Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir- Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Opening
Friends with sound minds and clear hearts, We live today in an era where intellectual intelligence is idolized. Rows of academic titles, agility in argumentation, and skill in processing data are often seen as the pinnacle of human achievement. But do we realize there is a great tragedy that often befalls smart people? That tragedy is called Intellectual Cunning.Intellectual cunning happens when someone uses the gift of a sharp mind to manipulate rules, falsify facts, or exploit legal loopholes for personal gain, yet is utterly blind [jāhil] to Allah SWT’s watchful eye. Intelligence without faith and wisdom will not lead its owner to glory; instead, it curses him into horrifying suffering, both in this world and the Hereafter.
Let us reflect on Allah SWT’s words about the tragic end of those who use deception and cunning, thinking they can hide from the Creator’s gaze:
وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ غَافِلًا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظَّالِمُونَ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ تَشْخَصُ فِيهِ الْأَبْصَارُ
“And never think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them for a Day when eyes will stare in horror.”[QS. Ibrāhīm: 42]
Rasulullah ﷺ also gave a very firm warning in a hadith about the danger of smart people who are eloquent in speech to wrongfully consume the rights of others:
إِنَّكُمْ تَخْتَصِمُونَ إِلَيَّ، وَلَعَلَّ بَعْضَكُمْ أَنْ يَكُونَ أَلْحَنَ بِحُجَّتِهِ مِنْ بَعْضٍ، فَأَقْضِيَ لَهُ عَلَى نَحْوِ مَا أَسْمَعُ مِنْهُ، فَمَنْ قَضَيْتُ لَهُ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ حَقِّ أَخِيهِ فَلَا يَأْخُذْهُ، فَإِنَّمَا أَقْطَعُ لَهُ قِطْعَةً مِنَ النَّارِ
“Indeed, you bring your disputes to me, and perhaps some of you are more eloquent in presenting their case than others, so I judge for him according to what I hear from him. So whoever I award something that is the right of his brother, let him not take it, for I am only cutting for him a piece of the Fire.”
[HR. Bukhārī and Muslim]
2. Lessons and Message
The highest moral message from this sunnatullah is: Intelligence without integrity is a weapon that backfires. A wise person [ṣāḥib al-ḥikmah] understands that no matter how small the cunning committed with a pen, document, or position, everything is neatly recorded in the court of Heaven. Using intelligence to extort, deceive, or oppress others to amass worldly wealth is the most essential form of foolishness, because he is trading the peace of his life for curse and destruction.
Let us reflect on a real, heartbreaking story that serves as a valuable lesson. There was a rogue official or intellectual with an exceptionally sharp mind. He understood law and trade documents in detail. But instead of using his knowledge to help society, he used his intelligence to hunt down others’ mistakes. One day, he visited a middle-aged entrepreneur who owned a warehouse. With his intellectual cunning, the rogue fabricated documents, created fake files, and crafted a narrative so that the old entrepreneur appeared legally guilty and his business was threatened with closure.With a cynical smile, this clever rogue extorted the entrepreneur, demanding hush money of one million lira—or hundreds of millions of rupiah. The old entrepreneur wept, knelt, and begged not to have his livelihood destroyed because that money was circulating capital to pay his workers. But the rogue’s heart had hardened with greed. The illicit money finally changed hands.Did the clever rogue live happily? Not at all. Only a few weeks after the extortion, Allah SWT exposed his cunning through an unexpected way. The scandal of his forged documents was uncovered, he was dishonorably discharged, all his assets were confiscated, and he was thrown into a cold prison.The tragedy did not stop there. Due to stress and being haunted by guilt and the curses of those he wronged, he suffered a severe nervous disease in his cell until he could no longer move his body. At the end of his life, he often cried out in terror in the corner of his cell, imagining the faces of the victims he had extorted. He died in a truly miserable condition—an end that proves one million lira gained through cunning can never buy an ounce of health and peace of mind.
Imagine you see a very clever rat inside a house. This rat knows exactly how to avoid brooms, how to jump over glue traps, and can map out the safest escape routes on the ceiling. The homeowner shakes his head at this rat’s intelligence.One night, the homeowner sets an iron trap with a piece of very fragrant cheese inside. The clever rat comes, smirking at the trap. With great calculations of physics and his body’s anatomy, he tries to grab the cheese from a side gap he thought was safe.But the moment his teeth touched the cheese—_CRACK!_—the iron door snapped shut at high speed, breaking the rat’s neck instantly. The rat’s intelligence evaporated in an instant because it forgot one thing: the essence of a trap is to trap, not to be outsmarted. Such is human cunning; no matter how cleverly we set fake traps for others, in truth we are putting our own necks into Allah’s trap of Hell.
These days, these types with intellectual cunning really make us shake our heads with a wry smile. When it comes to making fake accountability reports [LPJ], or fabricating shopping receipts—oh my, they’re brilliant! A broom that costs ten thousand can, in this creative person’s hands, be magically transformed on a computer into one hundred thousand, complete with a fictitious store stamp from a very neat digital edit. When warned, “Hey, aren’t you afraid of getting caught by internal audit or the Anti-Corruption Commission?”
He answers with a boastful laugh, “Relax, bro! I’ve studied the system analysis. This is called the art of cutting corners. Human audits will never detect this loophole!” This is what you call a “graduate in deception.” He forgets, no matter how creatively he edits receipts in a computer app, Allah SWT doesn’t run on Windows or Mac operating systems that can be hacked or infected with viruses! In the Hereafter, there’s no delete button or clear history to erase the digital traces of our cunning. Besides, what’s the point of wearing our heads out every day strategizing how to falsify documents for one million, if after getting the money we can’t sleep soundly for fear of being arrested by police? Better to use our brains to think about how to advance the ummah, or at least how to finish reciting the Qur’an this month. So, if you have a smart brain, use it on the straight path. Don’t let your title be scholar, but your behavior be less honorable than a kitchen rat!
3. Conclusion and Closing
Friends, intelligence is a double-edged knife. If it is guided by wisdom and taqwā, it will produce great benefit as exemplified by the scholars. But if that intelligence is driven by lust and cunning, it will turn into a curse that destroys its owner. Never be dazzled by instant profit gained from manipulating others’ rights
.Let us pray to Allah to be kept away from knowledge that brings no benefit and from the cunning of a heart that deceives itself. Remember, it is better to live as a simple person who sleeps soundly on a thin mattress because of honesty, than to be a genius trembling in fear inside a fortress of luxury built on a foundation of cunning.
. والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Abu Sultan Al-Qadrie
