What are the guidelines and rules by which it is determined whether something is wastefulness or not?

The questioner : Our Shaykh, may Allah bless you, what are the guidelines and rules by which it is determined whether something is wastefulness or not? And why is embalming not considered wastefulness by you, but is considered wastefulness by others? And is spending some money on play and amusement in modern amusement parks that are free from the mixing of men and women considered wastefulness?

The Shaykh : As for wastefulness, it is like many of the rulings or commands mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah that are absolute, not restricted, and not clarified. This is a wisdom in a very high place in the wise Shari'ah, because the specification and restriction of those commands differ due to the difference of those obligated by them. Take, for example, a verse in the Qur'an and a hadith from the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). As for the verse, it is the saying of Blessed and Exalted is He: . What is the limit of ability? Some jurists have tried to restrict ability to provisions and a mount, and they narrated a hadith attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) regarding this. As for this hadith, its chain of narration is weak and it is not relied upon. As for this restriction, it is not a defining restriction that is comprehensive and exclusive such that it can be said that everyone who possesses provisions and a mount must perform Hajj. That is not the case. For example, one might be a sick person, or an old man, as came in the hadith of the woman from Khath'am when she stopped the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) on the road during the Farewell Pilgrimage, after stoning the pillars, and she said: "O Messenger of Allah, my father is an old man who cannot stay on the saddle. Should I perform Hajj on his behalf?" He said: . The point is this.The Shaykh : The old man possesses provisions and a mount, but he is unable to stay on the mount; he quickly leans to the right or left, falls, and drops to the ground. The point is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made this ability absolute and did not restrict it in another text from the Qur'an or in a hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because ability cannot be defined and it differs from person to person. This is the verse. As for the hadith, it is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . Just as this ability cannot be defined due to the difference of its subject among some people and individuals, the same is said exactly regarding extravagance and wastefulness. If spending money is in what is originally permissible, and the man is wealthy, then his expansion in this permissible matter—I say within the limits of the permissible—is not wastefulness for him, but rather it is wastefulness for one who is below him in wealth. This is the answer regarding the guideline of wastefulness. The meaning and summary of this answer is that it has no fixed guideline, but rather it differs from person to person. It seems that it is necessary to complete the answer regarding what came in the details of the question: why we do not consider the embalming of some animals to be wastefulness, while others consider it wastefulness. My answer to this question, or to this part of that question, is from two aspects. The first aspect is that such a difference is very, very natural. The righteous Salaf differed greatly in such a matter, as long as the reference is derivation and independent legal reasoning, which is subject to error and correctness, as you know from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . This is the nature of humans. . And there are two types of difference that every person of obligation must know so that he does not fall into confusion and turmoil. There is a permissible, allowed difference, and there is a forbidden difference that is not permissible. This second one is what our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) warned us about in more than one text from His Book or from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). The previous verse: . And He excepted those who are merciful from the difference, meaning the blameworthy difference. The blameworthy difference is when some people express the text that came in the Book or the Sunnah by following an imam, a school of jurisprudence, a Shaykh, or a method. This is the blameworthy difference. As for the permissible difference, it is that for which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) assigned a reward in the previous hadith: . That is, the independent legal reasoning that was based on derivation from the Book and the Sunnah, and not following an opinion. This is the first reason for the difference of scholars, past and present.
The Shaykh: The second reason: I see that the absolute prohibition is like the absolute permission in the matter about which the question was asked. If the one who prohibits it means restricting it by what was mentioned previously regarding wastefulness, that it differs from person to person, then the one who permits it also restricts it by this condition, and in that case, the one who prohibits and the one who permit meet. But if it is said by both parties that it is absolutely permissible or absolutely prohibited, then both are at opposite extremes, and both are contrary to the detail mentioned previously. Yes, others.