What is your opinion on seeking knowledge without a learned shaykh, as some of the young men have done?

The questioner : There is a group of young men who have isolated themselves from the scholars of the people of the Sunnah and the community, thinking that they are being scrupulous, or out of a sense of independent legal reasoning. What is your opinion, O my Shaykh, on seeking knowledge without a shaykh and without a scholar?

The Shaykh : I think it is appropriate to say here, within the limits of what I can say, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said in some authentic hadiths: If there is a group of people who isolate themselves from the scholars because of a mistake they may see in them, whether they are sincere in their claim that they saw a mistake in them or not, do they want a prophet other than the Messenger of Allah to be sent to them who is free from error? I think their misguidance has not reached this level. So if they do not live with the scholars, with whom will they live? This is very clear misguidance. There is no doubt that seeking any kind of knowledge must be sought from a teacher, especially some of the Islamic legal sciences which are difficult for a person to understand. For example, if we start with the first stage, which they call the nursery, a boy cannot learn the alphabet except through a teacher, and so on, as he grows older, the circle of knowledge expands. It is true that some people acquire some knowledge through personal effort and innate qualifications that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created in them, but they have already acquired the principles of knowledge, those principles that enable them to continue seeking knowledge. But without a teacher at all, this means that the matter will lead him to something similar to the saying of the extremists among the Sufis, "My heart told me about my Lord." I say "similar" because he may have learned something, but he will remain ignorant of the knowledge, and the circle of knowledge is as Allah the Exalted said: He will be forced to issue rulings on matters concerning himself, and he may issue rulings on matters concerning others out of ignorance, having no knowledge. This is the consequence of his distancing himself from connecting with the people of knowledge. There is no doubt that this is a loathsome Sufi deviation, because it is authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Without a doubt, the people mentioned in this hadith include an element of harm to this non-conformist. Nevertheless, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) encourages the Muslim to mix with these people and, if they harm him, to be patient with their harm. So how would the situation be if these people were the best of the people existing in every time and place, namely the scholars? There is no doubt that what you are asking about is a strange and astonishing matter, that there are people who prefer not to sit with the scholars. So who will they sit with? The ignorant ones. This is...