Consumerism has a significant position in Economics. It is believed a key to development. Islam has strong stand on consumption. This article by Prof Irfan Shahid investigates the rulings of Islam on consumerism.
Buying and using of goods and services and the belief that it is good for a society or a person to buy and use a large quantity of goods and services is called consumerism as defined by Oxford Dictionary but the opinion of general people about consumerism is much different from that in the dictionary. Excess buying of goods and services is not necessary for a person.
The word consumerism is derived from the root word Consume. Consumption and consumerism are synonyms. The term consumption has great significance in Economics. Entire activities of the economy revolve around consumption and production. The Classical Economist, Jean-Baptise Say believes that supply creates its own demand. The theory was well appreciated in his time, but later on many economists, including JM Keynes, have criticised the theory of JB Say. Keynes argued how merely producing goods in society will not create demand or will consume the goods produced. It was thought impossible.
Fundamentally, demand creates supply. If the market has demanded any particular commodity, the producer will provide the products and supply according to the demand. Supply never generates demand. In the words of JM Keynes, excess supply may create deflation in the economy which may lead to disequilibrium in the market and economy and create a lot of problems. Now some modern economists have a belief that the excess production and consumption is the key to economic growth. They argue the excess supply of goods induces people to consume more than requirement; thus the government will receive huge production taxes from industries and huge sales taxes from consumers. The tax contribution from both the sides will increase the revenue of the government.
It could be useful in the first and the second rounds but in the third round, it may lead to disequilibrium in the production section. The powerful multinational companies will hijack the market and produce unnecessary goods and sell it to people through their marketing channel. The needed area of production will be ignored. Today housing is a basic need of people, but there is hardly any construction company in the world that proclaims to produce affordable houses as they do with mobiles. More than 100 companies are producing various types of mobile, tablet and laptop with many features. Moreover, they try to reduce the price to become more competitive in market. Why do private companies or governments not join the housing sector and start producing various kinds of houses with a lot of features in affordable price? Housing is a basic need of human society. It is an issue of serious attention which is neglected by the government and private sector alike.
The consumer does not require mobile handset every year, but mobile companies put some features every year to induce consumers to buy mobile handset every year. Excess production of mobiles will create much pollution, harmful rays and noise and reduce the natural material used in the manufacturing of mobile. Mobile telecommunication companies are advertising their products through the various tools to attract the customer. Customers change their mobile handsets and electronic stuff and vehicles yearly in the name fashion and style.
Mobile Phone Market
The increase in the number of mobile cell phones in the world has been impressive. The following graph shows subscriber growth between 2005 and early 2013, according to ITU figures. The 6.8 billion subscribers are approaching the 7.1 billion world population. The graph shows that as world mobile-cellular penetration approaches 100%, market saturation grows and the growth rate decreases.
The following graph shows penetration by geographic regions. The average world penetration stands at 96.2%, according to the ITU. Penetration rate (per 100 inhabitants) by geographic regions for 2013Q1 is as follows:
Islam prohibits the practice of extravagance and misuse of resources. Allah says in the Qur’ān:
“Indeed squanderers are brothers of devils, that is, they follow their way, and the Devil was ever ungrateful to his Lord”. (Qur’ān 17:27)
“O Children of Adam! Don your adornment, that which covers your nakedness, at every place of worship, at prayer and at the circumambulation, and eat and drink, what you want, but do not be excessive; He truly does not love those who are excessive”.(Qur’ān 7:31)
Islam does not appreciate the exercise of misusing the God-gifted resources. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) said at one occasion that one should not waste water during Wudhu (Ablution) even though he has a running river of water.
The Prophet passed by a person named Sa’d while he was performing ablution. The Prophet said, “What is this extravagance?” Sa’d said, “Is there extravagance with water in ablution?” The Prophet said, “Yes, even if you were on the banks of a flowing river.” Narrated by Ibn Majah
Musab bin Umair was from one of the richest families of Makkah, before accepting Islam he used to lead a lavish life. Every day he used to wear a new cloth, he does not wear used clothes, he used high quality of perfume. When he passed through any street, the street started smelling for a long time and people quickly traced that Musab bin Umair passed through it. But after accepting Islam, he left all luxuries. The fear of accountability made him live like a destitute.
Allah has made the human being trustee of the resources he has. He is not the real owner of the resources. He will be accountable of his every deed. Allah will ask the account of his wealth after Prayer on the Day of Judgement. A close companion of Prophet, Abdur Rahman bin Auf, who was forgiven and promised Paradise, would have to give his account of wealth to Allah on the Day of Judgement. Many Hadīth scholars said that the cross-examination would be so long that Abdur Rahman will be sweat wet. This is the condition of a beloved companion of the Prophet who was forgiven in the world itself. What about an ordinary person like us? It is beyond of our imagination. May Allah forgive us! Allah the Exalted is hard in taking account. The concept of accountability is associated with Day of Judgement in Islam. Islam puts a lot of stress on accountability. Therefore, people avoided taking the position of judge and any higher authority during the time of the Prophet and righteous caliphs. It was nothing but fear of Allah and sense of accountability that stopped them from holding any higher positions.
Poverty is not the issue of scarcity and dearth; it is a fact that this is the problem of mismanagement of resources. A lot of mismanagement of resources is noticed in our society, especially in food and water, especially in an Arab country. Million-dollar worth food is thrown in garbage boxes in Gulf countries every day. However, this food could be enough to feed thousands of African people daily. Many people are dying in African nations due to malnutrition. They do not have food for survival. Extravagance is the root of poverty, corruption, dishonesty and economic disorder. It is high time we pondered over the issue and managed the resources in the best possible manner.