Salafi

Bismillah alrahmaan al raheem

Assalamu alaikum
The following article is neither an attack nor a "exposing..." article. It is simply my view on a group of good brothers who I believe in my limited knowledge to be making an error. I love those brothers and I really do respect them just as I love anyone who loves the deen of Allah.

My minor grudge is with the self-proclaiming "salafi" brothers. Salafi brothers claim to be followers of the as-salaf as-saaleh. as-Salaf as-saaleh are the good Muslims who came after the tabieen who came after the sahabaa who lived during the time of the prophet (pbuh). The prophet (pbuh) taught Islam to the sahabaa and the sahabaa taught Islam to the tabe’een and the tabe’een taught Islam to the salaf.

First, I know of no example of one of the salaf as-saaleh to title himself with a name implying that he is a follower of the tabe’een - let alone a group of the salaf. Neither do I know of one of the tabe’een to proclaim himself with a title implying he is a follower of the sahabaa - let alone a group of the tabe’een.

There is no doubt that the tabe’een and the salaf as-saaleh were good Muslims who worked and lived for Islam. We all learn from them and their writings, however Islam is not based on their jurisprudence.

There are two wahees revealed to the prophet (pbuh) from Allah. The Quraan and the wisdom of the prophet (pbuh). The wisdom of the prophet (pbuh) is what we know as his sunnah. Allah said in the Quraan:
"Nor doth he speak of (his own) desire
It is naught but revelation that is revealed"
[Al Najm 3-4]

Islamic jurisprudence has two more sub-categories which are used although these subcategories are also based on the Quraan and the Sunnah. These are ijmaa al sahabaa and ijtihaad. ijmaa al sahabaa is what the sahabaa agreed upon. Some Muslims I meet claim that ijmaa is not only for the sahabaa, but the ijmaa of the Muslims. This is due to the hadith which states that the Muslims as a whole will never agree on kufr. Therefore what the great majority of Muslims agree on (their ijmaa) must be the truth. I see both views as valid. Ijtihaad is the study and research of the Quraan and the Sunnah to reach an Islamic verdict. Only mujtahids are qualified to carry out ijtihaad. The four main schools of sunni Islam are the ijtihaad of mujtahids (al Shafee, etc.). These are the only methods of retrieving Islamic verdicts. As for followers, there are three levels; the mujtahid, the mutabi'i and the a'ami (or muqalid). The mutabi'i is the person who has gained important and general knowledge on Islam but not enough to qualify him as a mujtahid. Thus a mutabi'i follows mujtahids on different issues after learning the daleels
(evidences) of that mujtahid in that particular issue. The a'ami is a Muslim who has no deep knowledge in Islamic jurisprudence and thus follows one mujtahid and trusts him on his ijtihaad without knowing the daleel.

This basically sums up how Islamic jurisprudence is reached in one paragraph. Nowhere in here does anything relate to people other than the prophet (pbuh) and the wahees that were revealed to him except those mujtahids who reach their ijtihaad through studying the revelations. Now if there are two levels of Muslim followers (excluding the Mujtahids), this means ALL the Muslims from ahlul Sunnah follow the ijtihaad of a mujtahid and ALL mujtahids reach their ijtihaad through the study of the two revelations. With that, there is absolutely no space for a group to come out, calling themselves SALAFIS and proclaiming to follow as-salaf as-saaleh differentiating themselves from other Muslims.

Lastly I would like to make one thing clear. I am in no way attacking the concept of creating groups. Joining a group which you agree with is important and good for the ummah and yourself as an individual Muslim. However the group should have a purpose that makes it unique from other groups otherwise it creates un-needed divisions. To create a group with no particular purpose, with no particular difference between it and other groups, with nothing that makes it a viable group except for the title they hold as it is of the same concept as the rest of the individuals within the ummah, is just creating divisions with absolutely no point. You can create a group to, say, free Palestine if you see the other groups working towards that aim are doing it incorrectly. You can create a group to teach the Muslims Islam if you see the other groups working towards that aim are doing it incorrectly. But to create a group which only has one claim and that is to be following the ijtihaad of mujtahids means that the rest of the ummah which does not proscribe to that group are not following the ijtihaad of mujtahids, which is not only
incorrect, but also a very dangerous concept to be carrying.

I know several good Muslim brothers who claim to be salafies. I also know alot of good Muslims brothers who refuse to proscribe themselves to such a concept and I see no difference between them and the "salafi" brothers. Not only does the "salafi" proclamation does not make any sense, but it also causes un-needed divisions between ahlul Sunnah.

Please correct me if I said anything wrong or if I have misunderstood anything.
wassalam