Avoid Cult Mentality

Taking knowledge from various sources:

It is said:
ټول گلان په یوه باغ کې نه وي
‘All flowers are not contained to one garden.’

You will find true and false statements within all the various Sunni schools of thought. If you restrict yourself to your own sect/school/scholar only – you will miss out on a lot of beneficial wisdom.

Cult members who live in their own echo-chambers are the most deprived in this regard.

The Qur’an states:
الَّذِينَ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ
“Those who listen to what is said and follow the best of it.” [39:18].

Imam al-Qurtubi says:
قال ابن عباس : هو الرجل يسمع الحسن والقبيح فيتحدث بالحسن وينكف عن القبيح فلا يتحدث به
“Ibn Abbaas said: It refers to a person who hears both the good and the bad, but the person passes on the good and leaves the bad.”
[“Tafsir al-Qurtubi”, 10/244].

The Prophet asked a companion to recite the poetry of Umayya b. Abu Salt to him, who was not a Muslim, but his poetry had good meanings, so the Prophet said:
فَلَقَدْ كَادَ يُسْلِمُ فِي شِعْرِهِ
“He was almost a Muslim in his poetry!”
[“Sahih Muslim”, 2255c].
https://sunnah.com/muslim:2255c

So, we are not even restricted to taking good words from Muslims only – we take the good and leave the bad from anyone.

Note: I’m not saying that an untrained layman should expose himself to misguidance by taking knowledge from misguided sects. That would be dangerous. Only if the foundations are strong, and a filter is created – only then can someone read into what non-Sunni sects say. Those non-Sunni schools also contain some good speech, if someone can filter them out.

Allahu a’lam