Salafists fail to stop Harlem Shake in Tunisia
At another school, south of the capital, the principal
banned a performance there, and angry students reacted by hurling stones at
police, who responded with tear gas.
When a dozen or so ultra-conservative Muslim youths, some of
them women in veils, showed up at the Bourguiba Language Institute in the El
Khadra neighbourhood of Tunis
One of the Salafists shouted "Our brothers in Palestine
Photo
Tunisians restrain an Islamist student who was part of the
group that attacked students of the Bourguiba Language Institute in the El
Khadra neighbourhood, a Salafist bastion, of the capital Tunis February 27, 2013 .
Salafist Muslims caused a fight when they tried to prevent the filming of the
global online buzz, but the Islamists eventually withdrew and the students were
able to film their production. -- PHOTO: AFP
Salafists
Violent tide of Salafism threatens the Arab spring
A series of repressive dictatorships have been brought down
in north Africa, but the ensuing struggles for power have left a vacuum that
has allowed the rise of an extremist movement that is gathering both force and
supporters
Late last year, largely unnoticed in the west, Tunisia's president, Moncef
Marzouki, gave an interview to Chatham House's The World Today. Commenting
on a recent attack by Salafists – ultra-conservative Sunnis – on the US Tunis
It appears that Marzouki was wrong. Following the
assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid last Wednesday – which plunged
the country into its biggest crisis since the 2011 Jasmine Revolution – the
destabilising threat of violent Islamist extremists has emerged as a pressing
and dangerous issue.
Violent Salafists are one of two groups under suspicion for
Belaid's murder. The other is the shadowy, so-called neighbourhood protection
group known as the Leagues of the Protection of the Revolution, a small
contingent that claims to be against remnants of the old regime, but which is
accused of using thugs to stir clashes at opposition rallies and trade union
gatherings.
The left accuses these groups of affiliation with the ruling
moderate Islamist party, Ennahda, and say it has failed to root out the
violence. The party denies any link or control to the groups. But it is the
rise of Salafist-associated political violence that is causing the most concern
in the region. Banned in Tunisia Tunisia
The Salafist component in Tunisia
It is not only in Tunisia Syria
In Egypt last week, it was revealed that hardline cleric
Mahmoud Shaaban had appeared on a religious television channel calling for the
deaths of main opposition figures Mohammed ElBaradei – a Nobel peace prize
laureate – and former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy.
In Libya US Benghazi
Among the countries which succeeded in removing their
authoritarian leaders in the Arab spring, Tunisia
In May last year, armed Salafists attacked a police station
and bars selling alcohol in the El Kef region. A month later, a trade union
office was firebombed. In September, a Salafist mob stormed the US Tunis
If it is difficult to describe what is happening, it is
because of terminology.
Although many of those involved in violence and encouraging
violence could accurately be called Salafis, they remain an absolute minority
of a wider minority movement that has emerged as a small but potent political
force across post-revolutionary North Africa .
Although the encouragement to violence from this minority
has been most marked in Tunisia Egypt
"We've already started to see real threats," said
Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Centre last week.
"There are many instances in Egypt
Last year, one Egyptian Salafi cleric, Wagdi Ghoneim, called
for a jihad on protesters against President Mohamed Morsi, a demand he repeated
this month. Another – Yasser el-Burhamy – reportedly banned Muslim taxi-drivers
from taking Christian priests to church.
Yasser el-Shimy, Egypt Egypt Tunisia Egypt
Most tellingly, two leading Egyptian Salafis last week
condemned the death threats against ElBaradei and Sabbahi.
A spokesman for al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya – which only last
week called for the crucifixion of masked Egyptian protesters known as the
Black Bloc – "rejected" assassinations as a political tool, while the
leader of the Nour party, Egypt
Nader Bakkar, a spokesman for the Nour party, said:
"The Salafis in Tunisia Egypt Tunisia
Bakkar also argued that Shaaban, the cleric who issued the
fatwa against ElBaradei and Sabbahi, had little currency in Egyptian Salafism.
"He doesn't have many followers," said Bakkar, who
claimed that Shabaan came from a school of Salafism that had preached obedience
to former dictator Hosni Mubarak, and whose reputation had therefore been
ruined in the post-revolution period.
