‘I am a Sunni and I am not a Salafi.’

‘I am a Sunni and I am not a Salafi.’

By

Shaykh Salih as-Suhaymee

Translated by

Abbas Abu Yahya

The question: When this person begins Ruqiyah (reciting Qur’aan upon a person as a form of treatment) he says: ‘I am a Sunni and I am not a Salafi.’

The Shaykh Answered:

‘As for the saying: ‘I am a Sunni and I am not a Salafi.’ Then this statement is contradictory!

The Sunni O you Miskeen (impoverished person) is the Salafi, and the Salafi is the Sunni. Whoever distinguishes between the two then he has distinguished between two things which resemble each other; so the Salaf are the Ahl-ul-Sunnah and the Salafeeyoon are the followers of the Sunnah, and whoever absolves himself from that then he is not a Sunni nor a Salafi!

Just because some of the people claim Salafeeyah and they do not actually exemplify it, then this does not allow you to free yourself from Salafeeyah, rather it is obligatory upon you to honour yourself by ascribing yourself to the Salaf and to the Manhaj of the Salaf, since indeed ascription to that is obligatory.

Ahl-ul-Sunnah, the Salaf, the followers of the Salaf, the Firqat an-Najjeeyah, the Taifat-ul-Mansoorah, the Jamaa’ah, the Salafi and the Sunni, all of these mean one title: and they are the Jamaa’ah, and they are similar to those whom were upon what the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- and his Companions were upon.

So be a serious Salafi – be a serious Salafi, just like the Salaf used to say – a Salafi ascribing to the Manhaj of the Salaf in sayings, actions and belief.

And I believe that whoever brags with this type of talk (‘I am a Sunni and I am not a Salafi.’) is very far from the Manhaj of the Sunni which is the Manhaj of the Salaf.

May Allaah give everyone the capability to obtain beneficial knowledge and righteous actions. May Allaah send prayers, peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his Family and all his Companions.’

[Taken from the Shaykh’s lesson from the ‘Explanation of ‘an-Nasihah al-Waladeeyah liAbee al-Waleed al-Bajee Rahimullaah-’ end of tape one.]