Our Highly Economical Home - I

The economics of a Muslim home are based upon a group of values and
foundations that distinguish it from any other home; and these are:
* Faith that its wealth belongs to Allaah The Almighty, and the
members of the family are merely temporary trustees for it, Allaah The
Exalted Says (what means): } Believe in Allaahand His Messenger and
spend out of that in which He has made you successors. { [Quran 57:7]
* Faith that Allaah The Exalted decreed that some people have more
provision than others; Allaah The Exalted Says (what means): } And
Allaah has favored some of you over others in provision. { [Quran
16:71] Favoring in provisions means in terms of the varying amounts
designated to people, and does not mean that the rich are favored or
are superior to those who are less in material wealth. Rather,
superiority with Allaah The Almighty is in terms of piety and
righteous deeds. The poor have a great rank with Allaah The Exalted
when they are adorned with patience and contentment with what He has
provided them. This does not mean that we should wish to become poor,
for the Messenger of Allaah, , said: " O Allaah, I seek refuge in You
from disbelief and poverty. (Allaahumma inee a'oothu bika min Al-kufr
wal faqr.)" [Abu Daawood, An-Nasaa'i andAhmad] Rather, we are
requested to work and exert effort to earn so as not to be poor.
* Observance of the advice of the Messenger, , to not look longingly
at those that are greater than us in provisions, for he, , said: "Look
at those who are lower [in material wealth] than yourselves, and do
not look at those who are above you; that is better suited for you
such that you do not belittle the favor of Allaah." [Muslim]
* [Having only] lawfully-earned sustenance; Allaah The Exalted Said
(what means): } O you who have believed, eat from the good things
which We provided for you and be grateful to Allaah if it is [indeed]
Himthat you worship. { [Quran 2:172]; for Allaah The Almighty is Good
anddoes not accept other than what is good, as Allaah The Exalted Says
(what means): } O you who have believed, spend from the good things
which you have earned { [Quran 2:267]. Also the Prophet, , said:
"There is no flesh that has been nurtured from unlawfully earned
sustenance except that the Hellfire is more deserving of it."
[At-Tirmithi and Ahmad]. Lawfully earned sustenance is one of the
means for one's supplications being answered; the Prophet, , said:
"…And he eats the forbidden [that is bought by unlawfully earned
money]; and he drinks the forbidden; andhe wears the forbidden; and he
is fed with the forbidden; how then can he be answered [when he
supplicates]?" [Muslim]
* The man's responsibilityto provide the living expenditures. Allaah
The Exalted Says (what means): } Men are in charge of women by [right
of] what Allaah hasgiven one over the other and what they spend
[formaintenance] from their wealth. { [Quran 4:34]. Expenditure is to
be carried out within the limits of monetary capability, for Allaah
The Exalted Says (what means): } Let a man of wealth spend from his
wealth, and he whose provision is restricted – let him spend from what
Allaah has given him. Allaah does not charge a soul except [according
to] what He has given it. Allaah will bring about, after hardship,
ease. { [Quran 65:7]. Also the Prophet, , said: "And he who spends
[from what Allaah gives him] on his wife, children, andhousehold it is
[counted for him as] charity." [At-Tabaraani]
* Moderation in spendingand household management. Allaah The Exalted
Says (what means): } And do not make your hand [as] chained to your
neck or extend it completely and [thereby] become blamed and
insolvent. { [Quran 17:29]
Abu Bakr said, "I dislike that the members of a household spend
theprovisions of days in one day."
A righteous woman once advised her daughter, saying, "Do not charge
your husband except what he can manage, in accordance to his
circumstances; and help to elevate him from being placed in a state
causing him to be weak or to [suffer] hardship; for to carry huge
rocks is easier than to carry debts."
* Realizing the differencebetween moderating expenditure and being
stingy, and there is no doubt that the necessitiesof one era and those
of another differ, and that the necessities of one home differ from
that of another. It is important to take into account purchasing only
what is necessary and will be used.
* Prioritizing expenditures according to earnings, considering first
what is necessary followed by articles of luxury. It is obligatory to
keep away from unlawfulexpenditures, and that includes spending on
devices that cause diversion [from Thikr (mentioning and remembering
Allaah) andobeying the commands of Allaah] and are unlawful; or to buy
food or drinks that the Sharee'ah has prohibited from doing.
