al-Basrī, commenting on the saying of the Most High,

“and spend from what We have provided for them,”

said: “Among the greatest forms of giving is the sharing of knowledge”—or words to that effect.

Another report states:

“What an excellent gift and what an excellent present: a good word that a man hears and then offers to a Muslim brother of his.”

Another report from Abū al-Dardā’ states:

“No servant gives better charity than an admonition with which he exhorts his believing brothers, who then depart having benefited from it through Allah”—or words to that effect.

It is reported from Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujrah:

“‘Shall I offer you a gift?’ He then mentioned invoking blessings upon the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

Ibn Mājah narrated in his Sunan from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The best charity is for a man to acquire knowledge and then teach it to his Muslim brother.”

Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal said:

“Devote yourselves to knowledge, for seeking it is worship; learning it for Allah’s sake is a good deed; imparting it to its proper recipients draws one near to Allah; teaching it to those who do not know it is charity; investigating it is striving in Allah’s cause; and discussing it is glorification of Allah.”

For this reason, everything—even the fish in the sea—seeks forgiveness for the one who teaches goodness. Allah and His angels send blessings upon the one who teaches people goodness, because of the benefit this brings to all creatures.

The opposite holds for those who conceal knowledge: Allah curses them, and those who curse also curse them. Some of the early generations said:

“When people conceal knowledge and sins are committed, rain is withheld. The animals then say: ‘O Allah, [curse] (*) the disobedient among the children of Adam, for we have been deprived of rain because of their sins.’”

If a person’s knowledge that he possesses knowledge rests upon his experiencing it and sensing it within himself—and this is a self-evident fact—then they have no right to make claims about what