IS AS-SALAFIYYAH A SECT ACCORDING TO SHAYKH UTHAYMEEN?

One of the arguments used by Hizbi that mostly heard around the globe is that Shaykh Ibn
Uthaymeen considered Salafiyyah as a sect. To bring light on this issue, I am writing this
article and I hope that inshaAllaah this will strengthen the conviction of those who are in
search of the truth and for those whose hearts are sick ,may Allaah guide them before they
meet their end.
The following is the opinion of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen concerning As-Salafiyyah:-

Usage of the term Manhaj-Us-Salaf

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

[And what is right is that the door of Ijtihaad is always open which is called Usoul or Fourou.
But what is outside the Manhaj Us Salaf, is not acceptable at all.]
(KITAAB-UL-ILM)

Obligation of following Manhaj-Us-Salaf

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

[We should all repent to Allaah and we should return back to the Manhaj of our pious
predecessors.]
(NOURUN ALAD-DARB)

Using the term Salafi

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says concerning Imaam Ahmad:

[Imaam of the salafis]
(SHARH-UL-AQEEDAT-IS-SAFAARIINIYYAH PG 83)

Shaykh Ibn Saalih Al Uthaymeen says:

[If only, every time that we perform an action which is in line with the Shariiah, we could
feel that we are imitating the messenger of Allaah and his noble companions!

There is no doubt that a person will get a boost in his heart which will make him join the line
of the salaf, and therefore he becomes a salafi in his Aqeedah, in his action, in his behavior
and in his Manhaj.]
(ASH-SHARH-UL-MUMTI 4/195)

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

Concerning an error in Aqeedah, if it is an error that contradicts the path of the Salaf then
no doubt that it is a deviation, but we do not judge the one who makes this error as a
deviator until Iqaamat-ul-Hujjah1 is done on him.

If Iqaamat-ul-Hujjah is done on him and he persists in his error and his deviation, then he is
a Bidati in what he has contradicted to the truth, although he is a Salafi in the other aspects
of his Aqeedah.

Therefore, it does not mean that he is a Bidati in every way nor he is a Salafi in every way.
But it is described that he is a Salafi in what he is in accordance to the Salaf and he is a
Bidati in what he contradicts them.]
(KITAAB-UL-ILM, pg 199-200 Qno 98)
1

i.e. proves him his deviation

Obligation of walking on Al-Manhaj-Us-Salafi

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

[But these Ahlul Kalaam have repulsed people from the truth and from the Manhaj of the
Salaf which is simple.]
(SHARH KITAAB HILYAH TWAALIB-IL-ILM, PG 7)

As-Salafiyyah is Ahl-Us-Sunnah
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

[Ahl-us-Sunnah Wal-Jamaaah are the Salaf in Aqeedah. Even those who come after till the
Day of Judgment, if he is on the path of the prophet and his companions, then he is a Salafi]
(AL-AQEEDAT-UL-WAASITWIYYAH 1/64)

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

[ This is the Madhab of Ahl-us-Sunnah Wal-Jamaaah, Madhab of the pious predecessors :
Hear and obey the Amiir, do not disobey them in what needs to be obeyed, do not make
people bear any grudge against them and do not make people hate them. This is the
Madhab of Ahl-us-Sunnah Wal-Jamaaah.]
(SHARH RIYAAD-IS-SWAALIHIIN)

As-Salafiyyah is the group on Truth

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

( )
...
[Saying of the prophet (All of them will be in Hell Fire except one), this one group, we say in
a definitive way that it is Ahl-ul-Athar Ahl-ul-Athar is those who follow the Aathaar, they
follow Al-Kitaab, As-Sunnah and the sayings of the Sahaabah.

And this, it does not exist in any group except in As-Salafiyyah and Ahl-Us-Salaf, i.e, those
who hold tight to the path of the Salaf.]
(SHARH-UL-AQEEDAT-IS-SAFAARIINIYYAH PG 95)

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

,
[It is obligatory upon everyone to become Salafis. Not because it is a question of
sectarianism, no. Rather because it is the truth.]
(LIQAAH MAFTOUH)

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says:

...

