Salaf (Arabic: سلف, 'ancestors' or 'predecessors'), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (السلف الصالح, 'the pious predecessors'), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (the Sahabah), their followers (the Tabi'un), and the followers of the followers (the Taba al-Tabi'in). Their religious significance lay in the statement attributed to Muhammad: "The best of my community are my generation, the ones who follow them and the ones who follow them", a period believed to exemplify the purest form of Islam. The generations of Muslims after the third are referred to as the Khalaf.
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👉 Salaf in the context of Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a Salafi revivalist movement within Sunni Islam named after the 18th-century Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. It was initially established in the central Arabian region of Najd and later spread to other parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and was the official policy of Saudi Arabia until 2022. Despite being founded on the principles of Sunni Islam, the Hanbalite scholars Ibn Taimiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim in particular, Wahhabism may also refer to doctrinal differences distinct from other forms of Sunni Islam. Non-Wahhabi Sunnis also have compared Wahhabism to the belief of the Kharijites and loyalist monarchism despite the two belief systems being contradictory to each other.
The Wahhabi movement staunchly denounced rituals related to the veneration of Muslim saints and pilgrimages to their tombs and shrines, which were widespread amongst the people of Najd. Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and his followers were highly inspired by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya (1263–1328 CE/AH 661–728) who advocated a return to the purity of the first three generations (salaf) to rid Muslims of bid'a (innovation) and regarded his works as core scholarly references in theology. While being influenced by Hanbali school, the movement repudiated taqlid to legal authorities, including oft-cited scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim (d. 1350 CE/AH 751).
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Salaf in the context of Ijma
Ijma (Arabic: إجماع, romanized: ijmāʿ, lit. 'consensus', IPA: [ʔid͡ʒ.maːʕ]) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard it as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur'an, and the Sunnah.Exactly what group should represent the Muslim community in reaching the consensus is not agreed on by the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Some believe it should be the Sahaba (the first generation of Muslims) only; others the consensus of the Salaf (the first three generations of Muslims); or the consensus of Islamic lawyers, the jurists and scholars of the Muslim world, i.e. scholarly consensus; or the consensus of all the Muslim world, both scholars and lay people. The opposite of Ijma (i.e., lack of consensus on a point of Islamic law) is called ikhtilaf.
Salaf in the context of Istislah
Istislah (Arabic: استصلاح, lit. 'to deem proper') is a method employed by Islamic jurists to solve problems that find no clear answer in sacred religious texts. It is related to the term مصلحة Maslaha, or "public interest" (both words being derived from the same triconsonantal root, "ṣ-l-ḥ"). Extratextual pragmatic considerations are commonly accepted in Islamic jurisprudence concerning areas where the Qur'an and the practices of the earliest Muslim generations (Salaf) provide no specific guidance.
Istislah bears some similarities to the natural law tradition in the West, as exemplified by Thomas Aquinas. However, whereas natural law deems good that which is known self-evidently to be good, according as it tends towards the fulfilment of the person, istislah calls good whatever is connected to one of five "basic goods". Al-Ghazali abstracted these "basic goods" from the five legal precepts in the Qur'an and Sunnah—religion, life, reason, lineage (or offspring), and property. In this classical formulation, istislah differs from utilitarianism—"the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people"—because something that results in "the greatest happiness" may infringe any one of the five basic values. Rather than utilitarianism, Istislah bears closer resemblance to deontologicalism.
Salaf in the context of Salafi movement
The Salafi movement or Salafism (Arabic: السلفية, romanized: as-Salafiyya) is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "Salafiyyah" is a self-designation, claiming a return to the traditions of the predecessors (salaf), the first three generations of Muslims (the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the Sahabah [his companions], then the Tabi'in, and the third generation, the Tabi' al-Tabi'in), who are believed to exemplify the pure form of Islam. In practice, Salafis claim that they rely on the Qur'an, the Sunnah and the Ijma (consensus) of the salaf, giving these writings precedence over what they claim as "later religious interpretations". The Salafi movement aimed to achieve a renewal of Muslim life, and had a major influence on many Muslim thinkers and movements across the Islamic world.
Salafi Muslims oppose bid'ah (religious innovation) and support the implementation of sharia (Islamic law). In its approach to politics, the Salafi movement is sometimes divided by Western academics and journalists into three categories: the largest group being the purists (or quietists), who avoid politics; the second largest group being the activists (or Islamists), who maintain regular involvement in politics; and the third group being the jihadists, who form a minority and advocate armed struggle to restore early Islamic practice. In legal matters, Salafis advocate ijtihad (independent reasoning) and oppose taqlid (blind faith) to the four schools (madhahib) of Islamic jurisprudence.
Salaf in the context of Islah
Islah or Al-Islah (الإصلاح ,إصلاح, al-ʾIṣlāḥ) is an Arabic word, usually translated as "reform", in the sense of "to improve, to better, to put something into a better position, correction, correcting something and removing vice, reworking, emendation, reparation, restoration, rectitude, probability, reconciliation." It is an important term in Islam. The Islamic concept of "Islah" advocates for moral advancement through a reformation based on the rudimental standards of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Islah is characterised by an attitude of bypassing classical legal works in preference to literature from the early Muslim generations (Salaf al-Salih). Islahi ulema oppose taqlid, strongly argue for the necessity of ijtihad and are often referred to as salafis.
The word is opposite to the word Ifsad, another important Islamic term meaning "corruption". It is also used in politics (including as a name for political parties), and is also used as a personal and place name.
Salaf in the context of Tabi'in
The tābiʿūn (Arabic: اَلتَّابِعُونَ, also accusative or genitive tābiʿīn اَلتَّابِعِينَ, singular tābiʿ تَابِعٌ), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of Muslims who followed the companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and thus received their teachings secondhand. A tābiʿ knew at least one ṣaḥābī. As such, they played an important part in the development of Islamic thought and knowledge, and in the political development of the early caliphate.
The next generation of Muslims after the tabiʿūn are called the tābiʿ at-tābiʿīn تَابِعُو ٱلتَّابِعِينَ. The first three generations of Muhammad's followers make up the salaf سَلَفُ of Islam.