This trend grew with the rise of Western materialism, turning modern culture into a constant pursuit of accumulation and showing off possessions. In the face of this, the Holy Qur'an remains the best proof of the power of divine revelation can free the mind, and guides desires towards balance, blessings, and true meaning.
First: Consumption between Need and Domination
It is impossible to understand the contemporary consumerist trend apart from its cultural context, which redefined humans as consumers before they were rational or moral beings. This trend gradually developed in the West alongside the rise of materialistic philosophy, which was accompanied by the industrial revolution, and later became embedded in a complete civilization that made consumption synonymous with success, existence, and identity.
In the past, consumption was a functional activity tied to fulfilling needs, sustaining life, and ensuring a decent living. Traditional agricultural societies knew clear limits between what was necessary and what was excess. Surplus was rare and seasonal. Religious culture also and local customs curbed wastefulness, maintaining the sufficiency.
However, with the rise of capitalist production, consumption shifted from the level of necessity to the level of self-assertion. Consumption became a symbol of social distinction and a measure of individual and class status. With the technological and media revolution, this meaning evolved into a stage of total domination: Western culture no longer just pushes people to buy, but also instills in them the deep belief that their need to possess is endless, and that their essential value is determined by how much they consume and display before others.
This contributes to erasing the cultural identities of nations and leads to the spread of excessive materialism.
In this context, this research aims at realign consumption patterns in accordance with the objectives of Islamic law, which calls for balance, rational spending, and freeing individuals from the bondage of desires and superficial appearances. The guidance of revelation offers an alternative value system that emphasizes contentment, moderation, and links consumer behavior to ethics and responsibility towards individuals, society, and the environment.
It also seeks to explore ways to address this issue according to the Quranic psychology, in order to combat this phenomenon and reduce its negative impacts on individuals and societies. The Quran directs us to adopt the values of contentment, asceticism, and moderation, and establishes self-monitoring and a sense of responsibility before Allah, Almigty, as remedies for curbing wasteful and extravagant behavior.
The study also aims at presenting a comprehensive Islamic perspective that links psychology with spirituality, based on the values and guidance of the Quran, to correct misconceptions, adjust behaviors, and build a balanced, integrated personality capable of resisting the temptations of excessive consumption, achieving self-satisfaction, and attaining peace of heart.
Islam emphasizes the necessity of preserving wealth, securing basic living needs, economic investment, and ensuring the well-being of individuals and those they are responsible for, while maintaining moderation. It allows Muslims to consume within the framework of moderation, prohibiting all forms of extravagance, waste, and indulgence. Consumption has multiple and varied economic, political, and psychological effects, especially social ones, on society. Among the social effects of consumerist tendency are the transformation of wealth and consumption into a dominant value, its dominance over other values, the display of wealth, class gaps, social inequality, and feelings of deprivation, etc.
This article discusses the effects of consumerist tendency in society using the supportive method and content analysis approach from a social perspective. It then studies the consumerist tendency from the perspective of Islamic teachings.
we find a series of verses that establish the concept of economic balance in life, through guiding human awareness of his needs, the extent of his utilization of his economic capabilities, and the opportunities available to him, as well as striving to meet his needs. In this context, this research addresses the issue of balancing consumption and production as human activities, according to the divine laws, by answering a set of key questions:
Where is the balance manifested in human actions between the demands of consumption and production? How do the Qur'anic values guide humans towards achieving a balance between the elements of consumption in their activities and the requirements of production to build economic empowerment?
The Western break with religion formed the intellectual and philosophical foundation for this consumerist tendency, which justifies the rise of individualism and profit as the supreme goal. It treats nature and its resources as something to be subdued, controlled, and plundered without any ethical or human values or constraints. In contrast, the Qur'anic religious perspective views nature as a living entity, glorifying Allah, Almighty, just like humans. According to this perspective, humans should live in harmony with nature, treating it with balance and recognizing that its resources do not belong to them alone but to all the creatures created by Allah, Almighty.
they are not used as evidence for deriving legal rulings or clarifying the Divine intent, because the differences between the reciters and the vast number of works on the subject, reaching fourteen distinct readings, indicate that they are personal [ijtihads] interpretations and individual preferences. These readings may be valid for some but not for others.
Furthermore, they have not attained the required sanctity, as they are not considered [mutawatir] mass-transmitted in their technical sense, from Allah Almighty and His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) to the recipients of these readings.
It discusses a number of issues related to the topic of management and frames them within an Islamic conceptual and doctrinal vision. This vision requires a Muslim individual to organize his life and manage his livelihood based on the values, standards, legislative, and intellectual system of Islam. Thus, his earnings and management of all aspects of life should be grounded on sound and correct principles that are pleasing to Allah. Belief in Allah is the fundamental driving force and the central axis for all existential actions and personal and public life matters. It is through this belief that the individual moves forward. If this management and life system are not based on this foundational belief, the individual’s actions will remain unbalanced, lacking human spirituality and the ethical legitimacy required by Sharia.
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