Question:
This is a female listener from Riyadh with a group of questions. In her first question, she asks: “I hear about the Salaf; who are the Salaf, O virtuous Shaykh?
Answer:
“Salaf” linguistically means “predecessors.” Therefore, anyone who precedes another is considered a salaf to them. However, when the term “Al-Salaf” is used in a specific Islamic context, it refers to the three favored generations: the Companions (Sahaba), the Successors (Tabi’un), and those who followed the Successors. These are the Pious Predecessors (Al-Salaf al-Salih).
Anyone who came after them and followed their methodology (manhaj) is considered to be like them—upon the way of the Salaf—even if they are chronologically distant from that era. This is because Salafiyyah refers to the methodology traversed by the Pious Predecessors (may Allah be pleased with them), as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Indeed, my nation will split into seventy-three sects, all of which are in the Fire except one, and that is the Jama’ah (the main body of Muslims).” And in another narration: “Those who follow what I and my companions are upon today.”
Accordingly, Salafiyyah in this context is defined by its methodology. Thus, anyone who adheres to the path of the Companions, the Successors, and those who followed them in righteousness is a Salafi, even if they live in our current era—the fourteenth century after the Hijrah (AH).