Sermon on Waste and Miserliness in Islam

The believer's relationship to wealth stands equidistant from two errors. On one side is miserliness — the closed fist that withholds charity and reaches even for what is owed. On the other side is extravagance — the open hand that scatters beyond need and squanders trust. This sermon explores the Qur'anic middle way that heals both extremes and the prophetic discipline of holding wealth as a trust from Allah, neither hoarded nor flung to the wind.

The Middle Way — Surah Al-Furqan 25:67

Describing the ibad ar-Rahman — the servants of the Most Merciful — Allah says:

وَٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَنفَقُواْ لَمۡ يُسۡرِفُواْ وَلَمۡ يَقۡتُرُواْ وَكَانَ بَيۡنَ ذَٰلِكَ قَوَامࣰ ا

Those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly, but hold a just balance between.

— Surah Al-Furqan 25:67

The Qur'an chooses the word qawamā — a steady, balanced posture. This is the target: not asceticism, not indulgence, but a measured discipline that neither hoards nor scatters.

Surah Al-Isra fixes the same teaching with a vivid metaphor:

وَلَا تَجۡعَلۡ يَدَكَ مَغۡلُولَةً إِلَىٰ عُنُقِكَ وَلَا تَبۡسُطۡهَا كُلَّ ٱلۡبَسۡطِ فَتَقۡعُدَ مَلُومࣰ ا مَّحۡسُورًا

Do not tie your hand to your neck, nor stretch it out to its utmost reach, lest you sit blameworthy and destitute.

— Surah Al-Isra 17:29

The two extremes share the same endpoint: blameworthy and destitute. The miser is blamed for his closedness and ends starved of charity's blessing; the spendthrift is blamed for his squandering and ends with nothing to spend. The middle way alone preserves both dignity and resources.

Wealth Is a Trust, Not a Possession

Beneath both extremes lies the same illusion — that the wealth belongs to the one holding it. The Qur'an's framing is plain: the wealth is Allah's; we are stewards:

هَٰٓأَنتُمۡ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ تُدۡعَوۡنَ لِتُنفِقُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَمِنكُم مَّن يَبۡخَلُۖ وَمَن يَبۡخَلۡ فَإِنَّمَا يَبۡخَلُ عَن نَّفۡسِهِۦ

You are those called to spend in the way of Allah. Among you are those who withhold; whoever withholds, withholds only from himself. Allah is the Rich, and you are the poor.

— Surah Muhammad 47:38

The verse exposes miserliness's paradox: the miser believes he is preserving his fortune but, in truth, is robbing himself of his portion. The miser gives nothing to himself in the only ledger that matters — the ledger with Allah.

The same point is repeated about the consequences:

وَلَا يَحۡسَبَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَبۡخَلُونَ بِمَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضۡلِهِۦ هُوَ خَيۡرࣰ ا لَّهُمۖ بَلۡ هُوَ شَرࣱّ لَّهُمۡۖ سَيُطَوَّقُونَ مَا بَخِلُواْ بِهِۦ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ

Let not those who withhold what Allah has given them of His bounty think it is better for them. Rather, it is worse for them. What they withheld will be tied around their necks on the Day of Resurrection.

— Surah Al-Imran 3:180

1. Extravagance — Three Faces of Excess

Extravagance is the misallocation of wealth beyond what need or moderation calls for. The Qur'an addresses it across several registers:

A. Excess in Food, Drink, and Adornment

يَٰبَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ خُذُواْ زِينَتَكُمۡ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسۡجِدࣲ وَكُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ وَلَا تُسۡرِفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُسۡرِفِينَ

O children of Adam, take your adornment at every place of prayer. Eat and drink, but do not be excessive. He does not love those who go to excess.

— Surah Al-A'raf 7:31

The verse does not limit enjoyment; it limits excess. The believer takes from the permitted good Allah has provided — but does not turn enjoyment into squander.

