Assalamu Alaykum wa rahimatullahi wa barakatuh we will be taking a little break from our faith and doubt series. In shaa Allah we will be talking about Islamic Minimalism today.

 

Last night I started watching a documentary on Netflix on minimalism and I found the message to be so profound and in line with the teachings of islam and even the surface value of a verse came to mind when I started watching it.

 

The documentary was simply trying to expose the consumerism and materialistic nature of the modern world.

 

It stars a guy who has everything and could afford everything but often felt this void that has ben unable to be quenched by anything, so he goes on a spending spree-with hope to fill in the void with those material things. As you must have guessed it did not entirely turn out well.

 

“We live in a fast world: a world that tries so hard to convince us that we need one thing or the other to be happy,” the documentary argues.

I remember how much I had failed at my attempt at my version of Islamic minimalism inspired by Mufti Menk. And I think I did for a while try to incorporate that and I find myself trying to incorporate this too every once in a while. But it is hard because of how much we care about what people think of us rather than what Allah thinks of us.

 

So in the verse in the picture, it talks about how being extravagant is the way of the shaitan and verily the shaitan was ungrateful. And that really summarises our extravagant life: ingratitude. Always, always wanting more.

 

Islam is a religion that encourages being content. If we train ourselves to be truly content then we wouldn’t have to be swayed by this materialistic world.

 

Do take out time to watch the documentary for yourself.

Wa’alaykumus salam warahmatullahi wa barakatuh. May the soul of my friend, Abubakar Abdulrahman continue to rest in peace, ameeeen.