The Ruling on Describing Someone as a Salafi and the Like
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
And your Shaykh said: I have heard the hadith in which a Companion said to the Muhajireen and the Bedouins that they should be compared to our saying, "So-and-so is a Salafi" or "a brother" or "a reminder." This is for a valid purpose, namely to warn against one who deviates from the methodology of the Salaf, because I have heard some of the Shaykhs prohibit this description and cite the aforementioned hadith as evidence.
The Shaykh:
If the purpose is to clarify the man's methodology so that people avoid him, then this is not part of the ongoing da'wah (calling to Islam); rather, it is advice to the people so that they are not deceived by the innovator and think he is a Sunni. However, one must be certain, one must be certain that he is an innovator and that he opposes the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community. One must be certain; it is not merely a matter of accusation. If this is established, then one warns against him so that he does not influence the people. Yes.
And your Shaykh said: I have heard the hadith in which a Companion said to the Muhajireen and the Bedouins that they should be compared to our saying, "So-and-so is a Salafi" or "a brother" or "a reminder." This is for a valid purpose, namely to warn against one who deviates from the methodology of the Salaf, because I have heard some of the Shaykhs prohibit this description and cite the aforementioned hadith as evidence.
The Shaykh:
If the purpose is to clarify the man's methodology so that people avoid him, then this is not part of the ongoing da'wah (calling to Islam); rather, it is advice to the people so that they are not deceived by the innovator and think he is a Sunni. However, one must be certain, one must be certain that he is an innovator and that he opposes the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community. One must be certain; it is not merely a matter of accusation. If this is established, then one warns against him so that he does not influence the people. Yes.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب من الإيمان بالله الصبر على أقدار الله — islamhouse.com (59:42)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.