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Ravan Farhadi in ‘The Quatrains of Rumi,’ an unpublished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