How does a student of knowledge weigh the opinions of scholars?

The Shaykh : Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with one condition, which is that he must be far from following his own desires. That is, the factor driving him to choose one of the two opinions of these two eminent scholars must not be his following of his own desires. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, and others, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): meaning his own desire . If this Muslim purifies himself, no matter how low his academic level may be, he has no choice but to choose one of the two opinions while avoiding following his own desires. This is the fundamental condition in this issue, which is difficult for some people. There are other matters that this Muslim may be able to consider, whether all of them, most of them, or some of them. What is required of him is to use his ability, as the Exalted said: And His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . By his ability, every Muslim can learn something about the biography of the scholar whose fatwa differs from the opinion of the other scholar. If he manages, for example, to find out that one of them is more God-fearing (Blessed and Exalted is He) and more righteous, then this becomes a factor in preferring to take the opinion of the more God-fearing and more righteous one over the opinion of the other scholar. Likewise, he should think and look into which of the two scholars is more senior in the study of the specific science in which they issued their fatwas, whether it is in tafsir, hadith, or fiqh. The length of time one of them has spent in that science is also a factor in preferring one opinion over the other for this confused Muslim who is unsure which of the two opinions to rely on or act upon. Finally, there is another factor in weighing opinions that no Muslim facing such a problem should overlook: he should look into which of the two scholars is more specialized in the science in which each issued his fatwa. If the question is about tafsir and one of them is a specialist in it while the other is not, he should prefer the opinion of the specialist over the non-specialist scholar. Other issues are measured by this standard. This is a very obvious matter, for every Muslim is exposed to being afflicted, either in himself, his child, or a relative, with one of the diseases that usually befall people. What does this afflicted person do? Does he go to any doctor, or does he ask many questions, such as who is the specialist in this disease he is feeling? For example, if a person is afflicted with an internal disease, he does not go to the man who specializes in treating eye or ear diseases, or the like, and vice versa. If he is informed of the specialist, he asks, "Do you think this one is more knowledgeable than that one? Is this one more senior than that one?" and so on, until he reaches the doctor in whom his soul finds peace and his chest opens up. At that point, he presents himself or his patient to him. This is how he treats the problem that has befallen his body. It is even more necessary and more fitting that he treat the issue of the science in which the difficulty arose for this Muslim by following this path. He will undoubtedly end up acting on the opinion of one of them, and nothing is required of him beyond that, because he has exerted effort and exhausted his strength to know the truth in which these two scholars differed, in the form of the question raised above. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says in His Book: And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) says: . Every person’s ijtihad is according to his condition. This is the ijtihad of the ordinary Muslim who has no knowledge of the scientific methods by which a Muslim can weigh one opinion over another. However, if he is a student of knowledge or one of the scholars, the matter is easy for him, because he will seek the scriptural evidence that helps him to weigh one opinion over another.
This is what I have as an answer to this question.