250 chapter six
Al-Ghazàlì emphasised further, “if the various kinds of trade and
industry are given up, it will be difficult for the people to manage
their livelihood and the majority of the people would be destroyed”,
(Vol. II, p. 71). On another occasion we find him referring to eco-
nomic activities as causes of engagement in the world, which are
five main industries: cultivation, grazing, hunting, weaving and con-
struction, (Vol. III, p. 209). For smooth living, administrative works,
judicial works, and military works are necessary. Mankind therefore
is divided into three main classes from the point of view of these
activities: cultivators and industrialists, soldiers, and officers of gov-
ernment. The religious men, who are of different classes, according
to their piety and perception of life and life-after, are added to the
above classes. (Vol. III, p. 209).
The above activities are necessary for human habitation just as
the various organs of the body are necessary for the maintenance
of life. In an interesting analogy, al-Ghazàlì relates the principal
industries to the heart of the body, other subsidiary industries and
economic activities to different parts of the body in the order of
what is fundamental, what is helpful, and what is supplementary.
The government occupied an important role in al-Ghazàlì’s think-
ing. It is the most noble of activities, he said. His reasons are straight-
forward: with government, peace is maintained and peaceful habitation
becomes possible. This is not a surprising thought, bearing in mind
the state of political instability that prevailed in the Islamic state dur-
ing that period. (Vol. 1, p. 27).
Consumption and Consumer Behaviour
In parallel to al-A›fahànì, al-Ghazàlìdivided the level of consump-
tion into various levels ranging from necessity to extravagance.
Necessity ought to be fulfilled by the consumer and the fulfillment
of these is a religious duty. In that al-Ghazàlì is in opposition to
the extreme flùfìview of neglecting the self for the sake of the divine
force. In that al-Ghazàlìadvocates, “The object of the wise is the
vision of the Lord in the hereafter and the only way to gain it is
learning an action...but it is not possible to stand constantly on
them without having a healthy body which is also not possible with-
out food and drink which are absolutely necessary and which are
taken according to prescribed rules”, (Vol. 2, p. 1). The level of
extravagance, as we know by now, is forbidden. What distinguishes