Prof. Dr. Erol Göka
Nowadays, talking about and criticizing stinginess has become much easier; what’s truly difficult is to talk about wastefulness and extravagance in a consumer society where consumption defines everything, and the command “The more you consume, the happier you’ll be!” echoes from all sides. I don’t know whether anyone will listen, but let’s try anyway.
Just as stinginess and greed for money have taken on entirely new forms and grown stronger within the modern monetary economy, the same is true for extravagance — a human attitude and personality trait that appears to be at the opposite extreme of stinginess. Reckless consumption, throwing money around without a second thought, and wastefulness have all gained a new meaning and aura in today’s monetary system, flourishing once again. Most of the words, advice, and suggestions produced in older, more traditional times carry no meaning within this economic reality; they go in one ear and out the other. Even the most sensible person, under the influence of advertising, fashion, and — even more so — the ideology of everyday life, tries to replace whatever they have with the highest-end version of a brand, even if it serves the exact same function.
Just like hoarding without infāq — the act of charitable giving — extravagance is one of the explicitly condemned and undesirable states in religion. “Wastefulness through squandering” is reproached in many verses of the Qur’an (Al-An‘ām 6:141, Al-A‘rāf 7:31, Al-Isrā’ 17:26), and those who “squander without regard for their relatives, the poor, and the stranded” are described as having “become brothers to Satan” (Al-Isrā’ 17:27). Even though most of us are aware that reckless spending is akin to aligning oneself with the devil, we still cannot curb our appetite for consumption. Once we have paid our taxes and zakāt, we tend to soothe our conscience by closing our eyes and ears to the poverty and need across the world — and dive freely into every sea of consumption.
Let me make it clear from the outset: wastefulness has a psychiatric dimension, a side closely tied to mental health. If, while living under normal conditions and going about the usual affairs of life, a person suddenly starts acting wastefully despite never having done so before, that is not the behavior of a sound mind. When such a change is observed, it’s important to seek the guidance of a professional who understands psychological disorders. That said, the behavior we call extravagance doesn’t appear like a recurring or episodic symptom, as it does in certain mental illnesses. Extravagance is a personality trait that sticks to the individual — a defining characteristic. It reflects the grade we received in our test with money and possessions, with showiness and splendor. The wastefulness of a spendthrift is not occasional; it’s a pervasive and comprehensive attitude that shows itself toward almost every object, at every moment in life. The spendthrift enjoys the act of wasting itself — they are eager to spend money on whatever they like, regardless of how useful it might be.
But what is it that drives a person to waste? Why do they act this way?
Like Greed, Extravagance Is Also Kin to Stinginess
One must not be fooled by the seemingly frivolous and flighty demeanor of the spendthrift. Wastefulness is their lifestyle, and in order to maintain it, they must both desperately desire to possess an object and then, after a while, retract that desire and direct it toward something else. In their inability to feel satisfied, their constant opening of new channels of expenditure, and their ongoing attachment to money, they are fundamentally identical to the miser. Both are diabolical forms that reject the fulfillment of desire: one tries to stay as far from objects as possible, while the other tries to get as close as they can. The miser and the spendthrift alike are fully aware that all objects submit absolutely to the power of money, and they navigate their lives with this awareness. Money is an extension of their very selves. For both, it is the most intense and irresistible form of pleasure imaginable.
How deeply spendthrifts actually value money becomes most evident during inheritance disputes. The greed and violence that surface in such conflicts often stem from a profound sense of helplessness — a fear of not knowing how to survive in this world without money — one that strikes at the very heart of the spendthrift.
Let us make one thing clear from the beginning: for someone to behave extravagantly, they must have money. It is precisely because they have money that they desire to own whatever they like, and they take pleasure in that act of possession. While the miser’s pleasure stalls at merely having money — in other words, the miser derives their greatest joy from simply watching their wealth — what brings happiness to the spendthrift is the second stage: spending. At first glance, miserliness and extravagance may seem like complete opposites, but in terms of the value and significance they place on money, they are like twin siblings. Upon closer inspection, it is easy to see that money is just as indispensable for spendthrifts who throw it around and squander it recklessly. After all, if they didn’t have money, could they indulge in such foolishness?
And when I say “money,” I am also including the “imaginary money” created in our minds by the banking system of the modern monetary economy — a system that provides every means and convenience (!) to encourage consumption. There may be nothing in our pockets or hands, yet we still look to the credit opportunities provided by the banking system, assume that this virtual money belongs to us, and act accordingly.
Extravagance is a state of mind built upon the belief: “I have money, I have the means, I’ll spend as I wish — what’s it to you?” Once we truly understand this mindset, everything else becomes easier to evaluate.
Whenever I hear the word “extravagance,” I always recall a widely circulated anecdote from years ago about two wealthy boys speeding in their luxury cars on the road to a private university in Ankara, who ended up in an accident. Their luxury vehicles crash. They get out. The young man who is clearly at fault turns to the other and says, “No worries, we’ll cover whatever the cost is,” and reaches for his business card. For some reason, the other young man becomes extremely angry at this patronizing attitude. He immediately gets back into his car, puts it in reverse, and crashes forcefully into the other’s vehicle. He repeats this a few times. Then he gets out, hands his card to the astonished young man, and says, “Fine. I’m the one at fault. Get your car fixed. We’ll pay whatever the cost is.”
For years, I used this story to illustrate the connection between extravagance and irresponsibility. But I’m also well aware that this example now feels quite outdated in today’s technomediatic world, where a new kind of culture built on display and spectacle dominates — where brazenly showing off what one consumes on social media is rewarded. In my old example, it was at least possible to point to the link between wastefulness and responsibility. But with today’s normalized forms of waste, we no longer even have that opportunity.
Who Knows Spendthrifts Best?
The managers of high-end stores in major cities who sell expensive items and deliberately keep their prices as high as possible — along with real estate agents who trade in properties at outrageous prices — are the ones who understand the inner world of spendthrifts best. The sharpest among these tradespeople are well aware that there is a segment of society so wasteful that they never ask the price of anything while shopping and couldn’t care less about what something is actually worth. They arrange their displays and pricing accordingly. They organize their stores — especially the tags — to appeal to these dazed individuals who supposedly don’t care about money, and who derive a distinct kind of pleasure from showing off, saying “I’ve got the most expensive one!” They know full well that, for these people, greed and the passion for waste are existential traits — which is why they reject any principle of value outright.
“They are those who, when they spend, are neither wasteful nor miserly, but take a middle way between the two” (Al-Furqan 25:67). It is only by adhering to this blessed principle that we can protect ourselves from the rampant stinginess and extravagance that have taken hold in the monetary economy.
As for me, I am of the opinion that those who live under the conditions of the monetary economy and consumer society without ever stopping to reflect — even for a moment — on what these conditions mean and where they come from; who act solely based on appearances; who think “The money is mine, my earnings are lawful — what I do with it is my business”; who fail to recognize that they are nothing more than the fool of the world of extravagance — such people can grasp neither this verse nor the essence of our religion.
Frankly, I’m not sure whether someone who lacks the consciousness of discernment can even truly possess faith. I believe that the one who prays just for show and the one who lives according to display and ostentation are caught in the same illusion.