Religious teacher Knut's giving mum a cuddle (4)
I believe the answer is:
imam
'religious teacher' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'knut's giving mum a cuddle' is the wordplay.
'knut' becomes 'I' (where the crossword setter is 'Knut').
'giving' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'mum' becomes 'ma' (ma can mean mother).
'a cuddle' becomes 'm' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'i'+'ma'+'m'='IMAM'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for imam that I've seen before include "Prayer-leader in a mosque" , "Accompaniment in baroque music" , "Mosque's prayer leader" , "Islamic religious leader" , "Prayer leader in a mosque" .)