Knowledge; increases when shared

There's one feature about knowledge itself that makes it such a beautiful thing. Unlike money, knowledge does not diminish when you share it, rather it spreads and increases.

When is knowledge attained? it is attained when there is understanding. and so we come to speak about the process of understanding. what exactly makes us understand, or rather allows us to understand? is it our own effort? the amount of time we spend mugging? well, to a certain extent perhaps it is true, God rewards those who have put in effort, ikhtiar. Even so, understanding itself comes as a Divine Grace. some people take a lot more time to understand, others much shorter. How to explain this? some people are just born smarter? if so, is there any part of it that we can take credit for? of course not. for verily understanding comes from Him. The One who taught Man what he knew not

would you agree that there is nothing to be proud of in using a key to open a lock for an unlimited number of times? because the key is expected to be able to open the lock. so opening the lock 1000 times does not make it a more impressive act than to just open it, say, a few times.

The same can be said about knowledge. Once it is attained, it is more or less going to be with you for a long time, unless you do forget it. as such, you are now able to use that knowledge again and again and again, with relative ease-almost effortless on your part. so then why do people arrogate themselves with knowledge, when they know that each time they apply that knowledge, it is easy or even effortless for them? On the contrary, one should say something like " O Allah, YOU have GIVEN me this understanding, after which things become easy for me, Glory be to You, i have not put in any effort, i deserve no credit"

One can perhaps commend a locksmith for creating a key that can open the lock, but one would not praise the locksmith for being able to use the key to open the lock many many times, that is expected and effortless.

as with issues of the heart, saying is always much easier than real action,
May Allah forgive us all and guide us.

quoted on 090508