Should we add a new qualifier to the term Salafi so that it does not include some of the partisans?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : The Shaykh (may Allah preserve you): I heard a tape of yours in which you were speaking with some of the youth. When they objected to you being called Salafi, you asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "I am a Muslim." I said to him, "A Muslim, a Shi'i?" He said, "No, a Sunni Muslim." I said, "Sunni means Ash'ari or Maturidi." He said, "No, a Sunni following the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih (the Pious Predecessors)." I mentioned this, and you said, "We will leave this long lecture. A Sunni Muslim following the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih, and we will say Salafi." Now, here, we know that the Salafi da'wah (call) involves things that contradict what the scholars are upon, and some of the Salafis adopt opinions that contradict what the great Salafi da'is of today are upon. So if we say here that there is a problem, some of the students say, "And if we also say we are Salafis, the term is not sufficient, because some of the Salafis do not adhere to the principles of the Salafi da'wah and contradict them. So we need a new qualifier after 'Salafi.'" And so on, every time something appears, we need a qualifier. And until when? Some of the youth object to or find difficulty with this problem. So how is the answer to it?

The Shaykh : Let me understand first, otherwise my answer is that some individuals who claim affiliation with the Salaf contradict them. So, like many Muslims who claim affiliation with Islam, yet they contradict it. Does Islam also need a qualifier?

The questioner : No, Islam does not need a qualifier.

The Shaykh : Let me understand now, and this is a general answer, like that.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : But what is the clear, evident problem regarding this affiliation? First of all, we want to clarify, as we have said in some gatherings, that there is a very great difference between affiliation with the Salaf and affiliation with other than the Salaf, whether they are from the followed Imams or from individuals who established parties or paths or the like. Affiliation with the Salafiyyah is affiliation with infallibility, whereas any other affiliation is not affiliation with infallibility. If this is an agreed-upon matter, and every Muslim must agree that the Companions, the Tabi'un, and those who followed them, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) praised them, and that all good is in following them and all evil is in contradicting them. Now, what is the exact problem? If some of those who claim affiliation with the Salaf al-Salih contradict the opinions of the famous scholars, and in my opinion, they may even contradict the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih upon which they were, what is the problem then?

The questioner : The problem is that if one says to a man, "You are a Salafi," and he says, "Yes, I am a Salafi," he is asked, "Which Salafi? Of what type of Salafi are you? Are you of the Salafis who work in parties and groups and have leaders, and do, for example, the pledges or bay'ah (pledges of allegiance) among them?"

The Shaykh : We remain here.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Is there in the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih this meaning attributed to a type of the Salaf today?

The questioner : This is contradictory.

The Shaykh : So this is not the name of the Salafiyyah in any way.

The questioner : Yes, this is contradictory to the Salafiyyah, but he calls himself a Salafi.

The questioner : Like the Druze, who call themselves Salafi. What is the effect of this?

The questioner : He is not saying to you, "Why don't we say 'People of the Sunnah' and not care about the Ash'aris and Maturidis who named themselves People of the Sunnah?"

