Sidi Muhammad ibn al-Mashri wrote in al-Jami’:
What indicates the difference of this Path from others is that its followers do not visit any of the awliya, neither living nor dead, due to the prohibition given to them by the Master of Existence (peace and blessings be upon him). That That is, because the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him) confined their spiritual reliance to himself alone. Hence, none of the shaykhs has any favor upon them except him (peace and blessings be upm him) and what a tremendous privilege that is!
If those very virtues by which I rise,
Are counted as sins, then tell me how shall I apologize?
In al-Ifada al-Ahmadiyya it is also stated: He (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded me to withdraw permission from two men who had visited our master ‘Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish the reason being that refraining from visiting the awliya is a condition of this Path; and when the condition is absent, the conditioned reality ceases.
It is evident that our master ‘Abd al-Salam ibn Mashish had passed into the next abode long before the appearance of the Shaykh.
Among what the masters of the Path have cited to support their prohibition against their disciples visiting others – when taking the covenant – is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his family, his children, and all people.”
And it is well known to anyone with the least taste in the sciences of the soul that true love cannot admit of sharing in any form.