The Salafis in Yemen are commonly known as the people of the Sunnah and the community, so the two are synonymous names, with a comment from the Shaykh on this.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : And you as well.

The questioner : This was, I mean, a notice from you regarding the occurrence of the phrase "the people of the Sunnah and the community" in one of our questions.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : But, I mean, we have this in Yemen, and it seems to me that this matter is customary.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : We are known among the people as the people of the Sunnah.

The Shaykh: Okay

The questioner : So when "the people of the Sunnah" is said, it is understood to mean only the Salafis. "The people of the Sunnah" and "the Salafis" mean the same thing in the custom there. I believe this existed in the custom of the early generations. For example, we find Abu 'Uthman al-Sabuni (may Allah have mercy on him) in his book or treatise on the creed of the Salaf and the people of hadith; sometimes he expresses it as "the people of the Sunnah and the community" and sometimes as "the followers of the Salaf," and so on. So they seem to be names for a single referent. For this reason, we wanted to alert you that when "the people of the Sunnah and the community" appears in our questions, it is because we are known by this name in the custom there, and it means, or corresponds to, or is synonymous with, the word "Salafis" exactly.

The Shaykh : Very well, may Allah reward you with good. But in my knowledge, there are some schools of jurisprudence in Yemen that claim affiliation with the people of the Sunnah and the community.

The questioner : The Shafi'is, yes.

The Shaykh : And they are the Shafi'is. So when you say "the people of the Sunnah and the community," is it understood in that specific custom in Yemen that the Shafi'is are not included in that?

The questioner : It is not understood in the specific custom that the Shafi'is fall under this name. "The people of the Sunnah" means the Salafis exactly.

The Shaykh : Very well, and the Shafi'is...

The questioner : I mean, we do not have, I mean, like in the Levant, a Sunni and a Shi'i.

The Shaykh : No problem, may Allah bless you. Let us stay with you Yemenis. Let us stay with you Shafi'is. What do they say about themselves? What is the expression they use to describe their methodology in creed? Is it not "the people of the Sunnah and the community"?

The questioner : I mean, they might say, for example, that they differ. Their jurists, for example, the scholars among them, I mean, they generally claim affiliation with the Ash'ari school.

The Shaykh : Enough, may Allah bless you. Enough.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Enough, enough.

The questioner : Hmm.

The Shaykh : My question, may Allah bless you, do they not claim affiliation with the people of the Sunnah and the community?

The questioner : Yes, they claim affiliation without a doubt.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is the answer. So we want a more precise expression that is suitable for use in all the lands that gather them in the call to the truth.

The questioner : I mean, but in the custom, O Shaykh, in the custom in Yemen, when "the people of the Sunnah" is said, no one understands anything other than that they are the Salafis.

The Shaykh : That is not possible, O Professor. Since you acknowledge that there are Shafi'is and many Sufis, and these Sufis may be prominent in adhering to the Shafi'i school, and you know this best in your land, for the people of Makkah know its valleys best, these are also among the people of the Sunnah in their view.

The questioner : This is true, but they say, I mean, for example, in their minds, they do not say this verbally, that they claim affiliation with the people of the Sunnah and the community in the general sense. Because this name, as the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned in Minhaj al-Sunnah and in other books of his, he says "the general people of the Sunnah" and "the specific people of the Sunnah." And this name often comes in the speech of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, and he means, he said "the people of the Sunnah" and "the creed of the people of the Sunnah"...

The Shaykh : No, no, the dispute, may Allah bless you, is not about this. We agree on this. Our discussion now is verbal, not conceptual.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
Abu Malik: ... the expression of the Shaykh al-Islam, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.
Abu Malik: The general people of the Sunnah and the specific people of the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : is it
Abu Malik: This is not an expression he uses or intends to spread in the community as a formal name or definition for it, but rather he intends to distinguish between the committed and the uncommitted, the correct commitment and the incorrect commitment.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
Another questioner: ... with the Shi'ah.

The Shaykh : Please go ahead.

Another questioner : Is it that the Muslim Brotherhood... when we confront them in this matter, that Salafism is not the exclusive property of one group, it is not exclusive to one group. Salafism includes everyone, and they also claim to be Salafis.

The Shaykh : And Islam includes everyone. So are everyone Muslims?

Another questioner : But they claim, no... Muslims, as for Islam, everyone is a Muslim.

The Shaykh : That is not our discussion now...

The questioner : But they say, for example, that they are... Salafis. And Salafism cannot be named after a specific group as long as the others also have a Salaf with you.

The Shaykh : The discussion is not now whether everyone who says "I am a Muslim" is truly a Muslim or not. Likewise, it is not our discussion whether everyone who says "I am a Salafi" is truly a Salafi. Just now, Professor Abu Malik harped on about verifying this meaning in our starting point in our lives. Now, these people who say this word, in your opinion, are they truthful that they are Salafis?

Another questioner : No. They are not truthful.

The Shaykh : So what do we have to do with them, may Allah bless you? We want...

Another questioner : But you cut off...

The Shaykh : We want to spread this word coupled with truth. As for those who say that this word is not the exclusive property of a group of people, we wish this, but do they accept, as I said just now, do they accept to claim affiliation in their understanding of their religion and their Islam to the Salaf al-Salih? They do not do that. So let them say it, but the important thing is: do they couple action with speech, or is it just a word that its speaker says?

The questioner : I mean, the same objection could be raised against the phrase "the people of the Sunnah and the community," for example, when there is someone who says "I am from the people of the Sunnah" and he is not truthful...

The Shaykh : My brother, we raised it against the one who says "Salafi." This is not our discussion. Our discussion is what is the expression...

The questioner : The more precise one.

The Shaykh : The more precise one for the call to the truth, just.
Abu Malik: Our Shaykh, by analogy with the speech of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, we say to the brothers in Yemen, we tell them, the speech of the Shaykh al-Islam: Salafis general, general and Salafis specific.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : I have a statement regarding...