Questioner:
May Allah reward you with goodness. A questioner asks: Virtuous Sheikh, what is the Islamic ruling on affiliating oneself with the Righteous Predecessors (al-Salaf al-Sālih) and our saying, “I am Salafi in creed”?
Answer:
Affiliation with the Righteous Predecessors is obligatory, because the Righteous Predecessors are those who adhered to that which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was upon.
As for a person’s statement, “I am a Salafi”—if he intends by it to establish a political party (hizb) or to affiliate with a partisan faction, then we oppose political parties. We hold that the Islamic nation (Ummah) must be a single party upon the path of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his Companions.
However, if he means, “I am a Salafi,” in the sense that: “I follow the Salaf, and I do not intend to establish a party through which I declare anyone who opposes me to be misguided,” then this is the truth. All of us are Salafis. All of us ask Allah the Exalted to cause us to die upon the path of the Salaf; all of us ask Allah for that.
But as for establishing a party called “Salafi,” and another party called “Ikhwāni,” and another party called “Tablīghi,” and another party called this or that—we do not approve of this. We do not approve of this at all. Was there any factionalism (tahazzub) like this among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them)? Answer me. No, we say no. And we say: whoever has a claim other than that, let him bring it forward. The Salaf of this nation never divided into factions; all of them were upon the path of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), following his tracks outwardly and inwardly—in creed, speech, and action.
As for factionalism, we denounce it with the utmost denunciation. We hold that the Islamic nation must be a single party upon the methodology (manhaj) of whom? Upon the methodology of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his Companions.