Timeline of the Salafi Da’wah

Compiled by Abul Qayyim Faheem ibn Saul Lea

The Aim:

• The goal of this presentation is to give a glimpse of the isnad (chain) of this splinter movement called ‘The Salafi Da’wah’, ‘Ad-Dawatus Salafiyyah’, or quite simply, ‘Salafiyyah’. In theory, the name implies a return to the pure Islaam which was practiced during the time of the Propet صلى هللا عليه و سلم, his companions, their students, and their students. This time period is known as As Salafus Saalih (the Righteous Predecessors).

However, upon further investigation of the Salafi Da’wah, we find that there is a stark contrast between what they actually claim, and what is the reality. All of them claim that Salafiyyah is a connection to the Salaf, as we will present some examples from their own publications. This is taken from a pdf file on www.salafyink.com. The title of it is: ‘What Is Salafiyyah?’ The answer is by Sheikh Ahmad bin Yahya An Najmee , and when he was asked the question about what is Salafiyyah, he replied: “As Salafiyyah is a connection to the Salaf…” In another book entitled ‘A Brief Introduction to the Salafi Da’wah’, authored by JIMAS, they give a definition of who are the Salafis: “Why do we call ourselves Salafis? The name Salafi refers to the one who attaches himself to that group of people about whom the Prophet , peace be upon him, said: "The best of people is my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them (i.e. the first three generations of Muslims)." [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim - Mutawaatir] “

Another example is taken from www.salafipublications.com, in an articled entitled ‘The Salafi Da'wah with Respect to Other Jamaa'ahs’ by Shaikh Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaanee :”Salafee' is an ascription to the 'Salaf' (pious predecessors), so we have to know who the Salaf are and then what this ascription means and its importance as regards its meaning and implication. ..“ He further says: “…After this is understood, it is not possible for any Muslim but to be a Salafee, since we have understood that in attaching oneself to the Salaf one has attached himself to that which cannot err …” And yet, one more example, from the same website above in the section ‘On Ascription to the Salaf’, taken from a verdict of the Permanent Committee: "Salafiyyah is an ascription to the Salaf, and the Salaf are the Companions of Allaah’s Messenger …And "the Salafis" (Salafiyyoon) is the plural of "Salafi", which is an ascription to the Salaf, and its meaning has already preceded.” Notice how in all of the examples cited above, they all mention that Salafiyyah or Salafee is by either a connection, attachment, or an ascription to that early time. Question to ponder: How could one be connected, attached, or ascribed to that time period? Is it in the description itself, or is it by another means?

Connection to the Salaf, in order to be Salafi, is through the Isnad!

What is an isnad/sanad? Sanad- continuous chain of learning and

preserving knowledge through narration from generation to generation; this is how knowledge has always been spread in Islaam

Sufyan ath Thawri(161H/778CE)- known as Amirul Mu’mineen fil Hadith, said: ‘Isnad is the weapon of the believer’

Abdullah ibn Mubarak (181H/797CE) known as the ‘Imam of the Muslims’, said: ‘Isnad is part of the deen’

What is the Isnad of Salafiyyah?

• A deceptive one! In the same book ‘A Brief introduction to the Salafi Da’wah’, look that the chain they bring: Imam Abu Hanifah (150 AH), Al-Awzai (157 AH), Ath-Thawri (161AH), Al Laith ibn Saad (175 AH), Imam Malik (179 AH), Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (181 AH), Sufyan ibn Uyainah (198 AH), Imam Ash-Shafi'i (204 AH), Ishaq (238 AH), Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal (241 AH), Al-Bukhari (256 AH), Muslim (261 AH), Abu Dawood (275 AH) and others…and then they jump to Ibn Taymiyyah (728 AH), and his students: Adh-Dhahabi (748 AH), Ibn al-Qayyim (751 AH), Ibn Katheer (774 AH) and others. And then they jump to: Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab (1206 AH) and many of his students.

Wait a minute!!

• How did they go from Abu Dawood (275 AH) to Ibn Taymiyyah (728 AH), and his students??

• That is a difference of 453 years between the deaths of these two scholars! What happened to the rest in between, for example:

• Imam Tahawi (321AH) • Imam Abu Mansur al Baghdadi (429AH) • Imam Ghazzali (505 AH) • Imam Nawawi (676AH) • Ibn Daqeeq al Eid (702AH)

Produce your proof, if you are truthful!

Since we have established that Salafis have a missing link, a gap in their chain, we would like for them to produce a connected, attached, unbroken chain of knowledge being transmitted that connects:

• The 400 years between the Salaf (the first 300 years) and Ibn Taymiyyah (d 728 AH) and

• The 478 years between the death of Ibn Taymiyyah (728 AH) and Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab (1206AH)

Why Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab?

Look at just about any Salafi website, and you will find that mostly all of their foundational books are from Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, such as:

Kitab at-Tawhid (The Book of the Unity of God)

Kashf ush-Shubuhaat (Clarification Of The Doubts)

Thalaathat-Ul-Usool (The Three Fundamental Principles)

Al Qawaaid Al ‘Arbaa’ (The Four Foundations of Shirk)

• And others, but these are the main ones, as well as explanations of these books by their scholars

What about the books from the Salaf?

