Islam and Human Rights — Page 71
Economic Values 71 (2:189). The Prophet said that a party to a dispute which obtains a judgment in its favour, knowing that it is not in the right, only collects a quantity of fire for itself and not something from which it can draw any benefit. 39 On the other hand, goods and property lawfully acquired are a bounty of God which is provided by Him as a means of support. They should be properly looked after and should not be wasted through neglect. A person of defective judgment should not be permitted to squander away his substance. It should be managed and admini stered for him, and provision should be made for his maintenance out of the income (4:6). Niggardliness is condemned as a negative and destructive quality. While, on the one hand, ostentation and vanity are disapproved of, on the other, it is not considered right that a person who is well off should pretend to be poor, fearing lest he be called upon to help others. By doing this he makes himself poor in effect, and deprives himself of the benefits that may be derived from God’s bounty (4:38). The wealth of misers, instead of bringing them any advantage, becomes a handicap and arrests their moral and spiritual development (3:181). The other ex treme, extravagance, is equally 39 Bukhari IV, Sect. :Judgments, Ch. :Admonition to Parties.