Shaikh Abdol-Hamid termed ‘prodigality’ one of the malignant and perilous diseases which gives birth to many other troubles for any individual and society.
Giving his Friday sermon in Zahedan, Iran, Khateeb of Sunnis began his discourse by two noble Qur’anic verses: «وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَى حَقَّهُ وَالْمِسْكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَلاَ تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا*إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُواْ إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِرَبِّهِ كَفُورًا», (Give the relative his right, and the needy and the wayfarer. And do not squander recklessly. Surely, squanderers are brothers of Satans, and the Satan is very ungrateful to his Lord.); [Isra’: 26-27]
He stated, “In many places in the Qur’an and Sunnah ‘squander’ has been denounced; these great sources of knowledge and guidance forbid Muslims to be prodigal. The Noble Qur’an has called squanderers ‘brothers of Satan’. It means prodigality is a sort of ingratitude and squanderers commit this sin as Satan did before. Some scholars affirm that squanderers are like Satan in not using wisdom; Satan did not utilize his mind and disobeyed Him. In the same way, a prodigal does not use his or her wisdom correctly; prodigality is contrary to the correct wisdom.”
Mawlana Abdol-Hamid went on to say more, “It is so regrettable that people squander in different aspects of life nowadays. It has been narrated from the third caliph Othman bin Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, that once he entered his home where he saw two lamps on; he ordered to off one of them. Prodigality is incommensurate in any aspect and case.”
Alluding to squander in energies like water and electricity in some houses, Shaikh said that despite receiving bills with huge amount of money to be paid, people squander in such blessings of Allah. There is prodigality in eating bread; the experiences suggest Iranians commit prodigality on table and meal more than many other nations. Prodigality is a dangerous disease which should be abandoned.
“Squander makes people indigent; it is the root of many other troubles for individuals and societies. The worst squander is spending money on the path of wrong and misdeeds like wine, cigarette and other bad acts. Smoking is harmful for people according to objective researches and the law of Shari’ah. In the same way, gamble and wine damage societies; the Noble Qur’an has urged openly they are harmful. Cigarette and other drugs are counted in the circle of such damaging things.”
The rector of Darululoom Zahedan counted ‘temperance in life’ one of the secrets of success for any society and said, “Eqtisad is an Islamic term that means ‘temperance’; it has been described that neither a man should be squanderer nor miserly. Stinginess is also unwanted in Islam. Even the comprehensive religion of Islam suggests people to not be intemperate in giving donations; rather they should think of their children and family members too. Islam teaches us to spend according to our income. When a person spends more than his income, he will face problems and debts.”
At the end of this part of his speech, Shaikh Abdol-Hamid mentioned ‘prodigality in clothing and house tools’ calling on all to avoid squander and invite others to do so as well.
Wisdom Means Vigilance, Temperance, Sanity
In the second part of his speech, Shaikh Abdol-Hamid, termed comparison of the Iranian opposition with the events took place in the early years of Islamic history by the Shia Friday prayer leader of Tehran ‘against discretion, wisdom and temperance’.
He said, “Some meetings were held under the title of ‘wisdom’ last week; I felt some of the participants went to extremes in the meetings named ‘discretion’. They forgot wisdom cannot be against vigilance, temperance and sanity. Some people target their opponents so utterly bad that it defies all logic!”
Alluding to disrespecting of the companions in speech of a Tehran-based cleric, Khateeb of Sunnis said, “One of the Friday prayer leaders of Tehran compared the violence erupted after presidential elections in 2009 to the Battle of Jamal; a battle organized and rekindled by the enemies of Islam to damage Islam and the best Muslims of that era. The Shia cleric mentioned the name of the Mother of the Believers Sayyida Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, while there is no any relevance between the two issues.”
The rector of Darululoom Zahedan reminded some virtues and features of the Mother of the Believers, saying according to the clear text of the Noble Qur’an all wives of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, are mothers of the believers. None of Muslims can deny that Sayyida Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, is his or her mother.
“Using such similes is contrary to wisdom, sanity and temperance. The Supreme Leader has declared insulting the Clean Wives and Companions, and sanctities of Ahl-us-Sunnah and other Islamic sects ‘Haram’ and unlawful. I would like to advise all political and religious actors, with their different backgrounds, to avoid insulting the sanctities of Muslims and realize the respect of dignified personalities in the early years of Islam,” he further said.
The member of the International Union for Muslim Scholars went on to say more, “The Muslim world needs calm and unity more than any time; in such circumstances, both Shia and Sunni speakers, writers and media men should be very careful. They must be cautious over their words; instead of provoking sectarian disputes, they must go on the path of unity and solidarity.”
Addressing all parties and wings, Shaikh-ul-Islam stated, “We are not members of any particular party or hand, rather, we are well-wishers of all including ‘Principlists’ and ‘reformists’. So I would like to suggest these politicians to leave their differences behind and work hard to develop Islam and the country. The issues should be taken in the boundaries of wisdom, law and logic. Every of us has no choice but to respect the law preserving fraternity and unity.”