The phrase “afterward and fought” might lead one to suppose that the others have no share at all, so He added: “and to each Allah has promised the best reward.”

Another example is His words: “And David and Solomon, when they gave judgment concerning the field into which the sheep of some people had strayed by night; We witnessed their judgment, and We caused Solomon to understand it” (al-Anbiya 21:79). Because this could suggest a shortcoming on David’s part, Allah said: “And to each We gave judgment and knowledge.”

Likewise, He said: “Those believers who stay behind—save those with a valid excuse—are not equal to those who strive in Allah’s cause with their wealth and their lives. Allah has favored those who strive with their wealth and their lives above those who stay behind by one degree, yet to each Allah has promised the best reward” (al-Nisa 4:95).

In the same vein, the Prophet ﷺ said, “and in each of them there is good,” meaning both the strong believer and the weak believer, although the strong one is better and more beloved to Allah.

He ﷺ then said, “Be keen on that which benefits you.” This is a comprehensive, decisive counsel from the Messenger ﷺ to his community. “Be keen on that which benefits you” means exert yourself to obtain it and put it into practice. Its opposite is whatever brings harm, as well as whatever brings neither benefit nor harm. Human actions therefore fall into three categories: that which benefits a person, that which harms him, and that which is neither beneficial nor harmful.

The intelligent person who accepts the Prophet’s ﷺ advice is the one who is diligent about what benefits him. Yet how many people today squander their time on pursuits that yield no benefit—indeed, that harm themselves and their religion! To such people we may rightly say: you have not acted on the Prophet’s ﷺ injunction, whether out of ignorance or out of indifference. But the believer