D~scoursesO n lslamtc Way O f Life (Vol.11)
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Show off is not lawful Then follows the fourth degree which is mere "Show off'. The house-owner is doing something which aims neither at comfort, nor at decoration; the aim is to show his riches. Thereby he wants to impose his superiority on others and to show that he is a big thing. All this comes within the definition of "Show off' which is not lawful in the laws of the Shari hh. It is also extravagance. The limits of extravagance These four categories also apply to food and clothes, and in all other things of life. A man wears costly clothes in order to receive comfort, to please himself and the members of his household and his acquaintances. fiiends and visitors, there is no ham. On he other hand there is a person who wears valuable clothes with the intention that he may be considered a rich and wealthy man, a man of exalted position in society, then this is mere exhibition and show and therefore it is prohibited. Hazrat Thanawi .iiidl-, has therefore drawn a clear line of demarcation between the two extremes. If money is spent on something for the sake of meeting a necessity, providing comfort or for decoration for his own pleasure and satisfaction, it is nc$ extravagance.
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Discourses On Islarnic Way Of Ltfe (Vol-11)
gance. Bear in mind that if travelling in an upper class is for comfort, e.g., to save oneself from heat in the summer season, and the man can afford it. It is neither extravagance nor a sin. If one travels in an upper class simply to show that he is rich, then it is extravagance and it is unlawful. The husband should therefore, keep in mind th2se degrees in meeting the cost of living of his wife with generosity and liberality. Capacity differs from man to man, Maulana Maseehullah Khan Sahib once observed: There is a nian who is all alone in this world, without relatives, without friends and without acquaintances. For such a man a bed, a dish and a jug are sufficient to pass his life. If he collects more articles, it will mean a show and will be reckoned as extravagance in his case. There is a man who receives guests, has a large circle of acquaintances and friends, and has many relatives. The standard of his needs and extent of requirements will be quite different. If such a man has in his house at times even one hundred sets of pots and beddings, not a single piece of this will be counted as extravagance. because all these are necessities of life. The standard of life differs from man to man.
Where to search Allah Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham + was once a great Ruler but he renounced the world in search of Allah. There are some people who seek from his life arguments to prove their stand. The story runs as follows: One night Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adahm 4?c saw a man walking about on the r~ roof of the palace. Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham d c l c ~ h e caught him and asked him what he was doing on the roof of the palace. The man replied: I have come here to search my lost camel. Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adham + - 1 5 . 1 said: ~~ Stupid fellow! Are you searching your camel on the roof at this hour &4j~\-~
This is not Extravagance Once it so happened that I was coming back to Karachi from some other city, and it was the hot summer season. I requested someone to have my seat booked in an airconditioned coach and I gave him the required amount of money. Another man who was sitting nearby at once objected to this because in his opinion I was committing extravagance by sitting in an airconditioned coach. Many people are under the wrong impression that to travel in a higher class is extrava-