[Al-Albaani is amongst the Ahlus-Sunnah who defends the Sunnah, and he is an Imaam in
Hadeeth. We do not know of anyone that equals to him in our time. .This person, we know
him through his books and I know him through the number of times I sat with him. He is a
Salafi when it comes to his Aqeedah and his Madhab is correct.]
(FATAAW-AL-ULAMAA-IL-AKAABIR pg 7)

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen says 2:

[In regards to the nickname The talafis(destroyers) which he gave to the Salafis, I agree
with him on that. I say: The Salafis are the destroyers, but they destroy Bidah, they kill
every Bidah and they revive the Sunnah of the messenger of Allaah.

And how good companions and wonderful people are the salafis

But by (the term) Salafi, I am not referring to sectarians, rather by (The term) Salafi, I am
referring to the one who follows that which comes from the Messenger without any
question of sectarianism.

I outcast all forms of sects, be its colour or its name.

I say that this Ummah of Islam is one group alone.

)(
And whoever is an ally of Allaah and His messenger and those who have believed Indeed
the party of Allaah they will be predominant

The Party of Allaah comprises of those who cling to the Shariiah of Allaah outside and
inside, those who reject Bidah small or big, those who do not give importance to anyones
words in front of that of Allaah and His messenger, those who do not try to out head Allaah
and they do not raise voice against the messenger of Allaah and they do not give
importance to the words of anyone amongst the creations in front of that of the messenger
of Allaah.

This party, is the party of Allaah, the Salafi and the Athari, it is obligatory to be part of that
party and those fake groups which are a burden to Islaam, it is obligatory that all these
groups melt in the crucible of Allaahs party.

By (the term) Hizbullaah, I am not referring to anyone except to those who are on Ahl-UsSunnah Wal Jamaaah. As for the others, they are not the party of Allaah, even if they call
themselves Hizbullaah.]

Shaykh Uthaymeen says that the Salafi is a sect?

In the past, many groups have appeared; Khawaarij, Mu'tazilah, Jahmiyyah and Raafidah.
Then there appeared, later on Ikhwanis, Salafis, Tablighis, and all those like them.

"
"

Put all of them to one side and take [the path] ahead which is what the Prophet
guided to. "Adhere to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs."

) (
No doubt, it is obligatory for all Muslims to adopt the way of the salaf as their madhhab, not
affiliation to a specific party (hizb) named, "The Salafis". It is obligatory for the Islamic
Ummah to adopt the way of the salaf as-salih as their madhhab, not bigotry to those called
"the salafis".

()

There is the way of the salaf, and there is a party (hizb) called "the salafis". What is the
objective? Following the Salaf. Why? The salafi brothers are the closest sect to that which is
right, no doubt.

but their problem is the same as others, that some of these sects declare others as being
misguided, they declare them to be innovators and sinners.

We do not censure this, if they deserve it, but we censure the way in which the bidah are
being handled.



It is obligatory for the leaders of these sects to get together and say, Between us is the
book of Allah, and the Sunnah of His messenger, so lets us judge by them and not according
to desires, opinions and not according to personalities.

Everyone makes mistakes and achieves correctness no matter what he has reached with
regards to knowledge and worship. Infallibility is [only] in the religion of Islam."

In this hadeeth the Prophet advised to walk on the right path on which
anyone will remain in safety and that he doesn't affiliate himself to any sect but only the
way of the salaf as-salih, to the Sunnah of our Prophet and the rightly
guided caliphs.

(SHARH AL-ARBAIIN AN-NAWAWIYYAH, pg 282)

Answer:
(1)
Firstly, it is important for us to remember that an Aalim, no matter how powerful he is, he
remains a human being and therefore he is bent to err and when he errs we do not follow
him in his error.
Reported by Ziyaad Ibn Hudayr:

[Umar asked me:

Do you know which thing will demolish Islaam?
I replied:
No
He said:
A mistake made by a scholar, the discussion of a hypocrite in regarding Quraan and the
ruling of deviant leaders]

(DAARMI 220)

