the abbasìd’s golden age 199clothing and housing, or as he put it, “eating, drinking, clothing and
sheltering from the cold and the heat”, and third; there is no room
in his mind for abstention from satisfying these needs, in full, under
any false religious pretense. The level of consumption here is there-
fore extended horizontally to include the household (the family includ-
ing parents if they have no means of support), and vertically to
embrace a bundle of necessities. Satisfying this level, in his mind, is
a divine duty of the first degree. The implications of characterising
this level as such are twofold: (a) not satisfying this level would ren-
der a divine punishment on the consumer: the less is consumed, the
higher the penalty, and the more that is consumed, the higher the
divine reward, and (b) the consumer should endeavour to seek a
means of earnings to cover these needs and this endeavour is regarded
as a compulsory divine duty of the first degree.
Bearing in mind the same concept of the consumer as being the
household, the second level of consumption, is the level of moderation.
In al-Shaibànì’s words, it is the level of ma"rùf, which he defines as
the level that is below the level of extravagance and above the level
of niggardliness, doon al-saraf wa fawq al-taqteer. The types of goods
in this category are as inclusive as before but the quantity and variety
can be greater and the quality may be higher. In relation to earnings,
the consumer, should seek earnings to satisfy these needs also. However,
no divine punishment would be incurred if he did not do so pro-
viding that there is a legitimate reason for not trying to earn more,
such as spending time seeking knowledge and becoming educated,
and spending time, in the cause of God. This is in contrast to the
previous level where not seeking earnings to satisfy attracts a penalty.
The third level is the level of extravagance, and this is forbidden.
It is the level above the level of moderation. But in relation to earn-
ings, this does not imply that the consumer should not endeavour
to work hard in pursuing earnings beyond what is needed to satisfy
the second level, the level of moderation, he should work hard, pro-
viding that his earnings are not spent on extravagance. The extrav-
agant are Satan’s’ brethren, the Qur"àn states. The extra earnings
can be directed to helping others, leaving to dependent heirs, pro-
viding capital for production, seeking education, spending in the
cause of God, and so on. But earnings should not stop at that level
or be spent on futile pursuits, as extravagance is sterile spending.
Al-Shaibànì’s analysis of the levels of consumption has served as
a valid starting point for many Islamic economists after him, includ-
ing those in modern time, who looked into the theory of consumer