Back to search

How does one repent from extravagance in money, time, and food?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

"Extravagance (israf) and squandering (tabdhir) are forbidden by Islamic law. The prohibition of both is mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. Indeed, the extravagant are brothers of the devils, and Allah does not love the extravagant. Extravagance even in permissible things is exceeding the limit and is forbidden. Wasting time on that which is neither beneficial nor harmful is disliked. Repentance (Tawbah) is possible and obligatory, with the following conditions: abandoning the sin, resolving not to return to it, and regretting it. Sincere repentance makes a person's state better than it was before it. It is accompanied by a continuous fear of Allah's cunning until that fear dissipates upon witnessing the glad tidings of Paradise. The heart is then seized by remorse and fear, for a heart torn in this world by regret and fear over sin is better than one torn in the Hereafter by regret over missing out on reward. Correct repentance stems from knowledge of one's state, followed by action: knowing the harm of sins, then regretting them, then abandoning them immediately and resolving to abandon them in the future, and making amends for what has passed."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy