He was asked:

About the practice conventionally known as “futuwwa” (chivalry) … and so forth.

He replied—may Allah be pleased with him:

As for the “futuwwa” he mentioned, in which a man clothes another in trousers and gives him water and salt to drink, this has no basis. None of the early Muslims practised it, neither 'Alī nor anyone else. The chain of transmission they cite for “futuwwa,” tracing it back to the Commander of the Faithful, 'Alī ibn Abī Tālib, through Caliph al-Nāsir and others, is obscure. Most of its transmitters are unknown and unidentifiable, and receive no mention among the scholars.

It has been related that this practice originated when he placed a pair of trousers by 'Alī’s grave, and by morning they were tied shut. Such things also occur in connection with others besides 'Alī, just as similar occurrences thought to be miracles take place in churches and elsewhere. For example, someone suffering from seizures enters a church and recovers through a votive offering made to it, and other such things. If this is not a fabrication, then it is the work of devils, just as similar things are done before idols. I know of numerous incidents of this kind.