The Criterion for the Prohibited Excess in the Qur'an and the Sunnah
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Shaykh. What is the limit of the excess prohibited in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, Honorable Shaykh?
Answer:
Excess is spending beyond what is needed, spending beyond the need, spending more than one requires for oneself without necessity, and being extravagant in food and drink. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-A'raf 7:31]. Likewise, it includes excessive donations that involve waste and extravagance. If donations are in the path of good and righteous deeds, even if they are large, their reward is greater.
But if the donations are not in the path of righteousness or good, but rather are gifts to people who do not need them, presents, and the like, involving extravagance, holding large feasts, and increasing food at occasions, this is waste. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:[Al-Isra 17:26-27]. So, if spending is not in righteousness, excessive spending, excessive spending that is not in righteousness is excess. But if it is in the path of righteousness, it is obedience, even if it is excessive. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Shaykh. What is the limit of the excess prohibited in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, Honorable Shaykh?
Answer:
Excess is spending beyond what is needed, spending beyond the need, spending more than one requires for oneself without necessity, and being extravagant in food and drink. Allah the Exalted said:
and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.
وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَBut if the donations are not in the path of righteousness or good, but rather are gifts to people who do not need them, presents, and the like, involving extravagance, holding large feasts, and increasing food at occasions, this is waste. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:
(26) And give the relative his right, and [also] the poor and the traveler, and do not spend wastefully. (27) Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils
وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَىٰ حَقَّهُ وَالْمِسْكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوا إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 6366- ضابط الإسراف المنهي عنه في القرآن والسنة - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.