For two modules M and N, iM (N) stands for the largest submodule of N relative to which M is injective. For any module M, iM : Mod-R → Mod-R thus defines a left exact preradical, and iM (M) is quasi-injective. Classes of ring including strongly prime, semi-Artinian rings and those with no middle class are characterized using this functor: a ring R is semi-simple or right strongly prime if and only if for any right R-module M, iM (R) = R or 0, extending a result of Rubin; R is a right QI-ring if and only if R has the ascending chain condition (a.c.c.) on essential right ideals and iM is a radical for each M ∈ Mod-R (the a.c.c. is not redundant), extending a partial answer of Dauns and Zhou to a long-standing open problem. Also discussed are rings close to those with no middle class.