* Saving any surplus that remains of the basic needs, as this can be
usedafterwards, especially in times of need and hardship.
* Organizing the budget, and this means distributing the limited
resources to the various needs. The objective behind organizing the
budget is to get the most out of the available resources.
It is important to take note of the following during the organization
of the budget:
ـ Family members should learn how to make decisions that are sound and
wise and help them follow the best course to utilize available
resources and potential; this can aid in accomplishing future
objectives that they hopefor and look forward to in their lives.
ـ Relying on consultation between family membersin order to manage the
budget, under control, asfar as possible. For all the members of the
family to join together in planningthe budget results in each of them
gaining a moral incentive and determination to render the budget
successful, as they all share in the duty of making it work.
ـ Organizing the process of home management and sound planning to
render problem solving for any difficulty facing the family an easier
task, and to balance between the duty of the individualtowards the
family, and the duty of the family towards the individual.
Any successful management process is comprised of five stages, and they are:
* Defining the target
* Planning
* Organizing
* Implementing
* Assessing.
This would happen together with consideration and commitment to the
constituents of the management process, such as for example:
* For each member of thefamily to estimate the value of time and
effort required to accomplish chores.
* Considering the ability of each individual family member.
* To take precautions for emergency situations
* Defining resource volume and dividing the family resources into
twocategories, human resources and non-human resources.
Human resources would include: talents, capabilities, personal
inclinations, energy levels, and preferences.
Non-human resources include: time, income, property, and communityfacilities.
There are factors that affect family resources, such as, for example:
family living standards, family size, place of residence, the current
phase through which thefamily is living, and so on.
Managing food consumption by following certain guidelines, such as:
ـ Knowledge of the quality and cost of the various available food products.
ـ Knowledge of the basic supply alternatives, so that this can be made
useof when certain goods are no longer available or their prices are
raised.
ـ Awareness so as to not be negatively influenced by commercials into
buying products that are not necessary.
ـ Purchasing the basic needs in the required quantities without excess.
ـ Selecting the products that are appropriate to the family income and
are available in wholesale stores that are close to the home.
ـ Taking advantage of purchasing stock in the seasons where the prices
are optimal; for example during tomato season quantities can be
purchased and made intotomato paste for use at times when it is not
readily available and prices soar.
ـ Cooking food in required quantities and avoiding waste; and limiting
the variety of dishes cooked for one meal.
ـ Using leftovers rather than discarding them.
ـ Forms of avoiding food waste include thinly peeling fruits and
vegetables so as not to discard a large portion with the skin.
ـ When setting meals on the table, place only the required quantity of
food; Islam informs us that even a mouthful of food is a blessing that
should be preserved. The Prophet, , said: "If a morsel of food should
fallfrom any of you, then remove any harm that might have stuck to it
and eat it, and do not leave it for the devil; then, after one has
finished [his meal], he should lick his fingers for he does not know
where in his food there is blessing." [Muslim]
ـ Using unbreakable kitchen utensils and keeping expensive china for
special occasions.
Methods to Economize onClothing:
ـ The housewife's knowledge of sewing, clothes design, and embroidery
aids in decreasing expenditure on ready-made clothes. This results in
savings on a good portion of the budget.
ـ Purchasing materials that are leftover at bargain prices and
selecting from them suitable color co-ordinations when designing
children's clothes.
ـ Promptly mending smalltears in clothes before they increase in size.
Loose buttons should alsobe fixed so as to save the cost of purchasing
a replacement.
ـ Following proper methods for washing, ironing and drying clothes to
preserve the clothes for the longest possible period of time.
ـ Taking care of children'sclothes so that they can be used again by a
younger child; to save on purchasing new clothes, taking into
considerationthe psychological and educational aspects related to this
practice; and taking care that not all the younger child's clothes are
those that were worn by elder siblings to avoid any negative feelings
that may result such as feelingthat the parents are favoring the elder
child. Such feelings can result in jealousy and hatred between
siblings. When giving a younger child his elder brother's clothes, he
should be persuaded into acceptingthem with no hard feelings; this can
be achieved by the continual fostering of love between the siblingsand
clarifying that there is no favoring of one over the other and that
his elder sibling only gives him his clothes out of love.

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