B. The Squanderer's Kinship With Shaytan

إِنَّ ٱلۡمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوٓاْ إِخۡوَٰنَ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينِۖ وَكَانَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ لِرَبِّهِۦ كَفُورࣰ ا

The squanderers are the brothers of the devils, and Shaytan is most ungrateful to his Lord.

— Surah Al-Isra 17:27

The kinship between squandering and Shaytan rests on ingratitude. To take what Allah has given and spend it on what He has forbidden — or to waste it on what He neither needs nor wants — is the practical expression of unthankfulness.

C. Even Worship Is Not a License for Waste

The Prophet (peace be upon him) once saw Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) using excessive water for his ablution. He asked:

— "Sa'd, what is this extravagance?"

— "Is there extravagance even in ablution, O Messenger of Allah?"

— "Yes, even if you were on the bank of a flowing river."

— Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Purification, no. 425

A religion that prohibits even the waste of water in worship rejects extravagance in worldly affairs with even greater force.

2. Miserliness — Closing the Door of Good

Miserliness (bukhl) is withholding earnings from what is owed — to family, to the poor, to the rights of the community. The Qur'an associates it with hypocrisy:

ٱلۡمُنَٰفِقُونَ وَٱلۡمُنَٰفِقَٰتُ بَعۡضُهُم مِّنۢ بَعۡضࣲۚ يَأۡمُرُونَ بِٱلۡمُنكَرِ وَيَنۡهَوۡنَ عَنِ ٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِ وَيَقۡبِضُونَ أَيۡدِيَهُمۡۚ

The hypocrites, men and women, are alike: they enjoin what is wrong, forbid what is right, and close their fists.

— Surah At-Tawbah 9:67

The Prophet (peace be upon him) made the incompatibility of miserliness with faith plain:

Two qualities do not gather in a believer: miserliness and bad character.

— Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Book of al-Birr, no. 1962

And:

The dust of the path of Allah and the smoke of Hell never gather in a servant. Faith and miserliness never gather in a heart.

— Sunan an-Nasa'i, Book of Jihad, no. 3110

The Qur'an defines the muflihun — the successful — as those "protected from the stinginess of their own souls" (Al-Hashr 59:9; At-Taghabun 64:16). The struggle against miserliness is the struggle for one's own success.

Stories — Two Extremes, Three Lessons

The Miser and the Generous — The Image of the Iron Armour

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

The example of the miser and the generous is like that of two men wearing iron armour that covers them from the chest to the collarbone. The generous man, when he gives charity, finds the armour widening over his body, lengthening to cover his fingertips and trailing behind him on the ground, erasing his footsteps. The miser, when he wishes to give, finds the rings of the armour clamping tight at every point; he tries to widen it and cannot.

— Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Zakat, no. 1443

The image captures the inner experience of each. Generosity widens the soul — the more it gives, the more space it has. Miserliness contracts the soul — even when the miser sincerely wishes to help, the inner constriction prevents him. Spending generously is not only a transaction; it is a therapy for the heart's narrowness.

Ithar — The Summit of Generosity (Abu Talha and His Wife)

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: A hungry man came to the Prophet and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I am exhausted from hunger." The Prophet sent for one of his wives; she had nothing but water. He sent for another; the same answer. He turned to those around him: "Who will host this man?" Abu Talha of the Ansar stood up: "I will."

Abu Talha took the guest home and told his wife: "Honour the guest of the Messenger of Allah." She said: "We have nothing except food meant for the children." He answered:

— "Prepare the food, light the lamp, put the children to bed, and when our guest sits down to eat, get up as if to fix the lamp and put it out. We will sit with him in the dark and pretend to eat, so he can eat his fill."

They did exactly so. The next morning the Prophet smiled at Abu Talha and said: "Allah was pleased with what you did last night," and then this verse was revealed:

وَيُؤۡثِرُونَ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ وَلَوۡ كَانَ بِهِمۡ خَصَاصَةࣱ

They prefer others over themselves, even though they themselves are in need.

