Question: You spoke about buying school supplies, so I would love from you, your excellence, to advise us and direct us, specifically the women who are extravagant in choosing school supplies. So you find one with supplies worth ten [riyals], so the other buys twenty [riyals] worth out of showing off. I hope from you, your excellence, an advice in this matter. And what is the principle regarding extravagance?
Answer: “This is a good question encompassing one thing and I will add to it something else. The matter encompassed in this question is extravagance in school supplies and this is haram because Allah says:
وَلا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِين
and waste not by extravagance. Verily, He likes not Al-Musrifun (those who waste by extravagance),
[6:141]
These school supplies have a limited lifespan, until the end of the year, then they are thrown in the garbage. So how is money which is the sustenance of life spent on something whose final destination is the garbage? As for extravagance, then it is exceeding the boundary. So upon this [meaning], sometimes we say: this garment for this man is extravagant and for another man it is not extravagant in accordance to the condition. So extravagance is exceeding the boundary.
As for the thing which I want to add, it is that we heard that some of the school supplies have on them crosses, musical instruments and other than that. Whether on pens or on rulers or cushions or notebooks, it is not allowed for a person to buy it for their children. Rather, that which has a cross is haram to buy because the Prophet (ﷺ) did not use to leave anything which had a cross on it except he broke it [Reported by Al-Bukhari no. 5952]. So be caution of this because your enemies draw these things so the young ones become familiar with them and see no harm in them. So beware of this. There are many notebooks, All praise is due to Allah, that do not have this. So if you are unable to find except that, then tear the first page which has the pictures on it and substitute it with another page without anything prohibited on it.
As for the owners of the stationary stores, the we caution them from buying these things and selling them to their brothers”.
[https://shamela.ws/browse.php/book-7686/page-1337 ]
Translated by
Faisal Ibn Abdul Qaadir Ibn Hassan
Abu Sulaymaan
