A Return to the Beginning: On the Obligation of Distinguishing Oneself by the Name "Salafi"

The questioner : In truth, I have no rebuttal or comment, but I have a difficulty regarding the issue of naming.

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.

The questioner : That is to say, for example, someone might say that when Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) came with his call, he found that this name was applied to the Maturidiyyah, the Asha'irah, and others. Yet, what became clear through the path of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was that he did not seek another name, for instance, but rather tried to clarify the truth and reveal that what these people followed was not in accordance with the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community. On the other hand, for example, I understood from this speech—and I may be wrong—that the reason we specified the word "Salafi" is that the phrase "people of the Sunnah and the community" does not represent or express the people of the truth specifically. For example, let us suppose that the term "Salafi" expanded in the future and groups were found claiming or appropriating this name while being contrary to true Salafism. In that case, would we say that we should look for another name, and so on?

The Shaykh : First of all, may Allah bless you. Our duty is to address our current situations and not to think about what may happen in the future, because we will say at that time, "Every event has its own story." But do you not agree with me that the phrase "people of the Sunnah and the community" is not like a name that is the original basis for returning to? The word "Muslim" is explicitly stated in the Noble Qur'an. Is this compound name, "people of the Sunnah and the community," likewise? The answer is, of course, no, is it not?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Well, if the matter is such that we are not originally obligated to adhere to terms that are not explicitly stated in the Book and the Sunnah, and we are now saying, based on the aforementioned explanation which is irrefutable, that the word "Muslim" today is not sufficient to explain the true belief of a Muslim, then another addition is necessary. The question now is: what is the chosen name to express this addition in the closest possible phrase? Is it "people of the Sunnah and the community," which was used in the time of Ibn Taymiyyah as I mentioned, or do we now need to draw the attention of the people of the Sunnah and the community to the fact that the true people of the Sunnah and the community are those who return to what the righteous Salaf were upon? What prevents the use of this name, as long as it expresses the correct belief by general understanding, since there is no one in these groups who did not understand that the intended meaning of "the righteous Salaf" is not our fathers and grandfathers, but rather the people of the three generations who are attested to as the best? I do not see that there should be any difficulty or hesitation in approving the adoption of this expression, which is concise first and expresses the truth of the correct methodology second. This is the first point. On this occasion, I clearly remember when I was a professor of Hadith at the Islamic University. You know that at that time, and perhaps still now, the university gathered about seventy nationalities. From that time and before, I was calling people to what we call them to today: following the Book and the Sunnah and what the righteous Salaf were upon. Some of the Muslim Brotherhood students objected to me, saying, "This name, this is an innovated name with no basis." I explained the call and arrived at this specific word, stating that it is the one that expresses the call to the truth. But I said to this objector...The questioner : ...or the one raising the difficulty, I said to him, "As a matter of debate and hypothesis, if we agreed with you to withdraw this word and not add to our saying 'Muslim' as our colleague said in the discussion, would you renounce your affiliation from the jurisprudential perspective—Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki, Hanbali—and from the partisan perspective—Muslim Brotherhood, Party of Liberation? When will you renounce these affiliations for which Allah has not sent down any authority? We renounce this designation, which conveys the true meaning, but we follow and remain on the original term 'Muslim.' Are you with us? You are the first to object. You are the ones who forced us to bring forth this name that expresses the call to the truth. This is a very important observation, because if we do not use the word 'Salafi,' we must use the phrase 'people of the Sunnah and the community.' We must use a word that expresses our belief in a comprehensive and concise phrase, as it is said. Do the others who affiliate themselves with other designations rise above these affiliations, even though they represent only a call attributed to a person or persons who are not infallible? As for our righteous Salaf, it is by the grace of Allah that they are infallible, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as you know, Especially since we remember, when we affiliate ourselves with the righteous Salaf, that at their head is our truly infallible Prophet. So I do not think there is any difficulty with this word, if Allah wills. Therefore, we hope to adhere to it in our call, if Allah wills.