Was Rumi an Orthodox Muslim?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question: Was Rumi an orthodox Muslim or a universal mystic beyond the rigid confines of orthodoxy?

Answer: Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

Read:

http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/self-discovery.html

This article explains how Mawlana Rumi was an orthodox Muslim, and shows the emptiness of the claims of him being,

“… a maverick, an individualist, unafraid to be a “free spirit,” a wild
mystic who is crazed with passion, an inspired poet who is
spontaneous and sensual, and a universal mystic who ignores the
Muslim authorities and their “uptight” religious laws.”

The author of this article tells us that,

“In an authentic quatrain composed by Rumi, he tells us:

I am the servant of the Qur’an as long as I have life.
I am the dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen one.
If anyone quotes anything except this from my sayings,
I am quit of him and outraged by these words.

…

[–Rumi’s Quatrain No. 1173, translated by Ibrahim Gamard and
Ravan Farhadi in ‘The Quatrains of Rumi,’ an unpublished
manuscript]

[Here, the Persian word ‘bezar’ translated as ‘quit of’ and
‘outraged’ also means disgusted, fed-up, repelled, estranged. The
meaning is that no one should interpret Rumi’s speech and poetry
as having meanings that do not conform to the revelation and
practice of Islam.] ”

http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/self-discovery.html

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam.

Faraz Rabbani