The Creed of the Salaf and Their Methodology

Question:
This questioner says: After the greeting of peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah, we often hear about the creed of the Salaf. We ask you to clarify for us what is the methodology of the Salaf and the Salafis?

Answer:
The creed of the Salaf is the oneness of Allah, obedience to Him, and following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and what the Qur'an indicates. This is the creed of the Salaf: the oneness of Allah, sincerity to Him, describing His worship, and guarding against shirk (associating partners with Allah). It includes faith in and in the divine decree, its good and its evil, and faith in the names and attributes of Allah, describing Him with them (Glorified and Exalted is He). He is above the Throne, above all creation, having risen above His Throne in a manner befitting His majesty. He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the Most High above all creation. When He does good speech and righteous deeds, He raises them. He is the Most High, the Magnificent, and His knowledge is in every place.
This is the creed of the Salaf, and the belief that the faith of the believer increases and decreases. So sins decrease faith and weaken faith. But they do not remove faith, contrary to the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah. So faith increases between the opportunities.
Contrary to the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah, it is the reality of the people of the Sunnah and the community that faith increases and decreases, and that the sinner, the fornicator, and the thief do not increase in faith if they do not deem it permissible, but their faith decreases. So if he dies upon fornication or theft or undutifulness to parents, he is exposed to the warning of Allah, exposed to the Fire, unless Allah forgives him. But his faith does not increase by that, contrary to the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah, due to the saying of Allah, the Exalted: This is the saying of the people of the Sunnah and the community: faith in Allah and in His names and attributes, and that they are befitting Him in the manner of Allah, and that He is above the Throne above all creation, and that His knowledge is in every place, nothing is hidden from Him, and that faith increases and decreases, increasing with obedience and decreasing with sins. This is the saying of the people of the Sunnah and the community, contrary to the Khawarij who say it does not increase or decrease, and contrary to the Mu'tazilah and the Murji'ah who exclude deeds from faith. The people of the Sunnah and the community say that faith is speech and action, meaning speech and action and belief, increasing with obedience and decreasing with sin, and it does not increase with sin. Only disbelief increases it. If something of disbelief in Allah or shirk is present, it removes it. But sins, such as being undutiful to his parents or one of them, or committing fornication without deeming it permissible, or stealing, or drinking intoxicants, or such things, this is a decrease in faith, a weakness in faith, and he does not become a disbeliever. But he is exposed to the warning and in great danger, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: from you, and the thief is not a thief while he is in a state of complete faith when he steals. Rather, what led him to these sins was a decrease in his faith and a weakness in his faith. Therefore, if he commits fornication, the hadd is applied to him and he is not declared a disbeliever, and if he drinks intoxicants, the hadd is applied to him and he is not declared a disbeliever, if he does not deem it permissible. This is the saying of the people of the Sunnah and the community, contrary to the Khawarij, the Mu'tazilah, and the Murji'ah. Yes.