Using “al-Salaf al-Salih (the righteous predecessors)” to Misunderstand and Misrepresent Islam

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Variations of the term “salaf” have become very common in Islamic religious debates. They are often used by those who associate themselves with this term to claim to follow the proper and undistorted understanding of Islam of the first Muslim generations, while they are equally used by others to accuse those claimants of being too strict, backwards-looking, and closed-minded.

The collective noun “salaf” means “ancestors” or “predecessors,” whereas the singular masculine adjective “salafī” identifies anyone who follows the salaf. These predecessors are also often referred to with the honourific expression of “al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ” or “the righteous predecessors.” They are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims, that is the generations of the Prophet and his Companions (ṣaḥāba), their Successors (tābiʿīn), and the Successors of the Successors (tābiʿīn al-tābiʿīn). This understanding is based on a ḥadīth that occurs in several versions in Bukhari, Muslim, and other hadith collections. This is one version of the hadith in Bukhari:

“The best of you is my generation (qarnī), then those who follow them, then those who follow them”.

This is another slightly different version:

“The best people are my generation (qarnī), then those who follow them, then those who follow them.”

The hadiths then go on to condemn the behaviours of following generations because they cannot be trusted, they give false evidence, and they do not honour their vows.

In modern Arabic, the term “qarn” has acquired the meaning of “century,” but old lexicons state that it meant various lengths of time including “generation,” “40 years,” “80 years,” and also an “unidentified period of time.” However, the context of the hadith is clear in implying the meaning of “generation.” This meaning is clearer in another version of the hadith which starts as follows, “The best of my nation is the generation “qarn” among whom (fīhim) I was sent….”

This hadith is taken to mean that the first generations of Muslims are the best Muslims. This is then understood to mean that whatever those early Muslims said and did, as recorded in the literature, represents the true Islamic teaching and practice. It is further claimed that these teachings and practices do not change, so anyone seeking to follow Islam properly must follow the words and deeds of the first generations. This has been the position of salafī groups over the centuries. They reject any practice and teaching that cannot be traced to the salaf, and they usually accuse its adherents of being misguided or even unbelievers.

The hadith literature has always been the subject of disagreement. It is perfectly legitimate to ask whether this is an authentic hadith or was authored and attributed to the Prophet after him. One issue I have with it is that it makes an unjustifiable sweeping statement about all later generations. Furthermore, it completely ignores the fact that much of Islamic law and other Islamic sciences developed in later generations, even if they used the Qur’an and the Sunna as their sources. For example, neither Shāfiʿī nor Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal belonged to those first three generations, yet they substantially contributed to the development of Islamic law. In fact, Shāfi’ī is often even credited with founding uṣūl al-fiqh (the sources/roots of Islamic jurisprudence). I should also say that there is nothing in the Qur’an confirming what this hadith suggests. I do not think this hadith is related to Prophet Muhammad. It is a forgery.

Ignoring the inauthenticity of the hadith, there is another problem with the way salafī movements have understood it. The hadith claims that the first three generations of Muslims were the best-ever Muslims, which might mean that there were the most pious, but it does not state that they have discussed and covered all aspects of Islam or that their understandings of certain Islamic practices were supposed to be eternal. None of this is even hinted at in the ḥadīth, yet this is how salafī groups use the concept of salaf. They take what the first generations have said and done as the first and last word on everything. While they accept that Islam is a religion for all times, they fail to realise that this must mean that while its principles do not change the way those principles are applied is bound to change with time, place, and circumstances. For the Qur’an to be a book for every generation, it must have the capacity to address new issues and challenges that did not exist in the past and allow adjustments to the law that may be needed.

Copyright © 2012 Louay Fatoohi
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7 thoughts on “Using “al-Salaf al-Salih (the righteous predecessors)” to Misunderstand and Misrepresent Islam

  1. You can understand why some people want to create such ideas. One important factor is their wanting to revert back to the original ways of how early Muslims used to practise Islam. But in doing so they believe that time should stand still and hence preserving the original practises of the early Muslims. The early Muslims lived and worked in and around Arabia, they did not have the mod-cons that we have today. Our Beloved Prophet loved camels and did not drive a 4×4. And so on so forth. The point that i’m trying to make is that in order for someone to claim that they want to emulate the ways of the most earliest Muslims; then they ‘The Salafis’ must give up the mod-cons and move to the Middle East and live in the desert.Throughout the history of Islam the followers have always developed themselves by studying the arts and sciences. Without many of these advancements we could not have understood what we know today. Primarily to confirm some of the things mentioned in the Qur’an. Knowledge cannot stand still, as it will always grow as we develop ourselves to better understanding the world around us. We can only achieve this if we move forward not by running backwards.Yes i totally agree with Brother Louay, the Qur’an also does not support such ideas and hence the hadith is a forgery. 