The main Salafist political parties, which are represented
in parliament, have far more of a stake in democratic transition than in Tunisia Libya
In Libya
If there are differences between the strands of Salafist
extremism in North African countries, there are some striking similarities.
Like Egypt Tunisia West Point 's Combating Terrorism Centre,
"certain territories … have traditionally been more rebellious and religiously
conservative than others. Tunisia
And while violence – and the threat of violence – by the
"minority of the minority" of Salafis has the potential to disrupt
the post-revolutionary governments of the Arab spring, for the new Islamist
governments it also poses considerable political problems, which are perhaps as
serious.
In Tunisia
That has created problems for Ennahda, which secular
opponents suspect of secretly planning with Salafis the
"re-Islamisation" of Tunisia, not least because of the government's
unwillingness or inability to move against the most extreme Salafi groups.
Indeed, when an al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb cell was
broken up in Tunisia
The jihadist strand has recently been vocal in its
condemnation of the intervention by France Mali Syria
For Ennahda – as a number of analysts pointed out last year
– confronting extremist Salafist violence has become a challenging balancing
act. Fearful of radicalising the wider movement by cracking down too hard – as
the former Ben Ali regime did – it has sought instead to have a dialogue with
those renouncing violence by condemning the "rogue elements". This is
a policy that has led to accusations that it has been too soft or has secretly
tolerated violence against secular opponents such as the murdered Belaid.
As Erik Churchill and Aaron Zelin argued in an article for
the Carnegie Endowment for Peace last April, "this position opens the door
for secular groups to criticise … the ruling party's actions [as] evidence of a
double discourse – conservative in private and moderate in public".
In particular, Tunisia Tunis
Khademi's office vowed that several hundred mosques in Tunisia
Even MPs in Ennahda have recently woken up to the problem.
Zied Ladhari, an MP for Sousse
He said violent Salafism and jihadism "presents a
danger for the stability of the country", while non-violent Salafism –
"a way of life and literal reading of Islam" often "imported and
foreign to our society"– was something that Ennahda distinguished itself
from.
"The violent element must be fought very firmly by
police and the law," said Ladhari. "Then there should be dialogue
with the peaceful element, in the hope of evolution through dialogue. It's more
of a sociological issue than a political one."
He said social-economic issues and fighting poverty and
social exclusion were crucial. He said: "We have to deal with it seriously
and with courage, a drift must not take hold."
Selma Mabrouk, a doctor and MP who recently quit the
centre-left Ettakatol party in protest over the coalition's stance on the
constitution and power-sharing, said: "The problem is the violent strain
of Salafism, not the strain of thought, because we now have freedom of
expression, everyone can have their views."
She warned against an "ambiguous" stance by
Islamist party Nahda and the centre-left CPR in the coalition towards street
violence, hate speech and attacks which she said were going unchecked. She was
also highly critical of the fact that two Salafists arrested for the US
She said: "There is this ambivalent attitude from the
government, a permissivity on street violence on one side and, on the other
hand, indifference to prisoners and the hunger strike."
Additional reporting by Angelique Chrisafis
• This article was amended on 10 February 2013 . In the original a paragraph by the
writers was wrongly marked as a quote from Shadi Hamid. This has been
corrected.
What is salafism?
■ An ultraconservative religious reform movement within
Sunni Islam, which has received backing from Saudi
Arabia
■ It has incorrectly become synonymous with jihadi ideology,
however. Salafists – while extremely puritanical – reject suicide bombing and
violence.
■ A minority movement in Islam, it is growing and has become
increasingly politically important, not least in Egypt where Salafist parties
came second in last year's parliamentary elections to Mohamed Morsi and the
Muslim Brotherhood.