To their credit, they do reference books like: Usool us Sunnah by Imam Ahmad (241AH) Explanation of the Creed by Barbaharee (329AH) Aqeedah Tahawiyyah by Imam Tahawi (321AH) note:

they only suggest this one with modern day explanations from Salafi scholars

And a latter day book they rely on is Aqeedah Wasitiyyah by Ibn Taymiyyah (728AH)

• Question: Even though Salafis refer to selected books from the time of the Salaf, can they claim that these books have been taught and passed down from generation to generation?

The Sanad of the Salafis

Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab married his daughter to one of the sons of Muhammad ibn Sa’ud, and from that union sprang the Aalush Shaykh family, which is the religious branch, and the Sa’ud dynasty, which is the ruling branch. Anyone who has authority in Saudi Arabia stems from these two entities.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_bin_Saud#Alliance_with_Muhammad_bin_Abdul-Wahhab

The House of Saud

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/House_of_Saud_rulers.svg

This link gives the categories of all of the Saudi rulers, up until the present day

The House of Wahhab

• Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab

– Six sons: Hussain, Abdullah, Hassan, Ali, Ibrahim and Abdul-Aziz

• Sulaiman ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, was executed during the Ottoman Empire takeover in 1818; many other members of the family went into exile in Egypt, and some never returned

• During that time, some of the offspring of Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab came into contact with: Jamaluddin al Afghani, who lived in Egypt from 1871-1879

The Chain Continues

• Jamaluddin Al Afghani was the teacher of

– Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), the first one to use the term ‘Salafi’ Interesting point: In the Hans-Wehr dictionary, if you look up السلفية (pg 423), it is defined as ‘An Islamic reform movement in Egypt, founded by Mohammed Abduh’!

– who was the teacher of

• Muhammad Rashid Ridaa (1865-1935), who popularized the term the term ‘Ad Da’watus Salafiyyah’ in 1925, or 1343AH. Note that up until this time of 1343AH, more than a thousand years after the time of the Salaf, there is no continued documentation of anyone using that term to describe Islaam!!

Keep going……

Muhammad Rashid Ridaa had a magazine publication called ‘al-Manaar’. Who was influenced by this magazine? Shaykh Al Albaani!

“Then one day at one of the booksellers, I noticed an issue from a magazine called Al-Manaar amongst the books for sale so I bought it. In it I came across a piece of research written by as-Sayyid Rasheed [Rida]” Taken from ‘The Life of Shaikh Al-Albaani, In His Own Words’

“The point is that the al-Manaar magazine was the thing that opened the path for me to become engaged in the science of hadith” Taken from ‘The Life of Shaikh al-Albaani, Questions and Answers’

The Big Three

Shaykh Bin Baaz (d 1999) became the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia after Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Aalus Shaykh (the family that is the offspring of Ibn Sa’ud and Ibn Abdul Wahhab)

Shaykh Ibn Uthaimeen (d 2000) Shaykh al-Albaani (d 1999) These are the biggest three referenced Salafi scholars

today; if one doesn’t accept these scholars, he can hardly be considered a true Salafi!

Question: Which one of them have a continuous isnad that connects or attaches them to the time of the Salaf?

Where did it start again?

“Sheikh-ul-Islam acquired his primary education from his esteemed father at his native placeand was nurtured under his guidance. He was intelligent enough to memorize the Qur'an by heart at the very tender age of ten only. He read the books on Tafseer (exegesis), Hadith and Fiqh. From the very outset, he was greatly interested in studying the works of early scholars, particularly those of Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taimiyah and his noble disciple Allamah Ibn Qayyim.He went through all those books and well grasped the contents.” Taken from the biography section of Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab’s ‘Kitab at Tawhid’

Points to Ponder

It is said that Muhammab ibn Abdul Wahhab ‘read the books on Tafseer (exegesis), Hadith and Fiqh’. With whom?

It is said that ‘From the very outset, he was greatly interested in studying the works of early scholars, particularly those of Sheikh-ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his noble disciple Allamah Ibn Qayyim’.

Early scholars? Recall that Ibn Taymiyyah died in 728AH, Ibn Qayyim died in 751 AH, Wahhab died in 1206AH. Besides Wahhab taking the initiative to study their works on his own, where is the isnad between him and them?

Summary

Since we have proven that the Salafi Da’wah has its beginnings from the time of Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, who read the works of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim on his own, whose union with Muhammad Ibn Sa’ud established both the Saudi royal family and the religious authority continuously up until this present time, which became influenced by the reform movement of Jamaluddin Afghani, passed on to Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Ridaa, who influenced Al Albaani, then it is safe to say that the Salafi Da’wah is a movement that should rightfully be called Wahhabism!

Furthermore….

We did not wish to cause harm with this presentation, only to clarify matters, and we ask Allaah for safety. The Prophet said in supplication: "O Allah, show me the truth as the truth, and enable me to follow it. O Allah, show me show me falsehood as falsehood and enable me to stay away from it and do not let it confuse me, so I may be misguided."