Ask our children:
1. Is wasting allowed in Islam?
2. What happens if a person is wasteful?
3. Why must we be good Muslims?
Now tell them the story:
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Waheedah. She had good manners and was also very helpful. Whenever her mother needed anything, she would shout out, “Waheedah!” and she would come running, ready to help her mother. But, Waheedah had one weakness – she was very wasteful.
When she would make wudhu, she would open the tap to full and leave the water running while she gargled her mouth and made masah on her head. In the same way, when she went to bath, she would open the water to full and take long to bath, wasting liters upon liters of water.
When she would wash her hands after eating, she would take so much of soap that the entire sink would be full of bubbles! Also, when she would come out from a room in the house, she would leave the lights on, even though there was no one in the room!
Finally, when eating, she would refuse to clean her plate and eat the crumbs. In fact, when she didn’t want to finish her food, she would sometimes throw it into the bin when no one was looking!
Her mother and father would scold her and tell her, “Waheedah! You are a very helpful and pleasant little girl, and we love you very much. But you are wasteful! You waste water, soap, electricity and food! Please stop wasting!”
Sometimes, they would even punish Waheedah for being wasteful, but she was too stubborn and continued to waste.
One day, Waheedah went to the ladies’ ta’leem with her mother, and a Moulana was giving a bayaan over the speaker. The Moulana was saying, “Imagine if your own mother and father, who you love very much, tell you that they don’t like you! How will you feel?” Waheedah thought about it and said in her mind, “I would feel very sad! I would cry because I love my mummy and daddy so much!”
Then the Moulana said, “Allah Ta‘ala tells us in the Quraan Majeed that He does not like people who waste. Imagine coming in front of Allah Ta‘ala on the Day of Qiyaamah, hoping to go into Jannah, but Allah Ta‘ala tells you, ‘I don’t like you because you used to waste!’” When Waheedah heard this, she felt very bad and very worried.
Then Moulana explained, “Sometimes, we waste water when making wudhu or having a bath. Sometimes, we leave the lights on and waste electricity. Sometimes, we don’t clean our plates and eat our crumbs and waste the food. If we clean the plate, it will make du‘aa for us, but if we waste the food then Shaitaan will eat it, and Allah Ta‘ala does not like this. When Allah Ta‘ala gives a person things to enjoy, but he is wasteful, then after some time, Allah Ta‘ala may take these things away and stop giving him all these things to enjoy. So, if we want Allah Ta‘ala to give us more things to enjoy, then we must thank Him and make sure that we do not waste.”
After listening to this bayaan, Waheedah was a changed person! When she ate supper that night, she cleaned her plate so well that it shined like a clean plate! When she made wudhu, she opened the water very slowly, and closed it while she was cleaning her nose and making masah on her head. Also, she stopped wasting electricity and switched off the lights whenever she left the room.
Her mother and father were amazed at how she had stopped wasting, and they were so happy with her that they called her and said, “Waheedah! We are so happy with you that we will buy you any toy that you want! Tell us, what toy do you want?” Waheedah thought for a moment and then said, “Actually, you don’t need to buy me a new toy. I stopped wasting because I wanted Allah Ta‘ala to be happy with me again! That’s all I want – for Allah Ta‘ala to tell me that He likes me! Also, I don’t want Allah Ta‘ala to take away all the things that I enjoy!”
Waheedah’s parents were amazed at her answer and thanked Allah Ta‘ala for giving them such a good and pious daughter. In this way, Wasteful Waheedah stopped wasting and appreciated everything that she enjoyed.
Lessons:
1. Wasting is haraam in Islam. A Muslim must not waste, whether it is food, water, electricity or even money.
2. If a person is wasteful, Allah Ta‘ala will become unhappy with them. When they continue wasting, then the time may come when Allah Ta‘ala will stop giving them things to enjoy.
3. We must be good, pious Muslims to make Allah Ta‘ala happy. We must not do good actions because we want someone to give us something.
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