Is it correct to say : ‘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-ulSunnah 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,
2rather 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 alBajee Rahimullaah-’ end of tape one.]

What or who is Salaf?

The manhaj (methodology) of the Salaf is to adhere to the Qur'aan and the authentic Sunnah as understood by the Salaf as-Saalih.
The word Salaf is a shortened version of the word 'Salaf as-Saalih', which means the 'Righteous Predecessors'.
It refers specifically to the first three generations of Islaam in which the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) described as being the best generations of Muslims. The first, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his Sahaabah (companions). The second, the Taabi'een (the followers of the companions). The third, the Tabaa'at-Taabi'een (the followers of the followers of the companions).
Generally, this term refers to all those pious predecessors who followed the way of the Salaf and who have preceded us in time. This is the true manhaj of Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamaa'ah.