Imām Ibn ʿUthaymīn رحمه الله was asked:
"There are some students of knowledge who are avid upon attending the classes of students of knowledge, and they do not attend the classes of the ʿUlamāʾ who have knowledge which none of these students of knowledge have obtained. What is your opinion on this?"
Imām Ibn ʿUthaymīn answered:
"In my view, it is a must for a person to seek knowledge from a senior scholar, because some students of knowledge sit to teach, and they come to conclusions on matters - regardless of whether they are in ḥadīth, fiqh, ʿaqīdah - and they revise these matters, so that if the beginner student of knowledge listens to him, he thinks that he is from the greatest of ʿUlamāʾ! However, if he even obtained an iota of knowledge on this topic he had come to such a conclusion on, he would find this person has no knowledge whatsoever. Therefore it is obligatory upon the Student of Knowledge to take knowledge from those ʿUlamāʾ who have been praised due to their knowledge, trustworthiness, and the uprightness of their Dīn."
Kitāb al-ʿIlm (104-105)
"There are some students of knowledge who are avid upon attending the classes of students of knowledge, and they do not attend the classes of the ʿUlamāʾ who have knowledge which none of these students of knowledge have obtained. What is your opinion on this?"
Imām Ibn ʿUthaymīn answered:
"In my view, it is a must for a person to seek knowledge from a senior scholar, because some students of knowledge sit to teach, and they come to conclusions on matters - regardless of whether they are in ḥadīth, fiqh, ʿaqīdah - and they revise these matters, so that if the beginner student of knowledge listens to him, he thinks that he is from the greatest of ʿUlamāʾ! However, if he even obtained an iota of knowledge on this topic he had come to such a conclusion on, he would find this person has no knowledge whatsoever. Therefore it is obligatory upon the Student of Knowledge to take knowledge from those ʿUlamāʾ who have been praised due to their knowledge, trustworthiness, and the uprightness of their Dīn."
Kitāb al-ʿIlm (104-105)