(2)
Secondly, its good that we remind ourselves that the speech of an Aalim in and out of itself
is not a proof that we can use to accept and deny something in the religion of Islaam. Proof
is Allaahs speech and that of His messenger. As for the speech of an Aalim, we use it to
show that our Ulamaa are those who are following Quraan and Hadeeth and are not those
who speak in ignorance. But when an Aalim happens to say something that contradicts the
Quraan and Hadeeth, we are not supposed to cling to that saying.
(3)
You, who are using a saying of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, if you would ask Shaykh Ibn
Uthaymeen:
What is the deviation of Khawaarij, Mutazilah, Jahmiyyah and Raafidah ?, you already
know what the answer will be. But if you would ask Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen: What is the
deviation of the Salafis?, what answer do you expect from his side?
If you say that the possible answer would be that the Salafis make the same mistakes as the
deviated sects, the question that arises is:
Is it because of these mistakes that we consider the Salafi as a sect similar to the other sects,
or we say that the Salafi must avoid the mistakes of the deviated sects?

(4)
You who are using the saying of Shaykh Uthaymeen where he says that it is obligatory to
follow the Salaf,
If we ask you:
Do the Salafis follow any other path than that of the Salaf? , what will be your answer?
(5)
According to Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, we must follow the path of the Salaf and not that we
stick to a group who call themselves Salafi. This saying is true for those who happen to limit
As-Salafiyyah to specific individuals. But as for those who say that whoever follows the path
of the salaf is a Salafi, then the saying of Shaykh Uthaymeen does not apply to them.
Therefore, if some Salafis happen to err and since every human being is bent to err, that
does not imply that Salafi is a deviated sect.
Ali Hassan says:

[Anyone who has understood his Deen like the pious predecessors did, he is a Salafi.]
(AS-SALAFIYYAH LIMAAZAA PG 67)

(6)
According to Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, the group which is closer to the truth is the Salafi. This
saying can be interpreted in two ways:
1. Either we say that there is a group which is on the truth and then we have the Salafis as
second group which is closer to the truth.
2. Or we say that the Salafis are the group which is on right path, but they make mistakes
that contradict the truth.
If you interpret the saying of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in the first way, we ask you:
Which group is hence considered as upon truth and bearing in mind that other places (as
stated in the beginning) Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen did consider Salafi as being upon truth?
If you interpret the saying of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen in the second way, we say:
Yes we agree that we happen to make mistakes but truth is that Salafi is on true path.
(7)
If you came across a saying where Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen is condemning Salafis for the
mistakes they make, we also have other sayings where he is considering the Salafis as a
group on truth. What makes you take one saying and reject other sayings on that same
subject?

(8)
If you came across a saying where Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen is condemning Salafis for the
mistakes they make, we have the sayings of the other Shaykhs who are considering the
Salafis as a group upon truth. Why do you take a saying of one Aalim and you reject the
sayings of the other Ulaama?
Shaykh Ibn Baaz says:

[At-Twaa-ifat-ul-Mansourah (the victorious party) is itself Al-Firqat-un-Naajiyah (the saved
party). These two are only one group. They are Ahl-Us-Sunnah Wal Jamaaah, they are the
Salafi.]
(AL-AJWIBAT-UL-MUFIIDAH 75)

Shaykh Saalih Al Fawzaan says:

The Salafi Jamaaah is the only group which is on the true path; we must follow it, follow its
Manhaj, join ourselves to it and do jihaad along with it. Apart from this Jamaaah, a muslim
must not join any other, because they are the deviated sects.]
(AL-MUNTAQAA)

Shaykh Ahmad An-Najmi says:

[Those who follow As-Salafiyyah are those who are on the truth, there is none apart them,
because their Imam is the messenger of Allaah.]
(AL-FATAWAL JALIYYAH 2/140)

Shaykh Muqbil Al-Waadiee says:

[The Dawah of Ahl-us-Sunnah As-Salafiyyah is the truth. Apart from that, the other Dawah
are upon Bidah.]
(AL-BASHAAIR, PG 91)

(9)
Thursday the 20th Dhul Hijj 1413 H, there was a program held at Jeddah in which Shaykh Ibn
Uthaymeen and Shaykh Rabee were invited. In this program, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen said
that all Muslims must unite as a single group and that we must not divide ourselves by
saying: He is Ikhwani, He is Salafi and He is Tablighi!
After Shaykh Uthaymeen has spoken, Shaykh Rabee spoke and he showed that which
Shaykh Uthaymeen said is just theory and that in reality, only the Salafis are on the true
path.

Written By Abu Layla Shabbir

Translated by Ummu Ibraheem