what is extravagant and how can it be treated?
Extravagant
There are many definitions of extravagant. But what can be comprehensively stated is to go out of moderation in consuming or doing something.
The noticeable difference between wastefulness and extravagant is that wastefulness refers to wasting something. Still, extravagant refers to excessiveness in all cases.
Extravagant in the Qur’an
Extravagant in the Qur’an refers to one of the branches of the human ego. This moral trait generally exists in all human beings. The existence of extravagance in human beings and its escalation and promotion causes a person to reach a stage where he mistakenly considers things that are not his right, to be his right. so he cannot understand and consider the rights of others.
The development of such a personality in the existence of each of us will ultimately cause destruction. In all aspects of human thinking, it causes permanent and irreparable mistakes.
فَمَآ ءَامَنَ لِمُوسَىٰٓ إِلَّا ذُرِّيَّةٌۭ مِّن قَوْمِهِۦ عَلَىٰ خَوْفٍۢ مِّن فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَإِي۟هِمْ أَن يَفْتِنَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ فِرْعَوْنَ لَعَالٍۢ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَإِنَّهُۥ لَمِنَ ٱلْمُسْرِفِينَ
But no one believed in Moses except a few youths of his people, fearing that Pharaoh and their chiefs might persecute them. And indeed, Pharaoh was a tyrant in the land, and he was indeed a transgressor. 10:83
Pharaoh is one of the characters mentioned in the Holy Quran. he was an extravagant person. He was not a person who wasted anything. but he was a person who wanted more than what he needed in everything. In a way, an extravagant person like Pharaoh wants everything he sees around him for himself. from food and drink and property to controlling all the people who live around him. If this moral trait is not treated in a person, it will take him away from the path of salvation toward the one and only God. This means that, that person will not be able to become his best self. He will always long for more use and more control, and with the passage of time, this issue will increase in him. And this issue will ultimately lead to the destruction of a person. .
What is the root of extravagance?
In the Quran, God says in several verses that you should eat everything halal for you but not exceed the amount you need. This point is precisely related to the control of greed in humans.
The human ego has different characteristics that are rooted in his innate instinct. God is aware of this issue in man’s existence. so he tells the story of those who could not control their greed toward extravagance. So that people can learn from it and maintain their greed in similar situations.
To move towards having the best of ourselves, we must be able to treat this moral trait in different situations.
Three great ways to treat extravagant
- 1. Feed before you eat: It doesn’t matter who is next to you in any gathering and situation; try to give as much of your food to others as possible and share it with them. It will awaken several different meanings in you. First of all, you know that food is always there for you and it will never run out. and you will get rid of this thought, which is rooted in human instinct, that if I don’t eat my food, it will run out and I won’t be complete. The second case is that extravagance is somehow rooted in the belief in scarcity. and by feeding people around you before eating any thing , you awaken the belief in abundance in yourself.
- 2. Manage your interest in controlling people and tell yourself that only Allah advocates for people: this interest in people who want to control people around them under any circumstances is rooted in their extravagance. They ignore other people’s right to be free, and judging and blaming others upsets them and those around them. You should know that the root of this behavior originates from the belief in scarcity and the existence of fear in humans. For this reason, humans need to control all people at the level of their ego.
- 3. Whenever you feel that greed has awakened in you to get something, try to forgive that thing to others: this forgiveness will make you come out of the fake prison of your ego. It makes you become the owner of what greed and greed have rooted in you. After this forgiveness, you will be free and can achieve balance.
In general, you should know that extravagance is rooted in the fear and feeling of lack in human existence. which existed in the most primitive human species. In this time and this place, there is no more place for this fear and lack of instinct. and with time, God has gifted us a world full of abundance in all blessings.