Sheikh Wasiullah Abbas confirms Mufti Menk is not a Salafi, but Hanafi

1) Ali brought u prawns not me.

Which is against your insinuation that this is something of a recent phenomenon peculiar to only deobandi ulema.

"When you find in my kitaab anything contradicting the Sunnah of Rasulullah (s.a.s.) then say (i.e. command) the Sunnah of Rasulullah (s.a.s.) and leave aside my statement." (Imam ash-Shaafi) "When the Hadith is established as authentic in opposition to my statement, then act according to the Hadith and abandon my statement." (Imam ash-Shaafi) "When the authenticity of the Hadith is established, then that is my Mathhab." (Imam ash-Shaafi)

Imam Nawawi sats regarding the above:" Our Companions ( Shawafi') acted according to this in the matter of Tathweeb, the conditions on coming out of Ihram due to illness and other issues well-known in books of the Madhab ( Shafii). Among those of our Companions who are reported to have passed judgment on the basis of the Hadeeth ( rather then saying of Shafii) are Abu Ya'qoob Al Buweeti and Abul Qasim Ad Dariki. Of our companions from the Muhaditheen, Imam Abu Bakr Al Bayhaqi and others employed this approach. Many of our earliest companions, if they faced an issue for which there was a hadeeth, and the madhab of Shafii was contrary to it, would act according to the Hadeeth and give verdicts based on it saying : " The Madhab of Shafii is whatever agrees with the Hadeeth. This which Imam ash-Shaafi has said does not mean that everyone who sees a sahih Hadith should say "This is the mathhab of ash-Shaafi," thus practicing on the zaahir (text/external or apparent meaning) of the Hadith. This most certainly applies to only such a person who has the rank of ijtihad in the mathhab. It is a condition that he overwhelmingly believes that Imam ash-Shaafi was unaware of this Hadith or he was unaware of its authenticity. And this is possible only after having made a research of all the books of ash-Shaafi and similar other books of the Ashaab of ash-Shaafi, those who take (knowledge) from him and others similar to these (books). This is indeed a difficult condition (to fulfill). Few are there who measure up to this (standard). What we have explained has been made conditional because Imam ash-Shaafi had abandoned acting on the zaahir (text) of many Ahadith, which he say and knew. However, by him was established proof for criticism in the Hadith or its abrogation or it's specific circumstance or its interpretation, etc. Hence, he was constrained to leave aside the hadith." Shaykh Abu ‘Amr [Ibn al-Salâh] said: “It is no trivial matter to act according to the apparent meaning of what Imâm al-Shâfi‘î said. For it is not permissible for every faqîh to act independently with what he takes to be a proof from the hadîth. Among those who followed this method , are Shafis who acted on hadith which As shafi deliberately abandoned in the knowledge that it was rigorously authenticated. This was due to an objection which he was aware of but which was not apparent to others such as Abul Walid Mosa ibn Abil JArud, one of as shafi ‘s companions who said: “ The hadith: ‘the person performing cupping and the person upon whom it is performed break their fast’, is rigorously authenticated. So I say (i.e. Abul Walid) As Shafi said’the person performing cupping and the person upon whom it is performed break their fast’,” The scholars reject this claim of Abul Walid because As Shafi abandoned it in the knowledge that [the hadhith] was rigorously authenticated due to the fact that he considered it abrogated. As Shafi explained its abrogation and provided proofs… ( A sentence is quoted here about Ibn Khuzaimah)…Shaykh Abu 'Amr ( Ibnu Salah) says : " Whoever among the Shafii found a hadeeth contradicting his Madhab, he would consider whether he fulfilled the conditions of Ijtihad generally, or in that particular topic or issue, in which case he would be free to act on the hadeeth, if not ( having reached ijtihad in this topic or generally), but nevertheless he found it hard to cantradict the hadeeth after further analysis, he would be left, he would not be able to find a convincing justification for opposing the hadeethy, hence it would be left for him to act according to the Hadeeth if an independant Imam other than Shafii had acted on it, and this would be justification for his leaving the madhab of his Imam in that issue" What he ( Abu 'Amr) has said is correct and established. Allah knows best"