Luxury in Islam, Between Prohibition and Permissibility

Abstract
Material well-being cannot be achieved unless the sufficiency of the human is secured at all levels, while the material sufficiency of individuals is an aim that the Wise Legislator enjoins and requires, and if we were to list it in a scale of priorities it would be right at the top, for it is not a luxury or refinements, for the definition of sufficiency for individuals connotes for individuals to attain a situation whereby they live a decent and suitable life. Thus once the individual attains a decent living without extravagance or conspicuous consumption he shall have transcended lowliness, and his capacities and talents are unleashed, and shall have reached the rank of honoring which God Almighty willed for him, and shall be able to perform the mission which God entrusted to him.
Thus luxury and material wellbeing are permissible in Islam as attested by the Holy Quran: Say: Who hath forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of Allah, which He hath produced for His servants, and the things, clean and pure, (which He hath provided) for sustenance? Say: They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the Day of Judgment. Thus do We explain the signs in detail for those who understand. Quran (7: 32). Moreover, there are several principles and precepts that attest to this which will be treated in this study.

Keywords: luxury, sufficiency, extravagance, wastefulness, need, refinements.