One who holds the creed of the righteous Salaf but is influenced by some partisanism: is he a Salafi or not?

The questioner : Here is a question regarding this issue. It concerns the Salafi who believes in the creed of the Salaf regarding the names and attributes, and whose methodology of evidence is the Book and the Sunnah from the outset, not following a specific school of jurisprudence or the like. However, in many places, he introduces his own opinion, independent legal reasoning, and what he perceives as a religious benefit, believing it serves Islam and elevates Islam, among other things. He justifies for himself forming a group, a party, a pledge of allegiance, or establishing an association that supports, strengthens, and deepens this partisanism in another way, whether openly or secretly. He sometimes disagrees with us regarding the rulers in some rulings, or with some groups or others. Does this disagreement between us and him justify saying that he is not on the methodology of the righteous Salaf, but rather belongs to the perishing sects that are not the saved sect, meaning one of the seventy-two sects, or not?

The Shaykh : The truth is that, as we observe in this time, there is excess and deficiency in answering such a question. One should look at the person and measure and weigh his words with the straight balance. If we look at some of the imams of the righteous Salaf and some of their opinions and independent legal reasoning, we will undoubtedly find in them some errors that contradict the correct Sunnah. However, as long as we know that they held firmly to the correct methodology—the Book, the Sunnah, and what the righteous Salaf were upon—disagreement in some details does not exclude them. For example, if a Companion said something and no one contradicted him, is it a proof or not? Some say yes, some say no. Such a disagreement does not exclude the one who differs, even if he is mistaken, from being on the methodology of the righteous Salaf; it does not remove him from that. Now, history repeats itself. Based on the degree of this person’s affiliation with the righteous Salaf, and his nearness or distance in realizing his affiliation with the righteous Salaf, it is said that he is with the righteous Salaf or that he contradicts the righteous Salaf. Therefore, it is not correct to make a general statement excluding one who declares, at least verbally, what he does not contradict with his actions. It is not correct to say that he is not a Salafi as long as he calls to the methodology of the righteous Salaf, as long as he calls people to follow the Book and the Sunnah and not to be fanatical toward any of the imams, let alone to be fanatical toward any of the paths, let alone to be fanatical toward any of the parties. But he has opinions in which he deviates in some issues of independent legal reasoning, and this is inevitable. The imams of the Salaf differed in some issues. But our concern is the principle: is he a believer in it? Is he calling to it? As we have said more than once, there is no group on the face of the earth today, at least among those who call themselves from the people of the Sunnah and the community, in which there is absolutely no one who says that the methodology of the righteous Salaf is an error. If he does not adopt it in practice, he still cannot say that it is an error. So, the one who calls to following the righteous Salaf in reality and in calling, and may contradict in some branches, we cannot exclude him from the affiliation he has declared, the affiliation to which he has declared his belonging, because of some contradictions. But these contradictions may be individual, meaning they affect his person or the individuals who take refuge in him, or they may have a great impact on society. Based on this impact, he is either distant from the methodology of the righteous Salaf or close to it. As for labeling individuals who call to following the Book and the Sunnah, and not only that, but also the methodology of the righteous Salaf, though they may contradict in some issues, we should not accuse them of contradiction unless they declare it explicitly. As has reached us, for example, about some of them, they say: "We follow the Salaf in their creed and in their knowledge, but not in their means." This is a fundamental contradiction of the Sunnah and the call of the righteous Salaf, and indeed a contradiction of the call of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who focused on the oneness of Allah in the Meccan period, as is well known. The other groups who say, "We are upon the Book and the Sunnah," do not focus on the call to the oneness of Allah; rather, there may be among them those who say that this call today divides and does not unite, and therefore it should be removed from the call now. These people are certainly not Salafis. If some people reach such a level of distance from the righteous Salaf, even if they claim in their speech and their call to be on the methodology of the righteous Salaf, it is merely a word they are saying.