Living The Quran
From Issue: 482 [Read full issue]
Al-Isra (The Night Journey)
Chapter 17: Verse 16
Crime of Luxury
"And when it is Our will to destroy a town, We command its luxury-loving citizens, and they deal corruptly in it; thus the sentence upon it is justified, and We destroy it utterly."
Luxury is the cause of destruction in the course of history, as it is the cause of audacity. And equally certainly, luxury is a reason for punishment in the world to come, because it results in grave sin. But, it is not only the individual who loves luxury who will suffer destruction and punishment; the community that permits the existence of such luxury will be similarly afflicted.
The 'will' here referred to in the verse is not predestination in the commonly accepted sense, but rather the law of cause and effect, or of reason and result. If there are luxury-loving individuals in a community and the community allows them to remain so, doing nothing against them; if it refrains from checking the causes of luxury; if it leaves the luxury-loving to pursue their corrupt way; then all these factors, because of their very existence, are causes that will inevitably result in the destruction and the downfall of the community. Such is the meaning of 'will' in this verse. That is to say, the results are related to the reasons, and the effects must follow where the causes occur; for such is the normative pattern which Allah has laid down for the universe and for all life.
There must be some outlet found for excessive resources. Generally, these outlets are trivial and take their form from the period and the social environment; but there comes a time when they pass this limit of triviality and take the form of license and depravity, both physical and mental, impeding not only themselves but also their followers in pursuing the way of truth; for so long as there are such, there will be weaklings who will flatter their pride, minister to their desires, and lose their personality like insects. Nor, is there anything strange in this; for lovers of luxury must have their easy, perverse, and sickly life; they must gratify their desires and have their pleasures; they must have around them followers and courtiers who are submissive.
This is what Islam sees in the crime of luxury; it is a crime that is basically individual, but when the community submit to it and does not check such an evil with hand and voice and heart, then it is a crime that produces its own fruits. The disease extends to the whole body of the community and issues ultimately in its destruction.
Source:
"Social Justice in Islam" - Sayyid Qutb, pp. 156-160