If a man finds the path to good, it is said that he must have a shaykh to learn from, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: (The Merciful, so ask about Him one who knows). What is the validity of this?

The questioner : If a Muslim finds the path to good, they say that he must have a shaykh to learn the path from, because Allah the Exalted says .

The Shaykh : Allah has spoken the truth: "So ask about Him one who knows." And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, also says . And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said regarding the story of that man who was on a military expedition with a group of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). He was wounded with injuries, and one morning he was in a state of major ritual impurity, so the full ritual bath became obligatory for him. He asked those around him if there was a dispensation so he would not have to take the bath. They told him that he must take the bath. So he took the bath and died because of the injuries on his body. When the news of this reached the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), he said .
There is no doubt that the two verses mentioned earlier and this hadith divide the Muslim community, in terms of knowledge and ignorance, into two groups: a smaller group, who are the people of knowledge, and a larger group, who are those who do not know, as you heard in the previous verse . So He made it obligatory for each of the two groups to fulfill a duty: He made it obligatory for those who do not know to ask the people of knowledge, and He made it obligatory for them to answer the questioner, as is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . So it is necessary for one who is not a scholar to be a student of knowledge, or at least to ask the people of knowledge, as came in the athar from Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "Be a scholar, or a learner, or a listener, and do not be the fourth, for then you will perish", meaning you are neither listening to knowledge nor asking about it, so at that time you live in ignorance, not knowing how to worship Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He.
So asking the people of knowledge is a matter on which there is no disagreement. As for taking a shaykh of a path, you have known that the path leading to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, is this straight path on which our noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) left us. The scholars are the guides on this path; they are the ones who must be asked, and it is not permissible for a Muslim to take a shaykh exclusively for following him and learning from him, to the exclusion of the other scholars, because here a grave error occurs. It is that just as we must make Allah, Mighty and Majestic, unique in His worship, we must make the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) unique in following him. So it is not permissible to take a single follower from among the scholars, no matter how high and exalted that scholar is in knowledge and virtue, for this status belongs only to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). This is among the meanings of the testimony: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger." He is the one followed among the people. So a Muslim taking one shaykh or one teacher to learn from, and not benefiting from the other shaykhs and other scholars in knowledge, is a deficiency in following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), because all scholars should be taken as guides who show us what our Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was upon. And one scholar, no matter how much knowledge he is given, the matter regarding him and regarding every scholar is as Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said .
So this is an old Sufi superstition that every Muslim must take a shaykh. We say that every Muslim must be a scholar, or a learner, or a listener, otherwise he will perish. As for taking a single, unique shaykh, this is from the work of Satan. We ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, to guide us all to following the Book and the Sunnah, and to what our righteous predecessors were upon, and to keep us away from following the paths, where at the head of each path is a Satan calling people to it. And [He said]: "And this is My straight path, so follow it, and do not follow the ways that will divide you from His path." And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

The questioner : And may Allah send prayers and abundant peace upon Muhammad and his family.