Question:

What is al-Salafiyyah (Salafism), and who is their leader?

Answer:

It is an attribution to the Salaf (the Righteous Predecessors). The Salaf are the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and those who followed them in righteousness from the people of the three favored generations and those after them. This is Salafism. Affiliation with it means aligning with that which the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) adhered to, and with the way of Ahl al-Hadīth (the People of Hadith). Ahl al-Hadīth are the adherents of the Salafi methodology (manhaj) who traverse upon it.

Thus, Salafism is a creed (‘aqīdah) regarding the Names and Attributes of Allah, a creed regarding divine decree (qadar), a creed regarding the Companions, and so forth. For the Salaf believe in Allah—Mighty and Majestic—and in His Beautiful Names and Sublime Attributes with which Allah described Himself, and with which His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) described Him. They believe in them in a manner befitting the Majesty of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, without distortion (tahrīf), without exemplification (tamthīl), without resemblance (tashbīh), without divestment (ta’tīl), and without figurative interpretation (ta’wīl).

They believe in divine decree (qadar), both its good and its evil, and that a servant’s faith is not complete until he believes in the decree that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has ordained for His servants; as Allah, Majestic and Sublime, says: “Verily, We have created all things with Qadar (Divine Preordainments of all things before their creation as written in the Book of Decrees Al-Lauh Al-Mahfûz).” [Al-Qamar: 49].

As for their stance on the Companions, its meaning is the belief that it is obligatory to pray for Allah to be pleased with the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and to maintain the belief in their integrity (‘adālah), and that they are the best of nations and the best of generations. It is to believe that they are all upright, contrary to the beliefs of the Shia and the Kharijites, who declare the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to be disbelievers and do not recognize their due right.

Salafism has no leader except the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the Imam of Salafism and their role model, and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) are their role models.

The foundation and source for this is the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “The Jews split into seventy-one sects, and the Christians split into seventy-two sects, and this nation will split into seventy-three sects; all of them are in the Fire except one.” They asked, “Who are they, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “Those who are upon the likes of what I and my Companions are upon today.”

It is also based on his statement (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the hadith of Al-Irbad ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him), who described the sermon of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and noted that he exhorted them afterward with the fear of Allah, saying: “I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to hear and obey, even if an Abyssinian slave is placed in authority over you.”

Then he commanded adherence to his Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, saying: “Bite onto it with your molar teeth, and beware of newly-invented matters, for every newly-invented matter is an innovation (bid’ah), and every innovation is a misguidance.”