The Distinction Made by the Later Generations Between the Term “People of the Sunnah and the Community” and the Term “the Salaf”

The Shaykh : The term “the people of the Sunnah and the community,” my Muslim brother, means the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah in the terminology of the later generations. Today, in the Muslim world, the ruling belongs to the Salaf, not the later generations. So when you and I use the term “the people of the Sunnah and the community,” it has two meanings. The meaning for me and for you is that it refers to the Salaf. But the general Muslim public, for example, I am currently reading a book by Dr. al-Bouti, *Jihad*. This is a doctor who teaches Islamic sacred law at the Faculty of Shari'ah in the University of Jordan. He understands “the people of the Sunnah and the community” to mean the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah, and he rejects the Salaf and the methodology of the Salaf, and so on. And since we are religiously obligated to speak to people according to the capacity of their minds, it is not correct for us to use today a term that can be interpreted in two ways. Therefore, I answered you by following my own method to distinguish between “the people of the Sunnah and the community” and the term “the Salaf,” in a way that you did not distinguish before.
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Ah, so once this reality becomes clear to you, then it is obligatory for us to use the expression that the Shi'ah, the Rafidah, the later generation, and the Salafi all understand: that the Salaf is a known group that follows the Salaf, not the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah.
The student : May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.