Is it a condition for a scholar to be advanced in age?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says that when we tell some of the brothers that in times of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation), knowledge is to be taken from the senior scholars whose heads have turned white in the pursuit of knowledge, they become agitated and say that a person may be counted among the senior scholars even if he is young. They cite Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah as an example. What is your opinion?

Answer:
Yes, knowledge is taken from scholars at all times, in times of fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) and in times other than fitnah. Knowledge is taken from the people of knowledge. The older the scholar is in age, the better and more stable he is. The older the scholar is in age, the better and more stable he is than the young one. It is possible that among the young there is one who is better than the old, like Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in his time. There is no harm in that. The important thing is that beneficial knowledge is verified in the person. If they are equal, then taking knowledge from the older one is better. If they differ in merit, then knowledge is taken from the one with greater merit, even if he is young.