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Al-Baraa' said: ''I met 300 from the warriors of Badr. There is not one of them, except that he wishes that his companion would suffice him with Fatwa.''

(Al-Faqih al-Mutafaqqih, 2/349)

The 'ulama must beware of fame, for it shall bring about destruction in this life and the next if one falls victim to it.

Abdullah ibn Al-Mubarak said:
Sufyan ath-Thawri said to me:

"Beware of fame. Everyone I met warned me about fame. "

(Siyar A'lam an-Nubala', The Lives of the Noble Figures, Volume 7 pg. 260)

The Shaykh avoids argumentation and does not look down upon people:

[Say (O Muhammad) to My servants that they should (only) say those things that are best and decent: for Satan tries to sow discord and enmity among them: For Satan is to man an avowed enemy.]

(Qur'an, Surah al-Isra’ 17:53)

Ma’ruf al-Karkhi said:

"When Allah chooses good for a person He opens the door to action for him, and closes the door to argumentation; and when Allah chooses evil for a person he opens the door of argumentation and closes the door to action."

(Hafiz Khatib Al-Baghdadi, Iqtda Al-‘Ilm Al~‘Amal)

Ibn Hurmuz said,

"When a man is appointed as Qadi, Amir or Mufti he ought to ask one whom he trusts about himself and if he thinks that he is worthy of it he should do it, and if not he should not do it."

~

Sufyan b. 'Uyainah said: ''The most daring of the people to issue verdicts are the least of them in knowledge.''

(Jami' bayan al-'ilm)

Sufyan b. 'Uyainah also said: ''The most knowledgeable with regards to Fatwa are the most silent of them; and the most ignorant with respect to Fatwa are the most outspoken of them.''

(al-Mawsu'ah, 2/350)

[One of the teachers of Imam Bukhari] Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir said:

"A scholar is the medium between Allah and His Servants, so he should be careful about how to convey the message."

Shaykh Ahmad az-Zarruq said:

The conditions of the teaching Shaykh to whom the student must give his nafs over to are five:

[1] Sound knowledge (‘ilm saheeh);
[2] Sound perceptivity or tasting (dhawq saheeh);
[3] Exalted resolution (himmat ‘aaliyaat);
[4] Pleasing spiritual states (haalatun mardiyyat); and
[5] Penetrating inner discernment (baseeratun nafidhatun).

(Umdat as-Salik; Related by Shehu Uthman ibn Fodio, Usul at-Tariqah)

Imam al-Shatibi al-Maliki (May Allah have mercy upon him) mentions three signs and characteristics of an expert qualified teacher:

1) He practices what he teaches,

2) He himself has been trained by a qualified scholar,

3) His students follow and pursue in his footsteps, for if his students generally tend to not follow him, then this is a sign that there is something inherently wrong with him.

(Al-Muwafaqat fi Usul ash-Shari'ah)