Salafi movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The
Salafi movement, also known as the
Salafi methodology and the
Salafist movement, is a movement or
sect[1] within
Islam that takes its name from the term
salaf ("predecessors", "ancestors") used to identify the earliest Muslims, who, its adherents believe, provide the
epitome of Islamic practice.
[2][3] The popular
hadith that quotes Muhammad as saying 'The people of my own generation are the best, then those who come after them, and then those of the next generation,' is seen as a call to Muslims to follow the example of those first three generations, the
salaf.
[4]
The majority of the world's Salafis are from
Qatar,
UAE and
Saudi Arabia.
[5] 46.87% of
Qataris[5] and 44.8% of
Emiratis are Salafis.
[5] 5.7% of
Bahrainis are Salafis and 2.17% of
Kuwaitis are Salafis.
[5]
Salafis are the "
dominant minority" in Saudi Arabia.
[6] There are 4 million Saudi Salafis since 22.9% of Saudis are Salafis (concentrated in
Najd).
[5] The Salafi movement is often described as synonymous with
Wahhabism, but Salafists consider the term "Wahhabi" derogatory.
[7] At other times, Salafism has been deemed a hybrid of Wahhabism and other post-1960s movements.
[8] Salafism has become associated with
literalist,
strict and
puritanical approaches to Islam – and, particularly in the
West, with the
Salafi Jihadis who espouse violent
jihad against those they deem to be enemies of Islam as a legitimate expression of Islam.
[9]
Academics and historians have used the term "Salafism" to denote "a school of thought which surfaced in the second half of the 19th century as a reaction to the spread of European ideas" and "sought to expose the roots of modernity within Muslim civilization."
[10][11] However contemporary Salafis follow "literal, traditional ... injunctions of the sacred texts", looking to
Ibn Taymiyyah rather than the "somewhat freewheeling interpretation" of 19th century figures
Muhammad Abduh,
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, and
Rashid Rida.
[12][13]
Observers differ over whether Salafi are Sunni Muslims and whether they are Wahhabis. Self-described Salafis believe they are Sunni Muslims, while traditionalist Sunni critics claim that Salafis are the same as Wahhabis,
[14][15] a sect unto their own and different from orthodox (i.e. traditional) Sunni Muslims.
[14][16][17] The basis of this claim is that Salafis do not acknowledge or follow any of the four schools of thought (
Madhhab) to which other Sunni Muslims adhere. They have their own beliefs and laws, their own leaders and systems, a religion with strict and so-called extremist ways.
[14][15][16]
In the
Arab world – and possibly even more so now by Muslims in the West – the term
Ahl-as-Sunnah ("People of the
Sunnah") is frequently used instead, while the term
Ahl al-Hadith ("People of the Tradition") is often used on the
Indian subcontinent to identify adherents of Salafi ideology, though this term is used more often in the
Middle-East to indicate scholars and students of
Hadith). The
Muslim Brotherhood is differentiated from Salafi, allegedly because of its
religious innovations,
[18] but the group did include the term in the "About Us" section of its website.
[19]
It is often reported from various sources, including the German domestic intelligence service, that Salafism is the fastest-growing Islamic movement in the world.
[20][21][22][23][24]"
Salafi's want to go back to 7th century and discard the 14 century of religious and jurisprudence scholarship that accompanied social evolution in Muslim societies in the last 14 centuries.
MB/JI follow Qutbism and Moududism, both of which are variations of this Salafism. Yes they may not support violence or terrorism, but there is no telling what they might do if they grab power in an opportunity created by Indian terrorism in Bangladesh, like the Mullah's did in Iran. Egyptian MB started acting very authoritarian after they were elected, although I disagree with Sisi's removing them in a coup, that should have been done in an election.
The only Islam leaning party that I support is AKP of Turkey.
My stand is that it is up to the people to choose. People should be free to choose what kind of parties they support and become member of. I would not support restricting religion based parties just because Indians think it is dangerous for their puppet Awami League. But I will advise against people becoming member of and voting for such religion based parties, because I believe this is not good for the future of the Muslim world.
I would like to see people ship all forms of Salafism nonsense back to Arabia, where they originated and eventually let the whole world deal with this source of terrorism and retrograde ideas.
We need to follow the social development of Turkey and how it has built a vibrant, well developed and tolerant society and let this country lead the Muslim world towards unity and development. Petrodollar influence of both Shia and Sunni kind and their fitna among Muslim world should be a warning to the whole Muslim world and should show us what path we should not follow and what path we should follow.
