The Shaykh’s account of the discussion that took place between him and one of the students of knowledge regarding the validity of describing any one of us as a Salafi, saying: I am a Salafi

The Shaykh : We met, but here is a final question, perhaps: Is it not possible to shorten—and you are the eloquent Arab man—instead of a person saying: I am upon the Book and the Sunnah and the methodology of the righteous Salaf, is it not fitting that we express this long sentence by saying: I am a Salafi? Many, even among the young Muslim Salafis, consider this description an innovation in the religion. And perhaps you know that one of the residents in those lands stated that whoever says: I am a Salafi, must be asked to repent, and if he does not repent, he is killed. Then it reached us, and I hope this report is a correct report, that he has repented and turned back from that word. Is this true?
The student : We heard of the retraction, did we not hear of it?

The Shaykh : Yes?
The student : I say: We did not hear of it, so perhaps Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has guided him.

The Shaykh : Did you hear of the first one, or not?
The student : We heard of it.

The Shaykh : You heard of it, ah, we hope that this news which reached us is true. The important thing is that this person who said what he said of this word and then repented from it—if Allah wills—he assumed that the Muslim saying: I am a Salafi, is like the other person saying: I am a Hanafi, or a Shafi'i, or a Maliki or a Hanbali, or I am a Muslim Brotherhood member, or a liberal, or something similar. They are never equal.