Discover what it means to be a responsible Muslim consumer and how to uphold ethical and moral values in your consumption habits. Learn about Halal guidelines, avoiding interest, practicing modesty, supporting ethical practices, seeking knowledge, and giving back to those in need.A Muslim should adopt a reasonable standard of living.he should be moderate in his expenditure.
Behavior of a Muslim Consumer?
In the gradation of economic standard, Islam does not advocate equality, but with regard to the provision of basic necessaries of life, but it maintains equality and accept the principal of “right to livelihood” or every member of the state. It ensures that no one is left free to waste his wealth in luxuries of life. And it makes it state responsibility to provide the basic needs to its citizens and to keep the difference in economic gradation within moderate and reasonable limits so that the evils of capitalism and communism should not crap up in a Muslim community . Islam condemns both miserliness and extravagence and advice people to be moderate in their expenditure.
A Muslim should not be a miser because people who abstain from spending on the satisfaction of their legitimate and lawful wants or try to be niggardly in their expenditure in general are regarded criminal in Islam. By not spending wealth which God has bestowed upon them they are committing three crimes. In the first place they are ungreatful to God for not spending on themselves their relatives or their friends from the wealth God has bestowed upon them.
Secondly they are depriving other people from its usefulness, thus it is a misuse of the gift of God which was meant to be used for the good of the people by bot spending their wealth, thy are in fact denying the community of its great usefulness in the process of production. Thirdly, by withholding their wealth, they are responsible for- lowering the level of consumption and thereby the level of production and employment in the community. Saving of wealth may be, up to a point , good and beneficial and therefor permissible, but piling up wealth not for use or service to the community which needs it but for social prestige or similar other natural motive, is an act of sabotage against society and can never be forgiven or tolerated.
Islam condemns those who are extravagant and spendthrift. So a Muslim consumer should not be an extravagant. In Islam those who waste their wealth are called the devil’s brethren. They are ungreatful to God for not spending what He has given them out of His grace in a proper and lawful manner. How many families are ruined by extravagant expenses on wedding , funerals etc. Besides, this extravagant expenditure stimulated growth of idle, unproductive and luxurious industries in the community.
Thus unnecessary and wasteful expenditure is again and again condemned by the holy Quran. Wastage of wealth which can be utilized for more productive purposes by the community is a very grave sin in the eyes of God.