A Salafi (Arabic: سلفي)
is a Muslim who
emphasises the Salaf ("predecessors"
or "ancestors"), the earliest Muslims, as model examples of Islamic
practice.[1] The
term has been in use since the Middle Ages but today refers especially to a
follower of a modernSunni Islamic movement known
as Salafiyyah or Salafism, which is related to or includes Wahhabism (a
name which some of its proponents consider derogatory, preferring the term
Salafism), so that the two terms are often viewed as synonymous.[2] At other
times, Salafism is deemed as the hybridation between Wahhabism and other
movements which has taken place since the 1960s.[3] Salafism
has become associated with literalist, strict and puritanical approaches
to Islam and, in the West, with the Salafi
Jihadis who espouse violent jihad against
civilians as a legitimate expression
of Islam.[4] It
has been noted that the Western association of Salafi ideology with violence
stems from writings done "through the prism of security studies" that
were published in the late 20th century, having persisted well into
contemporary literature.[5] More recent
attempts have been made by academics and scholars
who challenge these major assumptions. Academics and historians use the term to
denote "a school of thought which surfaced in the second half of the 19th
century as a reaction to the spread of European ideas," and "sought
to expose the roots of modernity within Muslim civilization."[6]
Just who or what groups and movements qualify
as Salafi remains in dispute. In the Arab world,
and possibly even more so now by Muslims in the
West, it is usually secondary to the more common
term Ahl-as-Sunnah (i.e., "People of the Sunnah")
while the term Ahl al-Hadith (The People of the Tradition) is
more often used in the Indian subcontinent to identify adherents
of Salafi ideology, a term that is used in the Middle-East more
often to indicate scholars and students of Hadith. All are
considered to bear the same or similar connotation and have been used
interchangeably by Muslim scholars throughout the ages,Ahl
al-Hadeeth possibly being the oldest recorded term for these earliest
adherents[7] whileAhl
as-Sunnah is overwhelmingly used by Muslim scholars, including Salafis as
well as others, such as the Ash'ari sect,
leading to a narrower use of the term "Salafi".[8] TheMuslim Brotherhood includes the term in the
"About Us" section of its website[9] while
others exclude that organisation[10] in the
belief that the group commits religious innovations. Other self-described
contemporary salafis may define themselves as Muslims who follow "literal,
traditional ... injunctions of the sacred texts" rather than the
"somewhat freewheeling interpretation" of earlier salafis. These look
to Ibn Taymiyyah, not the 19th century figures of Muhammad
Abduh, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, and Rashid Rida.[6]
According to the 2010 German domestic intelligence service
annual report, Salafism is the fastest growing Islamic movement in the world.[11]
Etymology
The first generations of Muslims are collectively referred
to as the "Pious Predecessors" (as-Salaf as-Saleh),[12] and
include the "Companions" (Sahabah), the
"Followers" (Tabi‘un) and the "Followers of the Followers" (Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in). These are revered in Sunni
Islamic orthodoxy and
their example has been used to understand the texts and tenets of Islam
by Sunni theologians
since the fifth Muslim generation or earlier, sometimes to differentiate the
creed of the first Muslims from subsequent variations in creed and methodology
(see Madhab),[13][14] to oppose
religious innovation (bid‘ah) and, conversely, to defend particular views and
practices.[15][16]
Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies, states
that among Sunnis is "a strongly held view that temporal proximity to the
Prophet Muhammad is associated with the truest form of Islam." [17] This
veneration is based on a number of records of the sayings ofMuhammad who
said, "I am the best Salaf for you"[18] and, as
narrated in the Sahih al-Bukhari of `Abd Allah ibn `Umar, a companion of Muhammad;
"The best people are those of my generation, and then those who will come
after them and then those who will come after them..."|Sahih
al-Bukhari collected by Muhammad al-Bukhari.[19] Other
narrations indicate that there will follow people who will bear false witness
of Islam.[20]
Tenets
Salafis view the Salaf as an eternal model for all
succeeding Muslim generations in their beliefs, exegesis, method of worship,
mannerisms, morality, piety and
conduct: the Islam they practiced is seen pure, unadulterated and, therefore,
the ultimate authority for the interpretation of the Sunnah.[21] This is
not interpreted as an imitation of cultural norms or trends that are not part
of the legislated worship of Islam but rather as an adherence to Islamic
theology.[22] Salafis
reject speculative philosophy
(kalam) that
involves discourse and debate in the development of the Islamic creed. They
consider this process a foreign import from Greek philosophy alien to the
original practice of Islam. The Imam, Al-Dhahabi (d. 748H / 1348) said:
It is authentically related from ad-Daaraqutnee that he
said: There is nothing more despised by me than kalam. I say: He never
entered into kalam nor argumentation. Rather, he was a Salafi.[23]
Salafism holds that the Qur'an,
the Hadith and
the consensus (ijma)
of approved scholarship (ulama) along with the understanding of theSalaf us-salih as
being sufficient guidance for the Muslim. As the Salafi da'wa is a
methodology and not a madh'hab in fiqh as commonly misunderstood, Salafis
can come from the Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali or the Hanafi schools
of Sunni jurisprudence[24] and
accept teaching of all four if supported by clear and authenticated evidence
from the Sunnah. They support qualified scholars to engage in ijtihad in the
face of a clear evidence be it from Qur'an of Hadeeth as opposed to total blind
imitation (taqlid)
if he is qualified. Their views in theology are based on the Athari creed
as opposed to engaging in kalam, dialectics or any form of speculative
philosophy.
