A group in our town calls themselves Salafis, they criticize some of the preachers and say: They are the victorious sect.

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: There is a group in our town who call themselves Salafis and say that they are the victorious sect. They have made criticizing preachers and scholars their methodology, under the pretext of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil (the critique and vindication of narrators). The question is: I ask for clarification, are these people on the correct path? And is it correct to say that they are the victorious sect?

Answer:
I have said, and I continue to say, that it is obligatory for the youth and students of knowledge to leave these matters entirely, and to turn to seeking knowledge. They should turn to seeking knowledge and leave the issue of "this one is such and such, and that one is such and such, and this one is a rejected narrator, and that one is a vindicated narrator, and this one and that one." This is preoccupation with the affairs of people, sowing enmity and hostility among Muslims, and turning away from seeking beneficial knowledge.
Leave these matters, turn to seeking knowledge, and abandon all these orientations, except for the orientation following the methodology of the Salaf. This is the obligatory duty. A person does not purify himself by saying, "I am from the saved sect." He should say, "I hope to be from the saved sect." As for saying, "I am from the saved sect," Allah (Exalted and Majestic) says: And Allah the Exalted knows best. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and his Companions.