13 – Abu Khaythamah narrated to us; he said: Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Khunays narrated to us; he said: I heard Wuhaib ibn al-Ward ibn Abi al-Ward, the client of Banu Makhzum, say:

“A scholar once met another who surpassed him in knowledge. He asked, ‘May Allah have mercy on you—what part of my deeds should remain hidden?’ He replied, ‘That of which people would assume you have never performed any good deed at all, save the fulfillment of the obligatory acts.’ He then said, ‘May Allah have mercy on you—and what part of my deeds should I make public?’ He answered, ‘Commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong, for that is the religion of Allah with which He sent His prophets to His servants. The jurists have unanimously agreed on the Prophet’s ﷺ explanation of the divine statement, “And He has made me blessed wherever I may be” [Mary 19:31]—namely, that his blessedness consists in commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong wherever he may be.’”