The Difference Between the Term Salafi and the People of the Sunnah and the Community

Question:
Is there, may Allah preserve you, a difference between the term Salafi and the term the people of the Sunnah and the community?

Answer:
I do not know. The Salaf are the people of the Sunnah and the community. They are the Companions, the followers of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and those who followed them. They are called the Salaf because they preceded others, and they are called the people of the Sunnah and the community because they agreed upon the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and united upon it. The scholars have explained this, such as Abu al-Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah in *Al-‘Aqidah al-Fatimiyyah* and other scholars. The point is that if “the Salaf” is used in a general sense, the righteous Salaf are the Companions, the followers of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and those who followed them with excellence. If “the people of the Sunnah and the community” is used in a general sense, they are the Companions, the followers of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (may Allah be pleased with them), and those who followed them with excellence. These are the people of the Sunnah, the saved sect, and the victorious group that holds fast to the Qur’an and the Sunnah until the end of time. Those who oppose them are the most severe; the opponents of them are the most severe, as Abu al-Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned in *Al-Hamawiyyah*. Yes.