What is the ruling on claiming affiliation with the Salaf?
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The questioner : ... ؟
The Shaykh : Why do you insist on raising the name of the Salaf? This affiliation is one 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 is mentioned in the Noble Qur'an; namely His saying - the Exalted - :[An-Nisa 4:115] , Who are these people of 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: , and many people narrate it with the phrase: "The best of the generations," and we did not find a basis for this in many of the narrations we have examined and were able to judge the hadith to be among the mass-transmitted hadiths. In none of these paths does this famous phrase exist: "The best of the generations is my generation." No, rather the correct phrase 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 fifteenth century; so to which group do we belong? We have no group except this first group about which the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) testified to goodness and purification. So when - we are now speaking 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: We are Muslims; because in this case, we would have agreed to return to the Book of Allah and 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] .
The Shaykh : Why do you insist on raising the name of the Salaf? This affiliation is one 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 is 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 path of the believers
سَبِيلِ المُؤْمِنِينَThe best of people is my generation
خير الناس 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 المُؤْمِنِينَWe are now in the early fifteenth century; so to which group do we belong? We have no group except this first group about which the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) testified to goodness and purification. So when - we are now speaking 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: We are Muslims; because in this case, we would have agreed to return to the Book of Allah and 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:
but 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 خَلَقَهُمْ
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.