Is the statement that every Salafi is a Muslim and every Khalafi is not a Muslim correct?

The questioner : Some of the brothers say that there is no one among the Muslims except a Salafi or a Khalafi. Either you are a Salafi, or otherwise you are a Khalafi. That is, an ordinary Muslim is not permissible. So please advise us?

The Shaykh : Clarify, because I am afraid the word may give a meaning perhaps more than what you intend. Does this speaker mean that whoever is a Salafi is the Muslim, and whoever is not a Salafi is a disbeliever?

The questioner : A Khalafi is not a Muslim.

The Shaykh : Answer my question. Does this, which I feared and therefore hesitated, mean that whoever is a Salafi is the Muslim, and whoever is not a Salafi is not a Muslim, but rather a disbeliever?

The questioner : Allah knows best.

The Shaykh : How? Allah knows best. You are the questioner! I want to answer you.

The questioner : That there is no one except a Salafi, so whoever is not a Salafi is a Khalafi and not a Muslim, and this is stated categorically.

The Shaykh : You have returned to my words that I was afraid of.
Al-Halabi : This word "not a Muslim"—Allah knows best who added it.
Al-Halabi : Our Shaykh, should I repeat it?

The Shaykh : Repeat it. I am afraid. Look, my Muslim brother, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith, and I hope that our enthusiasm as Salafis for the true Islamic call does not lead us to fall into what the Khawarij fell into, both in the past and in recent times, in saying that whoever is a Salafi is a Muslim, and otherwise he is a disbeliever. I hope we do not fall into this calamity that the Khawarij fell into, both in the past and in recent times, because it contradicts the Shari'ah, which spoke through the tongue of its Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): So whoever says "There is no god but Allah" is a Muslim, and it is not permissible to declare him a disbeliever except by something explicit that falls under the category of denying what is known from the religion by necessity. This is first. And second, after the proof has been conveyed to him, and not like this indiscriminate declaration of disbelief. We know today that there are many sects, and all of them testify with us that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and they pray our prayer, face our qiblah, fast our fast, and perform Hajj to the House of our Lord, and so on. And yet they differ from us in little or much, not only in the rulings called the secondary rulings, but also in many of the intellectual beliefs. And yet it is not permissible for us to declare them disbelievers. Rather, first, as a first step, we suffice by saying that they are in clear error. But error has degrees. Second, if the proof has been established against him by a man knowledgeable of the Book and the Sunnah, and then he persists between himself and his Lord in stubbornness and in denying the truth that has become clear to him, then he is the disbeliever. Because the meaning of "disbeliever," both linguistically and in the Shari'ah, includes the meaning of concealing the truth after it has become apparent. And for this reason, there is a verse in the Qur'an: So if the truth of one of the truths of the Shari'ah has become clear to him, and then he is stubborn and denies it, then he is the disbeliever. And we, as individuals, cannot judge that so-and-so is a disbeliever unless he explicitly declares with his tongue, such as saying, "What you say is true, but I do not believe in it." This makes him a disbeliever. Let us take as an example some of the known disputed issues, both in the past and in recent times. Some of the Asha'irah who deny the rising of Allah above His creation—do you know, this issue is necessary? These people are undoubtedly in error in their saying and their denial of the rising of Allah above His creation. But if you bring them the verses and the hadiths, they accept them, but they say, "You understand them in one way, and we understand them in another way." And so say about those who deny the seeing of Allah in the Hereafter, and the Mu'tazilah who deny this seeing and deny that everything is by divine decree. None of these people deny texts whose authenticity is certain, not only for others, but for themselves; it is not certain for them. So it was not the belief of the righteous Salaf to declare them disbelievers, but rather they declared them to be in error, and they declared disbeliever the one whose stubbornness and persistence in denying the truth became clear to them. So if we know this reality, we cannot say that whoever is a Salafi is the Muslim, and the Khalafi is not a Muslim. No. But we say, first, among these Khalaf, there are those who do not know what the Salaf is and what the Khalaf is, meaning their mind is empty and the call has not reached them as it reached us Salafis, as it reached us. And it seems to me that there is, in some Islamic countries, enthusiasm for the Salafi call that is emotional rather than scholarly. And therefore we must rein in our souls and not expand in applying the word "disbeliever" to others. Rather, deep in our souls, we praise Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that He guided us to this truth in which people differ. Then our position regarding others should be the position of the compassionate, like a doctor who knows the patient's illness; he is compassionate toward him because of his illness and tries to save him from it by every means he can. We do not make it a matter of war and fighting, because these are Muslims, our brothers, and they are sick. So it is upon us to help them with their illness and provide them with what will cure them of their illnesses.