Reference: Kitaabul-‘Ilm – Page 104, Question No.5
Question: There are some students of knowledge who are keen to attend lessons given by [other] students of knowledge without giving importance to attending the lessons of the scholars who have managed to gather [knowledge] that which the students of knowledge have not. So what is your guidance [in this matter], your excellency, and may Allaah protect and preserve you?
Response: That which I am of the opinion of is that it is befitting for a person to seek knowledge from a mature [fully-qualified] scholar. This is because some students of knowledge put themselves forward to teach, and they understand an issue from amongst [many] issues, either in [the field of] hadeeth, or fiqh or ‘aqeedah completely and revise it, so if an amateur student of knowledge was to hear him, he would assume that this student of knowledge is from amongst the major scholars. However, if he was to divert as little as a fingertip away from the topic which he has fully grasped and revised, then you will find he does not [really] have any knowledge.
So because of this, it is obligatory upon the amateur student of knowledge to seek knowledge at the hands of scholars who are known to be authoritative because of their knowledge, trustworthiness and [practicing their] religion.
