Among the morals of the scholars of knowledge is attributing a statement to its speaker

The Shaykh : So, glory be to Allah! Knowledge, I mean religious knowledge, has no blessing
Al-Halabi : The blessing of knowledge lies in attributing it to its speaker

The Shaykh : It has no blessing and no impact on the scholars of knowledge if they do not adopt the morals of the scholars of knowledge. And among these morals—meaning, it is not among the morals of the scholars of knowledge—that they benefit from something from the scholars of knowledge and then do not attribute it to its owner. And on this basis, the scholars say in their books: "The blessing of knowledge is attributing every statement to its speaker." This is if the statement has a distinction in it, involving effort. As for any statement, it is not necessary for a person to attribute every statement to its speaker. But in the present age, and this question is repeated, I advise every student of knowledge who is asked a question to answer with what he has of knowledge that he received from others and did not reach by himself, meaning through independent legal reasoning and derivation. He should not say, "The answer is such and such," and leave it at that, because the listener will understand that this answer stems from his knowledge and his independent legal reasoning, from his own acquisition, and that is not the case. So on this basis, I say to our young brothers in this field: if you are asked about something you reached through your effort and toil, you say, "I see such and such," "I believe such and such," "My answer is such and such," and so on. But if you benefited from someone else, it is better for you, both in the affirmative and the negative, to attribute the statement to its speaker. In the affirmative, because the merit belongs to him. In the negative, he may be mistaken, so why would you bear his mistake? No. Attribute the statement to its speaker. If it is correct, the reward is for him and then for you. And if it is a mistake, you are not affected by his mistake in any way. And so this is the hadith, and perhaps you have known it?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : If Allah wills.