Salafism condemns many common practices as polytheism (shirk)
and tawassul of
religious figures, such as venerating the graves of Islamic prophets and saints or
using amulets to seek protection. They maintain that practices which are
understood to be bid‘ah or heretical innovations are not permissible
and should not be taught or practiced. Salafis believe that Islam's decline
after the early generations results from religious innovations and from an
abandoning of pure Islamic teachings; that an Islamic revival will only result
through emulation of early generations of Muslims and purging of foreign
influences.
Salafis place great emphasis on following acts in accordance
with the known sunnah, not only in prayer but in every activity in daily life.
Many are careful to always use three fingers when eating, drink water in three
pauses with the right hand while sitting[25] and make
sure their jellabiya or other garment worn by them does not
extend below the ankle so as to follow the example of Muhammad and his
companions.
Opposition to the use of Kalam
Salafi scholars are in staunch opposition to the use
of kalam,
dialectics or speculative philosophy in theology. This is because it is seen as
a heretical innovation in Islam which opposes the primordial aspiration to
follow the original methodology of the Salaf us-salih with
regards to Aqidah.
Statements of the early Imams of the early Muslims are in corroboration with
this such as Imam Abu Hanifa who prohibited his students from
engaging in kalam, stating that those who practice it are of the "retarded
ones."[26] Imam Malik
ibn Anas referred to kalam in the Islamic religion as being
"detested",[27] and
that whoever "seeks the religion through kalam will deviate".[28] In
addition Imam Shafi'i said that no knowledge
of Islam can be gained from books of kalam, as kalam "is not from
knowledge"[29][30] and that
"It is better for a man to spend his whole life doing whatever Allah has
prohibited – besides shirk with Allah – rather than spending his
whole life involved in kalam."[31] Imam Ahmad
ibn Hanbal also spoke strongly against kalam, stating his view that no
one looks into kalam unless there is "corruption in his heart,"[32] and even
went so far as to prohibit sitting with people practicing kalam even if they
were defending the Sunnah,[33] and
instructing his students to warn against any person they saw practicing kalam.[34]
History
From the perspective of Salafis the history of the
Salafi dawah starts
with Muhammad himself. They consider themselves direct followers of his
teachings as outlined in the Qur'an and Sunnah (prophetic
traditions), and wish to emulate the piety of the first three generations of
Islam (the Salaf). All later scholars are merely revivers (not 'founders') of
the original practices. Modern scholars may only come to teach (or remind) Muslims
of the instructions of the original followers of Islam, who based their beliefs
and actions on the Qur'an and Sunnah.
