The Meaning of the Salaf When Used Without Qualification
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: When the term "the Salaf" is used without qualification, does it refer to the Companions only, or does it include those who came after them? He says: Because I heard from some of the professors at the university that the term "the Salaf" refers to the Companions only.
Answer:
That is incorrect. The term "the Salaf" refers to the Companions, the Tabi'un, the generation after the Tabi'un, and the preferred generations.Sahih Muslim 2535a These are the Salaf. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. He says: When the term "the Salaf" is used without qualification, does it refer to the Companions only, or does it include those who came after them? He says: Because I heard from some of the professors at the university that the term "the Salaf" refers to the Companions only.
Answer:
That is incorrect. The term "the Salaf" refers to the Companions, the Tabi'un, the generation after the Tabi'un, and the preferred generations.
The best among you (are) the people (who belong to) my age. Then those next to them, then those next to them
خيركم قرني ثم الذين يلونهم ثم الذين يلونهم
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب حضور النساء المساجد وفضل صلاتهن في بيوتهن — islamhouse.com (1:06:24)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.