“Our Shaykh is a leading authority on X number of sciences”
Do not be fooled by such statements. Yes, your Shaykh studied these sciences, but that does not make him a leading expert on those subjects.
I told a graduate of a British madrasa in the course of a discussion, “Don’t tell me Shaykh *********** is at the same level as Shaykh Saeed Fawda in aqidah.” I explained that my comment was not an insult to Shaykh ***********, I was just pointing out we have many great scholars and they have their specializations and areas of expertise.
I likewise commented to another person that there are many Sayyid scholars of a high calibre in the Arab world you can benefit from, not the one or two figures who you seem to think are the inheritors of the mantle of Ahl al-Bayt. Yes, the Shaykhs you know are learned pious people, but before you label me a Nasibi realise in Mecca alone there are Sayyid ulema who spent years studying in the Haram al-Makki, and one elderly Sayyid scholar still living who is senior to Sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi.
- Mufti Taqi Uthmani is a leading authority on Hanafi fiqh specializing in financial transactions.
- Shaykh Muhammad Awwamah and Shaykh Nabil al-Ghamri are leaders in the fields of hadith.
- Shaykhs Saeed Fawdah, Nizar Hammadi and Salih al-Ghursi are specialists in aqidah.
- And so on, we love and take benefit from all of them and other experts we might not have heard of.
Please keep this in mind, benefit from all the brilliant stars of Sunni Islam, and keep away from cultish behaviour.