Is believing that the methodology of the Salafi is the methodology of the Victorious Group and the Saved Sect considered one of the self-praisings that are prohibited?

The questioner : Teacher, is believing that the methodology of the Salafi is the methodology of the Victorious Group and the Saved Sect considered one of the self-praisings that are prohibited?

The Shaykh : Glory be to Allah, this question is a response to the previous question, which indicates that he meansThe questioner : that these people, unfortunately, have no knowledge at all. I wonder, if a person said about himself, "I am a Muslim," would they raise this question?

The questioner : Would they not raise it?

The Shaykh : As for them, they would raise it.

The questioner : As for them, they would raise it.

The Shaykh : This example is enough for them to know their misguidance and their state, so what do you think if we develop the question to say: If a Muslim says, "I am a believer," we have three cases, all of them are Muslims. One says, "I am a Muslim." One says, "I am a believer." The third says, "I am a true believer." I wonder, did the first two praise themselves? We agree that they praised themselves. Is this praise permissible according to theseThe questioner : people who ask about the self-evident matters? It is permissible. We can move to the second type: A second Muslim says, "I am a believer." Is it permissible for him to say, "I am a believer"? Either he says it is permissible or it is not permissible, and in either case, we answer him.

The questioner : Please, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : If he answers us with the same first answer, saying it is permissible, that is a demolition of their question, but we will return and ask him about the third. Here lies the test and the difference. The third says, "I am a true believer." Is it permissible? I will say here that I am describing my state in response to their question, not agreeing with them. I say: No, it is not permissible for him to say, "I am a true believer." Why? Because the true believers are those described in the Noble Qur'an in many verses, for example, the beginning of the Surah of the Believers: and so on. So if the believing Muslim says, "I am a true believer," without a doubt, he has praised himself with what is not in him. But this which is not permissible for us is permissible for many of those who follow a school today in the creedal school called the Maturidi, and I mean by that the Hanafis as a whole, who follow Abu Hanifah in the branches of jurisprudence and follow Abu Mansur al-Maturidi in creed. And Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, like Imam Abu Hanifah, believed that faith does not increase or decrease. Faith does not increase or decrease. But he does not deny, in order to ward off a bad understanding or a fleeting thought, that good deeds are commanded and prohibitions are forbidden. However, he does not make good deeds part of faith. And on that basis, it is permissible for him, i.e., for the Hanafi, to say, "I am a true believer," because he means what is in his heart and does not mean what proceeds from his limbs.
The Shaykh: So the three types are permissible for these people to say: permissible, permissible, permissible. We say in the third statement: No. As for the first statement, if he means, "I am a believer," meaning with my heart and I have no doubt in my religion at all, this is a correct answer and it is not self-praise or praise, but rather it is informing about the reality. And therefore, this question, as we mentioned earlier, is like its predecessor; they are asking about things whose answer is self-evident, and they cannot contradict us in them. But they want, as it is said, "What is behind the dune?" They want to demolish the Shari'ah realities that we, the people of the Salaf, uphold. Yes.