The Shaykh : Because "People of the Sunnah" there is a common understanding, and we are obligated to speak to people according to their understanding. When I was well-remembered, when I was at the Islamic University, and I was singing about the call to follow the Salaf al-Salih, there were some of the youth who were enthusiastic for some of the parties, like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Liberation Party, and so on. So I was calling with this call, which a Muslim who is sincere to himself must be affiliated with, and not affiliated with anything else. He would say, "Okay, what is the difference between you saying 'I am a Salafi' and so-and-so saying 'I am a Muslim Brother' and so-and-so saying 'I am a partisan,' and so on?" I mentioned the difference mentioned earlier: I am affiliated with infallibility, with what the Salaf al-Salih were upon. This one is affiliated with a group that is a piece of the Muslim world today, and is not affiliated with the infallibility of which the three centuries were attested to be the best. That one is also affiliated with another group that is much less than the first, and in the existing world today, and so on. So there is a great difference between this affiliation and that affiliation. And this is if the Muslim wants to advise himself and fear his Lord, he has no choice but to distinguish between this pure affiliation and those affiliations which may contain what was not in the first era. So now, when I say this, he says, "Which group are you from, of the Salaf who take leaders and parties and pledges, and so on?" We say, if this is in the Salaf al-Salih, we say this is from the Salaf al-Salih. But if it is not, then claims, unless you establish proofs for them, are false claims. So the issue is not an issue of claim. And as I said earlier, all Islamic groups are affiliated with acting upon the Book and the Sunnah.The questioner : Yes.The Shaykh : So when someone says, "Why don't we suffice with this name?" we say, because what is common now is that all sects, whether they are close to the Book and the Sunnah or far from them, all of them say, "We are upon the Book and the Sunnah." But no one, by the grace of Allah the Exalted, can say, "We are upon the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih," except those who actually adopt the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih in call, knowledge, and conduct. So if someone says, "Which group are you from?" he looks at the Salafi Muslims. Let us say today, those who claim affiliation with the Salaf al-Salih. I see no difference between an individual or a group who is affiliated with Islam and knows of Islam only its name, and an individual or a group who is affiliated with the Salaf and is the farthest from the Salaf al-Salih. So the issue, Professor, is not in mere claim, but in establishing the correct da'wah upon what the individual or group claims. We know until now, if it is said "the Book and the Sunnah" or "we are upon the Book and the Sunnah," it is intended to mean two known schools from the scholars of kalam (theology): the Maturidis and the Ash'aris. The universities that do not teach according to the Salafi methodology still consider the sect... in the principles, that is, in the creed, the Maturidis and the Ash'aris are the People of the Sunnah and the Community. So as long as this name is applied to those who contradict, in much or in little, what the Salaf al-Salih were upon in methodology and creed, it is not befitting for us to use this, but rather to use a term that conveys the correct meaning. When I used the word "Community" in "Sunnah and the Community" with a correct terminology, we use this term that conveys the correct meaning from that phrase and distance ourselves from it, because they include today, perhaps not including those who adopt today the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih, and include those who are not upon the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih. And if the intended meaning of using words is to express the actual state of affairs, we are compelled to use this term. And I also remember that when I was discussing this topic with our students there at the university, I used to say to them, "Strip yourselves of affiliation with such-and-such a party and such-and-such a party, and strip yourselves of affiliation with such-and-such a madhhab and such-and-such a madhhab and such-and-such a madhhab." At that time, we say, "We are Muslims." But these names all represent division in the Ummah in thought and reality, and sectarian fanaticism. So it is not upon us if we say, "We gather these affiliations, all of these, in one term." No one of those, if he is a scholar of the truth, can dispute that the da'wah of the Salaf al-Salih is the da'wah of the truth. And we cite as evidence for that the well-known verse and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) and in the other narration which we graded as good, it is So we are commanded to follow the Book and the Sunnah and what the Companions were upon. As for the others, they do not stipulate this. So I said earlier, none of them say, "We are upon the methodology of the Salaf al-Salih." But everyone says, in the principles, "I am Maturidi, Ash'ari, Mu'tazili." In the branches, "I am Hanafi, I am Maliki, I am Shafi'i, I am Hanbali." And where is the madhhab of the Salaf al-Salih, which the Muslims agree upon according to the scholars unanimously, their saying?
"And all good is in following those who came before, *** and all evil is in the innovation of those who came after."
So, Professor, their raising these doubts has no place in grammar if the truth becomes clear. Yes.

The questioner : This confirms what you said regarding the issue of the creation of the Qur'an. When they said that Imam Ahmad held the position in this matter that it is not established in the Sunnah that the Qur'an is uncreated, his decisive answer to them was: "Be silent, and we will be silent." This confirms what you mentioned. May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : That is it.

The questioner : Now, may Allah preserve you, the fact that some Salafis differed on certain issues does not justify us in adding another qualifier to the name.