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You know,

when humans come together as a community

to join in a shared project

they have the advantages of sharing.

They can share equipment,

everyone in a team doesn't have their own ball,

but that doesn't mean that they all get to use everything.

Weavers have their looms and fishermen their boats,

they are the ones who know how to use them,

and one ends up with cloth and one with fish,

different stuff.

One of the things that communities do is share stuff around.

Some people have lots of one thing

and others have lots of another,

and they exchange stuff,

they barter.

Or one might work in exchange for stuff,

the work and the stuff

being seen as of equal value.

We value stuff and services,

and to make exchange easier we invented money.

We also give value to things of rarity, not just utility,

and even stranger,

we also give value to beauty,

and we are told Allah is Beautiful and loves beauty.

We don't have to live a life where all we value is practical and useful.

Muhammad the merchant

liked to buy and sell perfumes,

just a scent

that would quickly vanish on the breeze.

A sweet perfume

was one of his three favourite things.

So we like to acquire beautiful things,

and things of rare value,

which leads to the joy of shopping,

which like so many joys can get out of control.

The pull to acquire things can seriously challenge

intentions to stay within a budget.

The urge to spend can be very strong,

whispering in our ears that we need to spend to justify our lives,

to show the value of what we have done,

to say who we are.

And what can happen is that the urge to buy is so strong

that the buying

seems much more important than

the owning.

The pleasure is in the purchase,

which instantly fades,

overtaken by the hunger for something else to buy.

Not even buying for ownership,

but buying for the sake of buying.

No gratitude or enjoyment in the having,

the sharing in God's bounty.

But anything more than enough food and shelter for survival is an extra,

and others may be starving while we have excess.

Do we not have a duty to feed them?

How are we to judge how much of God's bounty we can keep for ourselves?

The Deen says feed the hungry, but we also have a duty to our own bodies.

If you are helpless yourself you can't help anyone else.

The airlines say put on your own oxygen mask

before you put one on your child.

Emergency workers dealing with famine must remember to feed themselves.

Trust in God but take care of your camel.

As well as being useful to you,

it may make you more useful to others.

In the Deen we are encouraged to feed the hungry

and give to the needy from what we have,

and what we keep for ourselves we purify

by paying our Zakat.

Spending money

acquiring the good things of this life is allowed,

but like all things Islamic, only within the limits of the Deen.

As always, true enjoyment is to be found in moderation,

neither parsimonious nor extravagant,

the Middle Way.

So spending money may be good for us,

but it has to be spent on something that we know is good

because it is permitted in the Deen.

Otherwise you can be sure

that there are plenty of people only too willing to take your money

for stuff that really isn't good for you at all.

Is booze the best way to have fun?

What about different ways of taking risks?