What is Salafiyyah as a methodology, and what is the ruling on affiliating with it, and do we disapprove of those who do not affiliate with it?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you well, O honorable Shaykh: We want to know what Salafiyyah is as a methodology, and are we permitted to affiliate with it? And are we permitted to disapprove of those who do not affiliate with it, or who reject the term Salafi or otherwise? May Allah reward you well.
The Shaykh : Salafiyyah: It is following the methodology of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions, because they are the ones who preceded us and came before us, so following them is Salafiyyah.
As for adopting Salafiyyah as a specific methodology that a person claims exclusively for himself and declares misguided any Muslim who disagrees with him, even if they are in the right, and adopting Salafiyyah as a partisan methodology, there is no doubt that this is contrary to Salafiyyah. The Salaf all called for agreement and unity around the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and they did not declare misguided those who disagreed with them due to interpretation, except in matters of creed, in which they held that whoever disagrees is misguided. As for practical matters, they were very lenient in them.
But some of those who adopted Salafiyyah in our time have come to declare misguided everyone who disagrees with them, even if the truth is with the other party, and some of them have adopted it as a partisan methodology like the methodology of the other parties that affiliate themselves with Islam. This is what is disapproved of and cannot be accepted. It is said: Look at the school of the righteous Salaf, what they did in their methodology, and the breadth of their chests for disagreement where independent legal reasoning is permissible. Indeed, they disagreed on major issues, in creedal matters and in practical matters. You would find, for example, some of them denying that the Messenger saw his Lord, while some of them affirmed it. You would find some of them saying that what is weighed on the Day of Resurrection are the deeds, while some of them held that the doer is the one who is weighed, and some of them held that the scrolls of deeds are what are weighed. You would also see them disagreeing greatly in matters of Islamic jurisprudence, in marriage, in inheritance, in waiting periods, in sales, and others. And yet, they did not declare one another misguided. So Salafiyyah in the sense of
The Shaykh : Salafiyyah: It is following the methodology of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions, because they are the ones who preceded us and came before us, so following them is Salafiyyah.
As for adopting Salafiyyah as a specific methodology that a person claims exclusively for himself and declares misguided any Muslim who disagrees with him, even if they are in the right, and adopting Salafiyyah as a partisan methodology, there is no doubt that this is contrary to Salafiyyah. The Salaf all called for agreement and unity around the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and they did not declare misguided those who disagreed with them due to interpretation, except in matters of creed, in which they held that whoever disagrees is misguided. As for practical matters, they were very lenient in them.
But some of those who adopted Salafiyyah in our time have come to declare misguided everyone who disagrees with them, even if the truth is with the other party, and some of them have adopted it as a partisan methodology like the methodology of the other parties that affiliate themselves with Islam. This is what is disapproved of and cannot be accepted. It is said: Look at the school of the righteous Salaf, what they did in their methodology, and the breadth of their chests for disagreement where independent legal reasoning is permissible. Indeed, they disagreed on major issues, in creedal matters and in practical matters. You would find, for example, some of them denying that the Messenger saw his Lord, while some of them affirmed it. You would find some of them saying that what is weighed on the Day of Resurrection are the deeds, while some of them held that the doer is the one who is weighed, and some of them held that the scrolls of deeds are what are weighed. You would also see them disagreeing greatly in matters of Islamic jurisprudence, in marriage, in inheritance, in waiting periods, in sales, and others. And yet, they did not declare one another misguided. So Salafiyyah in the sense of