A bit of advice to new reverts, from someone who reverted a few years ago

Assalamu alaykum brothers and sisters, I reverted about 3 years ago and wanted to share something I learned the hard way - maybe it helps someone. Lately I’ve noticed many new reverts trying to make firm judgments from the Sources (Quran, Hadith, Sirah) without realizing how deep those sciences are. I felt the same excitement when I first accepted Islam: full of energy, like I could do anything. I dove into reading - a lot. I read a translation of the Quran in two weeks, then went through Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Imam Malik’s Al-Muwatta, Tafsir ibn Kathir, Ihya Ulum al-Din by Imam al-Ghazali, and more. I thought I understood it all. But the truth hit me later. Do I actually know how to evaluate a hadith chain? Can I tell if a narration is hasan or da‘if? Do I know the precise circumstances behind a hadith or why a particular sura was revealed? Can I properly discipline my nafs on my own or unpack the deep spiritual guidance of Imam al-Ghazali without guidance? The honest answer for me was: no. Islam is not only a set of texts to be read once and judged by yourself. It’s a living tradition passed down through generations - through huffaz, scholars of hadith, fuqaha and shuyukh with chains of transmission. Who am I to out-argue a hafiz or a scholar who spent decades studying fiqh or hadith? I’m not. If my personal conclusion clashes with a mainstream position held by scholars over centuries, it’s very likely I’m mistaken. So I stopped making firm rulings for myself and looked for a trustworthy shaykh. Alhamdulillah, I found one. Many of my wrong ideas were corrected and I learned far more than I ever could by only reading books on my own. My simple advice to fellow reverts: you’re not yet in a position to draw firm conclusions from the sources on your own. Find a righteous shaykh you can trust - someone who guides you in fiqh but also helps with disciplining the nafs and refining adab, who follows the Shariah and has reliable ijazas or recognition from established scholars. It can be hard to find, but alhamdulillah there are sincere scholars still around. This is not a fatwa, just a reminder from one revert to another. InshaAllah it benefits someone. And Allah knows best.