The Ruling on Claiming Affiliation with the Salaf
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The Shaykh : ...Wherever you go, if you ask a person you do not know, "What is your madhhab (school of jurisprudence)?", what will he say to you? "Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali, Shi'i, Zaydi, and so on."
Now, why do you insist on the name of the Salaf? — and this is an affiliation that I believe it is not permissible for a Muslim to disavow — because disavowing this affiliation is among the acts of opposing Allah and the Messenger, which are mentioned in the Noble Qur'an, namely His saying, the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:115]. Who are these people on the path of the believers? There is no doubt that they are those about whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith, indeed the mass-transmitted hadith: . Many people narrate it with the wording: , but we did not find a basis for this in many of the narrations we have examined, and we were able to judge that the hadith is among the mass-transmitted hadiths. None of these paths contains this famous wording: . No, rather the correct wording is: Sahih al-Bukhari 3651. These are the ones directly intended by His saying, the Exalted: [An-Nisa 4:115]. We are now in the early part of the fifteenth century. To which group do we claim affiliation? We have no group to claim affiliation with except this first group, which our Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) testified to as being good and purified. So when — let us now speak hypothetically — when will the Muslims agree — and they will not agree! — to remove all these sectarian and ideological affiliations from among them? At that time, we will meet them on a common word, which is that we are Muslims; because in this case, we would have agreed to return to the Book of Allah, to the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, and to what the three generations testified to as being the best were upon. But will this happen? I do not believe so; because Allah says: [Hud 11:118-119].
Now, do you have anything else?
Now, why do you insist on the name of the Salaf? — and this is an affiliation that I believe it is not permissible for a Muslim to disavow — because disavowing this affiliation is among the acts of opposing Allah and the Messenger, which are mentioned in the Noble Qur'an, namely His saying, the Exalted:
And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers - We will give him what he has taken and drive him into Hell, and evil it is as a destination.
وَمَنْ يُشَاقِقِ الرَّسُولَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الهُدَى وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ المُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى وَنُصْلِهِ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَاءَتْ مَصِيرًاThe best of people is my generation
خير الناس قرنيThe best of the generations
خير القرونThe best of the generations is my generation
خير القرون قرنيThe best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter
خير الناس قرني ، ثم الذين يلونهم ، ثم الذين يلونهمand follows other than the way of the believers
وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ المُؤْمِنِينَbut they will not cease to differ. (119) Except whom your Lord has given mercy, and for that He created them.
وَلَا يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ إِلَّا مَنْ رَحِمَ رَبُّكَ وَلِذَلِكَ خَلَقَهُمْNow, do you have anything else?
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