Not everything that social media buzzes about is great.
And not everything that people overlook is small.
Do not let numbers redefine success in your heart.
Second message—my brothers and sisters—is that the world of social media has corrupted the thinking and intentions of many people. Achievement is now measured by numbers: you look at a post and count how many "likes" and "shares" it has. If the numbers are high, some believe it must be important content worth reading and sharing.
On the other hand, there may be righteous, pure-hearted, and wise individuals whose words go unnoticed simply because they have few followers—even though Islam has rejected judging based on appearances.
Al-Bukhari narrated from Sahl ibn Sa’d may God be pleased with him that he said: A man passed by the Messenger of God peace be upon him, so the Prophet said to a man sitting with him, “What do you think of this man?” The man replied, “O Messenger of God, he is one of the nobles of the people. By God, if he proposes, his proposal will be accepted, and if he intercedes, his intercession will be accepted.”
The Messenger of God peace be upon him remained silent.
Then another man passed by, and the Prophet said, “What do you think of this one?” The man replied, “O Messenger of God, he is one of the poor Muslims. By God, if he proposes, his proposal will likely be rejected, and if he intercedes, his intercession will likely be ignored, and if he speaks, his words will likely not be heard.”
The Messenger of God peace be upon him said, “This man is better than an entire earth filled with people like the first.”
Reflect on this statement: “better than an entire earth filled with people like the first.” It means that if we filled the Earth with billions of people like the first man, they would not equal in God’s sight even a single person like the second.
The true scale is piety: Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you. It is not the one with the most followers.
A famous person might post a tweet or a video that becomes the talk of the town and is shared by millions, while you may be trimming the nails of your elderly father and sitting with him to keep him company—an act known only to God the Almighty. You receive no "likes," no "shares," and no followers for this deed, yet in the sight of God, your action is greater in reward than that of the famous person with their viral post.
The same applies to our sisters. One of them may feel she has accomplished nothing because she performs routine acts of kindness. Satan may whisper to her, “Look at so-and-so—she has more followers. See how her post received thousands of reactions. Is she smarter than you? Prettier? More cultured?”
O my sister, perhaps on that day you cared for your child, taught them what preserves their mental health, strengthened their faith, or increased their love for their religion, their Lord, and His Messenger peace be upon him. No one gave you a "like" or a "share" for this work, yet you are more honorable in God’s sight than the woman followed by millions—who may be spiritually empty while her children suffer from psychological issues due to neglect.
This does not mean belittling the impact of guiding people with beneficial knowledge. Rather, it means the necessity of monitoring our intentions, correcting our concept of achievement, and not being deceived by appearances. God the Almighty says: The competition for more distracts you until you visit the graves. And competing for "likes," "shares," and followers is part of this distracting competition that will not benefit us when we visit the graves.