Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Introduction
Dear friends with noble hearts, on the fleeting stage of this world, success is often measured by how much wealth we accumulate for ourselves. Yet on the scales of the heavens, the formula for honor is reversed. The best of people are not those who hoard the most wealth, but those whose flow of benefit to others is the widest. Knowledge is the main capital for spreading that benefit. When a person is granted knowledge—whether religious knowledge that straightens the heart, or worldly knowledge like medicine, technology, and economics that eases people’s affairs—they carry a social trust to become a solution within society.
Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta‘ālā says in the Qur’an about the character of the successful:
وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ
“And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” (QS. Al-Mā’idah: 2)
How can we help others optimally if we do not have the knowledge for it? It is with knowledge that help becomes effective and on target.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stated a very high social vision for every Muslim individual in his saying:
خَيْرُ النَّاسِ أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ
“The best of people are those most beneficial to people.” (HR. Aṭ-Ṭabarānī and Ad-Dāruquṭnī)
2. Lessons and Message
The deep moral message of this topic is: Personal righteousness must produce social righteousness. Knowledge that remains locked in the mind without ever manifesting in social action is barren knowledge. Being intelligent is good, but being an intelligent person who cares—who is willing to step in to solve the problems of poverty, ignorance, and suffering around them—that is the true follower of the Messenger of Allah. Let us recall the remarkable example of social care shown by the Companion ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān raḍiyallāhu ‘anhu. When the Muslims had just migrated to Madinah, they faced a severe clean water crisis. The only source of pure water was the Bi’ru Rūmah well, but it was owned by a Jew who sold its water at a very high price. The poor Muslims were forced to endure thirst because they could not afford it. Seeing his brothers’ suffering, ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, a shrewd and knowledgeable merchant, did not remain silent. He went to the well’s owner, used his negotiation skills, and bought the well at a very high price with his own money.
Once the well changed hands, ‘Uthmān announced to all the people of Madinah—Muslims and non-Muslims alike: “You may take water from this well for free, whenever you need it.” ‘Uthmān did not use his knowledge to monopolize wealth; he used it to free people from thirst. The tears of joy from the Muslims at that time testified to how beautiful knowledge becomes when it produces social benefit. A knowledgeable person who is selfish and unwilling to share benefit is like a candle inside a closed cabinet. It is lit, it has light, but its light is locked tightly inside a wooden box. Outside the cabinet, the room remains pitch black, and eventually the candle burns out alone without ever illuminating anyone.
Conversely, a knowledgeable person who loves to give benefit is like a lighthouse on the shore. It stands firm amid the storm, casting a bright light over the vast sea, guiding hundreds of ships lost in the darkness of night safely to harbor. Be a lighthouse, not a candle in a cabinet! Ironically, in the age of social media, the meaning of “giving benefit” has shifted. Many people feel they are already very beneficial to society just by making “show-off” content.
There’s a content creator who shares tips in their video: “Okay guys, today I want to share knowledge and benefit. Here’s a tutorial on how to spend 100 million in 5 minutes at a luxury mall. Don’t forget to share it to motivate you who are still poor!” That’s not sharing benefit; that’s sharing mental burden with netizens! Beneficial knowledge is knowledge that lightens other people’s burdens, not knowledge that makes people bite their fingers and lament their fate in the comments section.
3. Conclusion and Closing
Blessed knowledge is knowledge that bears fruit in _khidmah_—service—to humanity. When we use our knowledge to help others, teach the ignorant, and lighten the burden of the distressed, that is when we activate a continuous flow of ongoing charity that will never be cut off even after we are laid in the grave. Brothers and sisters, let’s look around us. What can we contribute to our environment with the knowledge we have today? If you have religious knowledge, teach Qur’an recitation. If you have knowledge of mathematics, tutor the neighbor’s children who struggle in school. If you have business knowledge, help the small and medium enterprises around you. May Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta‘ālā make the knowledge we possess a bridge of goodness for others, and place us among the people most beloved to Him because we are most beneficial to the world
والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmaullahi Wabarakatuh.
ِAbu Sultan Al-Qadrie
