Adherence to the Sunnah and the Mashaa’ikh Chishtiyah

Some people brand the chishtiyya as being ahl-e-bid`ah (innovators in deen). In relation to this Hakimul-Ummah, Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (rahimahullah) comments:

“The reality of the matter is that the chistiyya have been very staunch adherents to the blessed sunnah. One of the incidents which demonstrates this fact is the incident of Hazrat Kabirul-Auliya Jalalud-Deen Panipati (rahimahullah). When Hazrat Jalalud-Deen became sick, he was bed-ridden and even sitting up was extremely difficult for him.

In this state, when his medicine was brought for him to take, he sat straight up (in spite of the hardship) and told his khadims to bring him down to the ground from the bed. The khuddam had no choice but to fulfil the Shaikh’s orders and they laid him down to the floor. Sitting on the floor, he took his medicine and then remarked: “As far as my knowledge is concerned, it is not established from the sunnah that Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) partook of any food, or medicine, on a bed.”

SubhanAllah, in spite of the fact, that this is permissible (for a sick and excused person) he still underwent extreme difficulty in order to fulfil the sunnah, and even abstain from doing such an act which has the possibility of not being a sunnah.

Can such personalities (who abstain from even the possibility of opposing the sunnah) be branded as innovators in deen? Unfortunately, the reality of the matter nowadays is that it has become the habit of people, that anyone who is not in accordance to “our” specific style and methodology, then he must be a bid`ati… This is absolutely wrong.”

(Malfuzat Hakimul-Ummah; 9:216)

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