economic thought in the qur"àn and sunnah 69to be avoidable in this matter, but it might be accepted as long as
it projects the generally accepted conventions in a society at a par-
ticular time.
Second, spending on charity and spending on worldly needs. The Qur"àn
states, “Do seek by means of that which God has given you to attain
the Paradise to come, but do not forget your share of this world”,
(Qur"àn, 28:77). Also, in determining what could be spent in alms,
the Qur"àn says, “They ask you what they should give in alms, say:
what you can spare”, (Qur"àn, 2:219). It is the surplus, after satis-
fying worldly needs, in moderation, and saving for dependent heirs
to help them avoid poverty that should be spent in alms. Once more,
even when it comes to spending on charity, a balanced relationship
ought to be maintained.
Third, spending and saving.The consumer is ordained to achieve a
reasonable relationship between his spending and his saving. Of the
various purposes of saving, saving for bequeathing to dependent heirs
is given high priority, even over spending for charitable purposes.
The Prophet is reported to have discouraged one of his compan-
ions, Sa"d, from donating most of his wealth to social-caring pur-
poses, and recommending instead to donate only one third, and to
bequeath the rest to his heirs, and that “the one third is still too
much; you would better leave your heirs rich than leaving them poor
and dependent on others”, (flaœìœMuslim).
The principle of moderation acknowledges a basic economic issue:
scarcity. Scarcity of economic resources had been the main feature
of Medieval Central Arabia, which characterised the life of the
Bedouin at that time, as was shown in the previous chapter. It might
be argued, therefore, that the Bedouin, with his scanty food and
clothing, had no choice but to be moderate in his consumption with
no need for Qur"ànic emphasis. But we must acknowledge the fact
that the concept of moderation is not directed to the consumer as
an isolated agent, rather it is intended to organise the consumption
pattern of society as a whole. As such, the concept implies a vol-
untary redistribution of consumption between those who have and
those who have-not. By the stipulation of spending in alms and social-
caring purposes, the redistribution effect of the concept of modera-
tion is reinforced further. In an environment with scarce economic
resources, such as that of Arabia at that time, the emphasis on the
concept of moderation was necessary. Furthermore, the Qur"ànic
rules are meant to provide a framework for a long-term economic