged in Islam when those in need around you are not being helped.
You are encouraged to adopt a simple life with an intention to help the poor and needy around you, not to build bank balances and collect piles of wealth that does not get used.
We are advised to be looking at the condition of those who are below us, to keep us being grateful for the blessings around us. Fasting and Zakat (an obligatory payment made annually on certain kinds of property, unused wealth and jewelry for the purpose of charity) are two of the five pillars of Islam that make us focus on the less fortunate and hungry around us.
We are supposed to share our wealth with the poor and the needy around us. The financial system of Islam is a debt-free system where wealth is shared with the needy with an intention to help them stand on their feet rather than helping them to depend on you for the rest of their lives.
In a way, Islam is practiced more in America than in many Muslim countries as everyone gets an equal opportunity to work hard and make his future. But if you get lost in the cycle of interest and debt, without putting in extra effort and hard work, you will lose it all. Yard sales, Goodwills, thrift stores the Salvation Army, and all other charity organizations are true demonstrations of Islamic teachings.
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Dr. Amatul Khalid is a Chambersburg physician.
Read original post here: Perspective: Islam and consumerism -- Wealth must be shared | Dr. Amatul Khalid
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