Landmarks claimed in the history of Salafi da'wah are Ahmad
ibn Hanbal (d.240 AH / 855 AD) who is known among Salafis as Imam
Ahl al-Sunnah,
and one of the three scholars commonly titled with the honorific Sheikh
ul-Islam, namely, Taqi ad-Deen Ibn
Taymiyyah (d.728 AH / 1328 AD) and Ibn al-Qayyim (d.751 AH / 1350).[35][36][37]
Early examples of usage
Some scholars, such as Ibn
Taymiyyah, have noted: "There is no criticism for the one who
proclaims the madh'hab of the Salaf, who attaches himself to it and
refers to it. Rather, it is obligatory to accept that from him by unanimous
agreement because the way of the Salaf is nothing but the truth."[23]
The term salafi has been used to refer to the
theological positions of particular scholars. Abo al-Hasan Ali ibn Umar
al-Daraqutuni (d. 995 C.E., 385 A.H.) was described by al-Dhahabi as:
"Never having entered into rhetoric or polemics,
instead he was salafi."[38]
Also, al-Dhahabi described Ibn
al-Salah, a prominent 12th century hadith specialist, as: "Firm in his
religiosity, salafi in his generality and correct in his denomination.
[He] refrained from falling into common pitfalls, believed in Allah and in
what Allah has informed us of from His names and description."[39]
In another of his works, Tadhkirat al-huffaz,
al-Dhahabi said of Ibn al-Salah: "I say: He was salafi, of sound
creed, abstaining from the interpretations of the scholars of rhetoric, believing
in what has been textually established, without recourse to unjustified
interpretation or elaboration.[40]
In his book, Tabsir al-Muntabih, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned the
ascription al-Salafi and named Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdillah ibn Ahmad
Al-Sarkhasi al-Salafi as an example of its usage. Ibn Hajar then said:
"And, likewise, the one ascribing to the salaf."[41]
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani also used the
term, salafi in describing Muhammad ibn al-Qaasim ibn Sufyan al-Misri
al-Maliki (d. 966 C.E., 355 A.H.) He said that al-Malaiki was: "Salafi
al-madh'hab – salafi in his school of thought."[42]
In the book Al-Ansaab by Abu Sa'd Abd al-Kareem
as-Sama'ni, who died in the year 1166 (562 of the Islamic
calendar), under the entry for the ascription al-Salafi he
mentions an example or more of people who were so described in his time.[43] In
commenting upon as-Sama'ni, Ibn
al-Athir noted; "And a group were known by this epithet."[44]
Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab
Main article: Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
Many today consider Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab as the first
figure in the modern era to push for a return to the religious practices of
the salaf as-salih.[45] His
evangelizing in 18th century Arabian
Peninsula was a call to return to the practices of the early Muslims.
His works, especially Kitab at-Tawhid, are still widely read by Salafis
around the world today, and the majority of Salafi scholars still reference his
works frequently.[46] After
his death, his views flourished under his descendants, the Al
ash-Sheikh, and the generous financing of the House
of Saud and initiated the current worldwide Salafi movement.[citation needed]
The vast majority of Salafis reject the Wahhabi label
because they consider it unfounded, an object of controversy,[47] holding
that Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab did not establish a new school of thought but
restored the Islam practiced by the earliest generations of Muslims.[citation needed] Followers of
Salafiyyah consider it wrong to be called "Wahhabis" as the 17th Name
of God is al-Wahhab ("the Bestower") and to be called a
"Wahhabi" denotes the following of a person other than what in
actuality is the believed following of the Qur'an and Sunnah.[48] Wahhabism
has been called a "belittling" and derogatory term for Salafi,[49] while
another source defines it as "a particular orientation within
Salafism,"[24] an
orientation some consider strongly apolitical,[50][51] and yet
another describes it as a formerly separate current of Islamic thought that
appropriated "language and symbolism of Salafism" until the two
became "practically indistinguishable" in the 1970s.[52]
Trevor Stanley states that, while the origins of the
terms Wahhabism and Salafism "were quite
distinct" – "Wahhabism was a pared-down Islam that rejected modern
influences, while Salafism sought to reconcile Islam with modernism" –
they both shared a rejection of "traditional" teachings on Islam in
favor of a direct, more puritan interpretation. Stéphane Lacroix, a
postdoctoral fellow and lecturer atSciences Po in Paris, also affirmed
a distinction between the two: "As opposed to Wahhabism, Salafism refers
here to all the hybridations that have taken place since the 1960s between the
teachings of Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhab and other Islamic schools of
thought. Al-Albani’s discourse can
therefore be a form of Salafism, while being critical of Wahhabism."[53]
The migration of Muslim Brotherhood members from Egypt to
Saudi Arabia and Saudi King Faisal's "embrace of
Salafi pan-Islamismresulted in cross-pollination between
Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab's teachings on tawhid, shirk and bid‘ah and
Salafi interpretations of the sayings of Muhammad.[54]
Contemporary Salafism
Salafism is attractive to its adherents because it
underscores Islam's universality.[55] It
insists on affirmation of the literal truth as understood by its apparent
meaning of Qur'anic scripture and Hadeeth,[55] yet
may challenge secularism by appropriating secularism's traditional
role of defending the socially and politically weak against the powerful.[56]
Connections to extremism
In recent years the Salafi methodology has mistakenly come
to be associated with the jihad of extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda and
related groups that advocate the killing of innocent civilians. These acts have
consistently been strongly opposed by Salafi scholars such as Sheikh Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani,
Sheikh Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen and
Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baazwho
had all issued fatawa (religious verdicts) forbidding suicide bombing declaring
the act as being totally haram (forbidden).
