'Less is more' for Muslims
Friday, August 3, 2007
THOUGH concerned, many readers of The Brunei Times would not have been very surprised by its report earlier this week that a Universiti Brunei Darussalam poll had found that 44 per cent of Bruneians had no savings at all while 55.1 per cent were indebted.
Unfortunately, the report failed to mention the number of people surveyed or demographic details such as respondents' income brackets and age groups (because some children do copy their parents' spending habits). Nevertheless, the finding served to confirm what we have suspected all along that many of us are spendthrift with no firm planning on how we should manage our wealth today in order to be financially secure in the future.
Who can say who is to blame for the reckless lifestyle? If we are honest we would admit many of us have not only been pampered but have begun to think that this comfortable lifestyle would be around forever. Try to look up data on poverty in Brunei and chances are one would not be able to find it. What we would find instead is the indication of prosperity.
We are constantly exposed to reports about the easy life that most Bruneians are leading, the luxury cars outracing one another on our smooth roads, and the spending habits that seem to know no bounds. Many of us are aware how bad traffic jams are every payday when cars inch their way into shopping centres as people rush to spend what they have earned for the previous month's work.
According to the 2005 Human Development Report, Brunei is ranked 33rd out of 177 countries studied in terms of their human development index (HDI). This means Bruneians live longer and healthier, are better educated and have a higher standard of living compared to billions of people residing in 144 other countries.
Seen from any perspective, this reckless lifestyle, however, will only harm us. Regardless of which region we come from, we are told from an early age that saving is a virtue. We need only to recall the tale of the hardworking ant who works hard throughout harvest time to save food while the grasshopper plays the days away and eventually has to go hungry when hard times come a knocking.
Islam has a unique perspective when it comes to spending and saving. Muslims are taught that everything comes from Allah the Exalted, Most High, and when one needs to spend lavishly, one should only do it in the path of Allah (such as in charity) so that it returns manifold in divine rewards. Sadaqa does not decrease wealth and Muslims should be on the lookout for opportunities to give, give and give (for instance in Ramadan or when one knows a relative or another person in need).
But when one saves , one should do it for the greater good (such as ensuring the welfare of one's family when one falls ill) rather than to merely defer gratification and to buy a more expensive object. Muslims are taught to "be mindful of five things before five other things." Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said, "Make the best use of five things before the arrival of five other things: your youth before (the arrival of) your old age, your health before you fall ill, your comforts before (the arrival of) scarcity, your leisure time before it becomes hectic, and your life before your death."
Muslims should be the representative of the "less is more" concept when it comes to material things, and to be wary of debts as much as possible. An Islamic Brunei Darussalam would be one whose population loves to save, or to spend on charity. But that is the ideal, and realistically, there should perhaps be mechanisms put in place by the appropriate authorities to legally require members of the public to contribute to many more dividend-bearing savings that could be introduced. Examples of desisting unnecessary spending could also be shown and encouraged.
Unfortunately, the report failed to mention the number of people surveyed or demographic details such as respondents' income brackets and age groups (because some children do copy their parents' spending habits). Nevertheless, the finding served to confirm what we have suspected all along that many of us are spendthrift with no firm planning on how we should manage our wealth today in order to be financially secure in the future.
Who can say who is to blame for the reckless lifestyle? If we are honest we would admit many of us have not only been pampered but have begun to think that this comfortable lifestyle would be around forever. Try to look up data on poverty in Brunei and chances are one would not be able to find it. What we would find instead is the indication of prosperity.
We are constantly exposed to reports about the easy life that most Bruneians are leading, the luxury cars outracing one another on our smooth roads, and the spending habits that seem to know no bounds. Many of us are aware how bad traffic jams are every payday when cars inch their way into shopping centres as people rush to spend what they have earned for the previous month's work.
According to the 2005 Human Development Report, Brunei is ranked 33rd out of 177 countries studied in terms of their human development index (HDI). This means Bruneians live longer and healthier, are better educated and have a higher standard of living compared to billions of people residing in 144 other countries.
Seen from any perspective, this reckless lifestyle, however, will only harm us. Regardless of which region we come from, we are told from an early age that saving is a virtue. We need only to recall the tale of the hardworking ant who works hard throughout harvest time to save food while the grasshopper plays the days away and eventually has to go hungry when hard times come a knocking.
Islam has a unique perspective when it comes to spending and saving. Muslims are taught that everything comes from Allah the Exalted, Most High, and when one needs to spend lavishly, one should only do it in the path of Allah (such as in charity) so that it returns manifold in divine rewards. Sadaqa does not decrease wealth and Muslims should be on the lookout for opportunities to give, give and give (for instance in Ramadan or when one knows a relative or another person in need).
But when one saves , one should do it for the greater good (such as ensuring the welfare of one's family when one falls ill) rather than to merely defer gratification and to buy a more expensive object. Muslims are taught to "be mindful of five things before five other things." Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said, "Make the best use of five things before the arrival of five other things: your youth before (the arrival of) your old age, your health before you fall ill, your comforts before (the arrival of) scarcity, your leisure time before it becomes hectic, and your life before your death."
Muslims should be the representative of the "less is more" concept when it comes to material things, and to be wary of debts as much as possible. An Islamic Brunei Darussalam would be one whose population loves to save, or to spend on charity. But that is the ideal, and realistically, there should perhaps be mechanisms put in place by the appropriate authorities to legally require members of the public to contribute to many more dividend-bearing savings that could be introduced. Examples of desisting unnecessary spending could also be shown and encouraged.
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