economic thought in the qur"àn and sunnah 41The Prophet, peace upon him, is reported to have advised three
men who vowed, in pursuit of God’s satisfaction to: (a) one to fast
all his life, (b) the second to pray all night and (c) the third to abstain
from marriage and the pleasure of women, that these acts of sup-
posed sacrifice were wrong. In confirming the normality of life in
Islam he emphasized to them, “I fast and break my fast, pray and
sleep, and I marry” (flaœìœal-Bukhari and flaœìœMuslim). The prin-
ciple of moderation has particular application to the consumption
function as we will see shortly.
The Principle of Economic Efficiency
The emphasis on economic efficiency is a by-product of the previ-
ous concepts: unity and viceregency. Natural resources would have
to be utilized in the most economically efficient manner to maxi-
mize, if we use a modern term, the value of output in relation to
that of the input. The input has mostly been given by God in the
form of natural resources, which with the addition of other factors
of production lead to the increase in the treasure of the nation in
the form of its gross national product, again to use modern techni-
cal terms. In the emphasis on the economic efficiency of the use of
natural resources, either for consumption or production, we find
Islam is differentiating clearly between two important notions: isràf
and tabûìr. This has been mentioned in the Qur"ànic verses with a
particular distinction between the two.
In consumption for example, isràf could be interpreted as extend-
ing the level of consumption beyond the level of basic needs. This
may lead to, and incorporates, the consumption of luxurious goods
and services. In terms of the relationship between saving and spend-
ing, isràf may also be widened to include sacrificing future con-
sumption, saving, for the sake of immediate consumption, and spending;
which is a reflection of the consumer’s time preference in allocating
his consumption between present and future income. In this case the
balance between the two types of consumption, in both cases, first,
the basic needs as compared with luxurious consumption, and sec-
ond, future as compared to present consumption, which good Muslims
are required to observe, may be impaired. This is not recommended;
it is frowned upon and may even attract God’s dissatisfaction. But
the punishment for this behaviour, is not, as it seems from reading
the Qur"ànic verses, as severe as the punishment associated with
another level of consumption, tabûìr.