7:31 — The Middle Course
Surah al-A’raf 7:31: “O Children of Adam! Take your adornment [zina] at every place of worship, and eat and drink, but do not be extravagant [la tusrifu]. Indeed, He does not love the extravagant [musrifin].”
Zahir reading: the verse addresses physical adornment at prayer, food and drink — the command is to observe the zahir (dress appropriately, eat and drink sufficiently) without excess. The context addresses pre-Islamic Arabian practices of worshipping naked.
In ta’wil: “take your adornment at every place of worship” = engage with the zahir fully; “eat and drink” = nourish yourself with the zahir’s benefits; “do not be extravagant” = do not consume yourself in the zahir such that the batin is starved. The muqtasid — the one who holds the middle — nourishes themselves with zahir without sacrificing their capacity for batin.
The Hierarchy of Israf
Israf al-mal (Material waste): The classical primary meaning — wasting money, food, resources. Prohibited because it harms the community, reflects ingratitude to God, and corrupts character.
Israf al-waqt (Wasting time): Spending one’s finite time in acts that produce neither worldly benefit nor spiritual growth. Islamic ethics take this seriously — even leisure should be restorative, not simply consumptive.
Israf al-ruh (Spiritual waste): The Ismaili deepening of the concept. The soul has a finite capacity for walayah — for turning toward the Imam, for receiving the ta’wil, for spiritual growth. To exhaust this capacity on zahir-only pursuits is the most costly israf.
The Muqtasid
25:67 describes the servants of the Merciful as those who “when they spend, are neither extravagant nor stingy but hold a middle [qawam].” In ta’wil, the qawam is the soul’s proper alignment: giving the zahir its due, giving the batin its due, giving walayah its central place.
See also: Ismaili Tawil Of Al Shukr, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Sabr, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Hayat Wal Mawt, Bayah And Walayah, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation