9 types of wastages

Wastage means a lot of things to many people. Most of the time, the perspective of wastage is associated with financial loss. Wasting time included, as time is money. Often, we were warned by our parents and superiors not to be wasteful.

"Finish up your food, do not waste any"

"Switch off the fan, do not waste electricity"

"Reuse the other side of the paper, do not waste paper"

So much, that, it has wired into our neural networks. It is a good habit to be instilled in the young. But, at times, it has to be put in the correct place and time. Adhering too strictly to it leads to stinginess, without us realising it.

The venerable Imam As Shafie described wastage as spending inappropriately or incorrectly.

Today, I picked up something which was interesting from the Friday sermon. There are other forms of wastage that we should prevent ourselves from committing. Some of us may have been applying it in many ways of our life, under different perspectives. The imam who mentioned about abhoring wastage today rebranded the concept of wastage into a different package. Rebranding may not be accurate, as it may have been there for centuries but lacks "promotion".

A Muslim scholar by the name of Ibnu al-Qayum al-Jauziah described that there are 9 types of wastage frequently made by humans. Here, I list them. It opens up a new perspective on the meaning of wastage - non monetory type.

First: Wastage of knowledge that is not used to good deeds.

Second: Wastage in submission to Allah SWT, when it is not done with sincere heart.

Third: Wastage of wealth when it is spent on things which are useless and not in the blessings of Allah SWT.

Fourth: Wastage of the heart when it devoid of the love to Allah SWT.

Fifth: Wastage of our body when it is not use to submit and prostrate to Allah SWT.

Sixth: Wastage of love when the focus of love is more towards others, other than Allah SWT.

Seventh: Wastage of time, when time is not managed properly.

Eigth: Wastage of the mind,when it is not contributing meaningfully to the religion, and

Ninth: A wastage of our zikr or remembrance to Allah SWT when it has no profound effect onto our hearts.

If we can avoid ourselves from the 9 types of wastages mentioned above, then we are on our way to a better life. We have the knowledge that we need to recycle to reduce waste  products. Our land fields are choking to the brim. In no time, we are going to live next to a land field. Yet, we still do not separate the recycleables from our trash. This coincides with the first type of wastage that was mentioned.  Another example, we know that if we litter, it will dirty the streets. Yet, we still teach our children to throw things out of the window from the moving car. Worst, those who litter knew that cleanliness is part of iman.

We spend more time on facebooks unproductively, such as snubbing others or updating our status to quietly brag,  when we should be reading beneficial materials or do some writing. This coincides with number 7. And, when we talk ill of others, when we still maintain our zikr and 5 times a day prayer or, have been to hajj and umrah, then, number 9 fits the description well.

Lets hope that we will not be drown in this wastefulness.