Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Francesco Gabrieli, Arab Historians of 

the Crusades (Berkeley: University of California Press, 

1957); H. A. R. Gibb, The Life of Saladin (Oxford: 

Clarendon Press); Malcolm Cameron Lyons and D. E. 

P. Jackson, Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War (Cam-

bridge: Cambridge University Press); Amin Maalouf, 

The Crusades through Arab Eyes. Translated by Jon Roth-

schild (1984. Reprint, Cairo: The American University 

in Cairo Press, 1990).

Salafism

 

(Arabic: al-Salafiyya)

Salafism refers to a cluster of different Sunni 

reneWal

 

and

 

reForm

 

movements

 and ideologies 

in contemporary Islam. The term is based on 

the Arabic word salaf—the pious ancestors of 

the Islamic 

umma

, also known as al-salaf al-salih

(the righteous ancestors). Salafists consider these 

ancestors to be the Muslims who had lived during 

early centuries of Islam, especially the Compan-

ions of the prophet Muhammad (until 712), their 

Successors (the tabiin) in the second generation 

(until 796), and then the Successors of the Suc-

cessors in the third (until 855). Although some 

scholars mistakenly trace Salafism back through 

the centuries to these first generations, it is actu-

ally a modern phenomenon. Since the latter part of 

the 19th century, when they first appeared, Salaf-

ists have used the print and later the electronic 

media to promote their message that Islam, as well 

as Muslim society, is in crisis, having been cor-

rupted from within by backward-thinking 

Ulama

, 

s

UFism

, and spurious innovations (sing. 

bidaa

). 

Moreover, they maintained that Islam was being 

threatened from without by Western 

colonialism

and 

secUlarism

. In order to meet these challenges, 

Salafists have sought to restore Islam to what they 

believe is its ideal, pristine form. Their reading of 

the past, however, has been shaped by their pres-

ent circumstances and concerns.

Salafists are in general agreement that bring-

ing back the true Islam means to stop blindly fol-

lowing the rulings of the ulama of the traditional 

Sunni law schools and look instead only to the 

q

Uran

, the 

sUnna

 of the prophet Muhammad, and 

the example of the salaf. They have had radically 

different opinions about how to do this, how-

ever—a fact often overlooked by journalists and 

scholars. The modernist branch of the Salafis, first 

established in e

gypt

 by J

amal

 

al

-d

in

 

al

-a

Fghani

(d. 1897) and m

Uhammad

 a

bdUh

 (d. 1905), have 

seen the Quran and sunna in the light of reason, 

seeking in them spiritual inspiration and general 

ethical principles, as they believe the first Muslims 

had done. They have also accepted the author-

ity of these sources in matters of worship, like 

prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and the 

haJJ

. Matters 

not dealt with in the Quran and sunna are to be 

decided by the application of 

ijtihad

 (independent 

human judgment), which they were convinced 

would provide the community with the vitality 

needed to adapt to modernity. The other branch 

of Salafism is that of the followers of W

ahhabism

in Saudi Arabia. Indeed, they often prefer to be 

known as Salafis rather than Wahhabis, which is 

a derogatory term usually used by outsiders. They 

read the Quran as the literal word of God, and 

maintain that it, together with the sunna, should 

be the basis of the 

sharia

 (sacred law), which is 

to be strictly followed in all matters. They accept 

ijtihad, but interpret it conservatively. Wahhabi