  2. I could not have said it better myself. The Hanafi school of law which is considered more liberal than the others are stuck with Imam Abu Hanifa’s “Hidayya”. Even the Hanafis adopted the notion of taqleed (blind imitation in my opinion) and have abandoned the concept of Ijtihaad (independent reasoning). Our religion has become stagnant and has not developed since before the industrial revolution. I will definitely subscribe to your page.

  3. SubhanALLAH, brother. I clicked on this page simply because the title stood out, however if your only intention was to belittle ahadith, then you should have said so much sooner. To claim this hadith to be a forgery is an insult to Bukhari and those alike in his field. There is reason why Bukhari and Muslim are highly praised in the field they worked. The work they did is extremely meticulous, so much so that if a single individual in the chain of narration is unknown to them they investigate and if the conclude that this individual is not know, or known to fabricate, or untrustworthy for other reason, or weak of mind, etc, immediately that Hadith becomes weak/fabricated and is completely rejected. This hadith in regards to the salaf is found in Sahih Bukhari. Would ALLAH, Who promised to preserve HIS religion allow the Hadith (a major part of Islam) to disappear. Much of the Quran would not make sense to the human being without these hadiths. In fact, they who preserved and had the Quran written are the very same people who narrated these ahadith. So the Quran is authentic but the ahadith are fabricated? Come on, brother, that’s not right. Don’t forget to assume the best of people. Now THAT advice is in the Quran.

    1. Thank you, brother Idil. There is a move to ”modernize” Islam primarily to avoid criticism from the dominant western civilizations and to emulate them as witnessed in the vicious and continuing assault on Islam following 9/11, apropos the war on hijab, gender roles in the family and society, sharia law etc. Calling any hadith from Bukhari, Muslim etc. as a forgery, fabricated or weak is the beginning of this process. It is a shock and awe tactic that will confuse many Muslims into thinking that it is now open season, and it is quite in order and acceptable to criticize any and all ahadith. Eventually this will of course lead to an attempt to “revise” the Quran Majid itself. Our aim as human beings is to be of right and proper conduct in the eyes of Allah subhannahu wa ta’ala and not to seek the approval of human beings.

      1. Salam AbdulHakim Mohamed,

        You need to learn about the history of Qur’anic, ḥadīth, and other Islamic sciences before you accuse those who exercise ijtihad of being ill-intentioned. All Islamic sciences were developed by scholars who exercised ijtihad. This is a basic historical fact that every reasonable, rational, and fair-minded person has to accept regardless of their beliefs. You cannot claim to protect the present by betraying history or being ignorant of it. This is already mentioned in the article and my other comment but you have conveniently chosen to ignore it.

        The popular claim that rejecting the authenticity of certain ḥadīths is the beginning of revising the Qur’an is absurd, not least because history has proved this century after century.

        If you fear for your faith if some ḥadīths in a humanly compiled listing are criticised then the problem is not in the critics; it is in your faith. You need to address that internal weakness first, and then you may be able to address the needs of others.

        If you want to preach to the public, you need to use facts, speak logically, and know what you are talking about. One thing that you must never do is attack the intention of those whom you happen to dislike their opinions. Do not pretend to know what is inside the hearts of people. In Islam, this is a very serious claim. Since you claim to defend Ḥadīth and scholars like Bukhārī and Mulsim, this is one ḥadīth reported by Muslim that you need to learn and remember. Usāma bin Zaid was once in a raid when an enemy said “la ilāha illā Allah” yet he still went ahead and killed him. When he told the Prophet (PBUH), he said, “Did you kill him even though he said ‘“la ilāha illā Allah”’? Usāma replied, “he said it out of fear of the weapon”. The Prophet (PBUH) replied repeatedly and admonishingly, “Did you open his heart to find out whether it (the heart) said it?”

  4. Dear brother Idil,

    Thank you for reading the article and your thoughts. There are a lot of Muslims who consider any attempt to critique the Hadith collections by Bukhari and Muslim to be insulting to these scholars. Islamic literature, including the collection of Hadith, developed as a result of scholars exchanging views, agreeing and disagreeing on things. Disagreement is not insulting.

    Furthermore, Bukhari and Muslim invested huge efforts in writing their respective collections of Hadith and, no question, they tried their best. But they were human being who were not infallible. Any halo of inerrability around them is unjustified.

    You are equating good intention and reliability. Of course, Bukhari, Muslims, and numerous other scholars were well-intentioned, but this is no guarantee of perfection.

    If you read more about the history of the science of Hadith, and indeed other Islamic sciences, you will see that much of it reflects “ijtihad (personal reasoning)”, so a scholar’s finding may or may not be correct or even accurate. Muslims scholars of the early centuries were very far more accommodating of different views, which is why Islamic civilisation prospered. Unfortunately, this open-mindedness and humility was later replace by closed-mindedness, arrogance, and rigidity, which is why the Islamic Umma moved from leading the world to being in this wretched state.

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