Does a scholar sin by concealing knowledge, even if he is not asked about it?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Does the scholar who sins by concealing knowledge refer to the one who is asked and conceals it, or the one who conceals it even if he is not asked about anything?
The Shaykh:
Yes, if he sees people engaged in what is wrong and in shirk (associating partners with Allah) and he conceals it and does not forbid it, he is included in this, even if he was not asked. It is obligatory for him to clarify, call to Allah, and explain to the people, and he should not remain silent. He should not say, "I am not responsible for them." He falls under the description of the one who was asked about knowledge and concealed it. There are types of this concealment. Yes.
The presenter:
Honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Among them is the one who conceals knowledge for the sake of a job or for the sake of greed for this world. Yes.
Does the scholar who sins by concealing knowledge refer to the one who is asked and conceals it, or the one who conceals it even if he is not asked about anything?
The Shaykh:
Yes, if he sees people engaged in what is wrong and in shirk (associating partners with Allah) and he conceals it and does not forbid it, he is included in this, even if he was not asked. It is obligatory for him to clarify, call to Allah, and explain to the people, and he should not remain silent. He should not say, "I am not responsible for them." He falls under the description of the one who was asked about knowledge and concealed it. There are types of this concealment. Yes.
The presenter:
Honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Among them is the one who conceals knowledge for the sake of a job or for the sake of greed for this world. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل يأثم العالم بكتم العلم حتى لو لم يسئل عليه؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.