— Surah Al-Hashr 59:9 — Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Virtues of the Ansar, no. 3798

This is ithar — preferring another over oneself, the summit of generosity. The miser thinks giving will impoverish him; ithar reveals giving as a form of inner wealth that survival itself cannot dim.

Debt — The Hidden Cost of Extravagance

Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: The Prophet would supplicate at the end of every prayer: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from sin and from debt." She asked him:

— "O Messenger of Allah, you seek refuge from debt as you do from nothing else. Why?"

— "When a person becomes indebted, they speak and lie; they make promises they cannot keep."

— Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Loans, no. 2397

The hadith uncovers extravagance's chain: extravagance pushes one into debt, debt pushes one into broken promises and moral compromise. Hence the prophetic counsel:

Reduce your sins so death is easy upon you. Reduce your debts so you live free.

— Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman, no. 10500

Debt is not merely a financial weight; it is a moral chain.

The Minimum to Escape Miserliness

Not every believer can reach Abu Talha's ithar. But there is an accessible minimum that lifts one out of the circle of miserliness altogether. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

Whoever pays the zakat of his wealth, honours his guest, and helps in a calamity has escaped miserliness.

— al-Mu'jam al-Kabir of at-Tabarani, no. 6228

Three concrete practices: zakat (Allah's right), hospitality (social bond), and aid in calamity (human duty). A believer who steadily does these is no longer described by the Prophet's diagnosis of a stingy heart.

The Believer's Practice — Intention, Measure, Barakah

Three steady practices for the wealth in one's hand:

• Plant an intention in every expense. "For the rights of my family," "for a brother in need," "for Allah's pleasure" — the intention turns spending into worship and exposes excess as waste.
• Do not neglect the minimum. Zakat, sadaqat al-fitr, qurban, the urgent need of a relative. These minimums hold the believer outside the territory of miserliness even in years when extra giving is not possible.
• Treat debt as the discipline it is. Borrow only when necessary; repay without delay. Free yourself, then your wealth.

The Prophet's broader warning remains the frame:

Reduce your sins so death is easy upon you. Reduce your debts so you live free.

— Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman, no. 10500

Putting the Balance Into Practice With VAAZ

The 99 Beautiful Names of Allah collection in the VAAZ app features Al-Wahhab (the Bestower) — meditation on this name shapes the believer's hand into a giving hand by relocating the source of giving to Allah Himself. Ar-Razzaq (the Provider) dispels the anxiety beneath miserliness. The dua archive holds the Prophet's supplication: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from miserliness, cowardice, and decrepit old age," a brief and powerful daily protection.

For the broader teaching on spending in Allah's path, see Sermon on Infaq and Sermon on Zakat and Sadaqah; for the moral framework of the middle way, see the Akhlak Sermons pillar.

The believer submits wealth to Allah neither by locking it in a vault nor by tossing it to the wind. Wealth exists to be spent — but the manner of its spending is calibrated to the steady centre Allah has commanded.

References

1. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Furqan 25:67.
2. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Isra 17:26-27 and 17:29.
3. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-A'raf 7:31.
4. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Imran 3:180.
5. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Muhammad 47:38.
6. The Noble Qur'an, Surah At-Tawbah 9:67.
7. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Hashr 59:9.
8. The Noble Qur'an, Surah At-Taghabun 64:16.
9. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Zakat, hadith no. 1443 (Miser and generous as iron armour).
10. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Virtues of the Ansar, hadith no. 3798 (Abu Talha's ithar).
11. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Loans, hadith no. 2397 (Seeking refuge from debt).
12. Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Purification, hadith no. 425 (Extravagance in ablution).
13. Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Book of al-Birr, hadith no. 1962 (Miserliness and bad character).
14. Sunan an-Nasa'i, Book of Jihad, hadith no. 3110 (Faith and miserliness do not gather).
15. Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman, hadith no. 10500 ("Reduce debts so you live free").

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