Wantonness
\r\n Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War) Chapter 8: Verse 47
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"And do not be like those who leave their homes filled with wantonness (batara), showing off before people and preventing others from the way of God. And God encompasses what they do."
The word batar has several other meanings: the inability to bear blessings, bewilderness, dislike of something undeserving of dislike, and reckless extravagance.
\r\nWantonness is a disease to which the world's affluent societies are particularly vulnerable. In societies that are extremely pleased with their standard of living, their extravagance and hubris are obvious. One sign of these conditions is the ease with which people enter into debt and live contentedly with it. People are consciously living beyond their means in order to maintain the appearance of affluence. This is a product of wantonness, willingly falling headlong into debt in order to achieve a certain material standard of living.
\r\nThe treatment of wantonness is to wilfully experience hunger and to reflect seriously on death and the Hereafter. Hunger can be achieved through voluntary fasting or by simply reducing what one eats. Reflecting on death and the Hereafter is to reflect on the state of the grave, which will be either a parcel of Paradise or a pit of Hell.
\r\nCompiled From:
\r\n \"Purification of the Heart\" - Hamza Yusuf, pp. 27-29