The ZAKĀH of Knowledge: Teaching and Acting – Reflections on Imam ʿAlī’s Teaching

Introduction

On 18^th Rabīʿ al-Thānī we mark the birth anniversary of the great jurist Muḥaqqiq Ḥelli; one of the foremost Shīʿī scholars whose teaching legacy includes more than 400 students and works such as Sharā’iʿ al-Islām fī Masā’il al-Ḥalāl wa al-Ḥarām, a text that later inspired the monumental commentary Jawāhir al-Kalām in forty-three volumes. In the spirit of honouring a life devoted to knowledge, we reflect here on a short ḥadīth of Imam ʿAlī (as) about the ethical purpose of learning:

امام علی (ع): زَكَاةُ اَلْعِلْمِ بَذْلُهُ لِمُسْتَحِقِّهِ وَ إِجْهَادُ اَلنَّفْسِ بِالْعَمَلِ بِهِ. (غرر الحکم و درر الکلم، ۱، ۳۹۱)

Imam ʿAlī (as) said: ‘The zakāh (purifying alms) of knowledge is to bestow it upon those who deserve it, and the striving of the self is to labour to act upon it.’

Educational messages of the hadith for teens and youth

1. Share to Purify Knowledge

Knowledge grows and is purified when you give it to others who will benefit, not hoarded for status.

Practical Challenge: Teach one useful religious, ethical or academic idea to a peer this week and ask them to show you how they applied it.

2. Practice Is the Inner Striving

Real learning requires inner effort to turn information into upright behaviour; study alone is not enough.

Practical Challenge: Choose one moral teaching you’ve learned and practise it daily for seven days, keeping a short log of the results.

3. Choose the Right Recipients

“Those who deserve it” are not the powerful but those who are receptive and will use the knowledge for good.

Practical Challenge: Identify one younger student or friend who needs guidance and spend thirty minutes this month helping them.

4. Teach & Learn with Humility, Not Show

Giving and receiving knowledge should be an act of service, not a performance; humility ensures the gift is pure.

Practical Challenge: When you help someone this week, do so without posting about it on social media.

5. Resist Shortcuts – Commit to Change

The jihād of the self means resisting easy pleasure and persisting in improving character over time.

Practical Challenge: Replace one impulsive habit (e.g. quick temper, gossip, procrastination) with a constructive action for two weeks.

Educational messages of the hadith for parents

1. Be the Conduit of Beneficial Knowledge

Parents should actively pass on useful and religious knowledge to the children most likely to honour and apply it.

Practical Challenge: Teach your child one practical value (e.g. honesty, time-keeping, prayer) this week and practise it together daily.

2. Turn Learning into Family Practice

The ḥadīth links giving knowledge with acting on it; create family routines that put learning into practice.

Practical Challenge: Start a weekly family ritual (e.g. short discussion, shared reading, or a community task) to practise a moral lesson.

3. Prioritise Character Education

Passing information is not enough; parents must help children labour inwardly to adopt ethical habits.

Practical Challenge: Choose one character trait to focus on with your child for a month and reward small, genuine improvements.

4. Identify and Support Deserving Learners Inside Your Family

Invest time in the child who struggles or is easily overlooked — they may be the most deserving recipient.

Practical Challenge: Offer one hour a week of focused mentoring to a child who needs extra guidance.

5. Model Lifelong Striving

Children imitate what they see; parents who publicly strive to implement knowledge teach far more than words alone.

Practical Challenge: Share one personal lesson you are working on with your children and invite them to check in on your progress.

Educational messages of the hadith for imams and religious leaders

1. Teach for Transformation, Not Just Information

The zakāh of knowledge requires that teaching be aimed at enabling people to act, not merely informing them.

Practical Challenge: Design your next sermon or class around a single practical behaviour change and give congregants a simple action to complete.

2. Train & Develop Deserving Recipients

Invest in training those who will carry knowledge forward – teachers, youth leaders and volunteers.

Practical Challenge: Launch a short mentored training programme to prepare two or three promising lay teachers this term.

3. Make Application Part of the Curriculum

Encourage classes and programmes that pair study with accountability and real-life projects.

Practical Challenge: Introduce a compulsory community-service project connected to a course or study circle you run.

4. Measure Impact and Sustain the Action Through Learning

The prophetically endorsed striving to act requires follow-up; ensure lessons change conduct over time.

Practical Challenge: Set up a simple feedback and follow-up system (e.g. short surveys) to check how teaching is being practised.