Sheikh Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani who
said; "We say that suicide operations now, in the present times, all of
them are without legislation and all of them are forbidden. It could be
that the person who commits it could fall into the category of those who remain
in the Hellfire forever, or it could be that he does not remain in the Hellfire
forever..."[57]
Sheikh Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen who said; "
...as for what some people do regarding activities of suicide, tying explosives
to themselves and then approaching Unbelievers and detonating them amongst
them, then this is a case of suicide, and Allaah¹s refuge is sought. So whoever
commits suicide then he will be consigned eternally to Hell-Fire, remaining
there forever, as occurs in the hadeeth of the Prophet, sallallaahu alaihi wa
sallam. (i.e., his, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam, saying, " and whoever
kills himself with an iron weapon, then the iron weapon will remain in his
hand, and he will continuously stab himself in his belly with it in the Fire of
Hell eternally, forever and ever." Reported by al-Bukhaaree, no. 5778 and
Muslim, no. 109, in the Book of Eemaan). Because this person has killed himself
and has not benefited Islam. So if he kills himself along with ten, or a
hundred, or two hundred other people, then Islam will not benefit by that,
since the people will not accept Islam... ... Rather it will probably just make
the enemy more determined, and this action will provoke malice and bitterness
in his heart to such an extent that he may seek to wreak havoc upon the
Muslims. This is what is found from the practice of the Jews with the people of
Palestine
Sheikh Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd Allah ibn Baaz who
said with regards to suicide bombings;
" ...such an act is never correct because it is a form
of killing oneself and Allāh subhanahu wa ta'ala says: < And do not kill
yourselves. [Sūrah al-Nisā 4:29] > And the prophet salAllahu 'aleihi wa
selim said: < Whoever kills himself by any means, he will be punished by it
on the Day of Resurrection.” [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 71, Number 670]
> The person should rather strive and seek to guide them and if fighting is
legalized and legislated, then he fights alongside the Muslims. If he’s then
killed in this way, then Allāh is praised. But as for killing himself by
booby-trapping his body with explosives, thereby killing others and himself,
this is wrong and completely impermissible. Rather, he should fight with the
Muslims only when fighting is legitimately legislated. As for the [suicidal]
actions of (some of) the Palestinians, they are wrong and produce no benefit.
Instead, it is compulsory upon them to call to Allāh by teaching, guiding, and
advising and not by such actions as these."[59]
The groups and individuals that carry out terrorist attacks
are regarded as being out of the fold of the methodology of the Salaf,
misguided and deviant; chiefly erroneous "Qutubi jihadism"
groups.
Trends within Salafism
Salafist jihadism was a term coined by Gilles
Kepel[60][61] to
describe those self claiming Salafi groups who began developing an interest in
jihad during the mid-1990s. Practitioners are often referred to as Salafi
jihadis or Salafi jihadists. Journalist Bruce Liveseyestimates Salafi
jihadists constitute less than 1 percent of the world's 1.9 billion Muslims (c.
10 million).[60] However
those who take their actions beyond the limits of the shari'ah (such as
terrorist attacks against civilians) are seen as deviant and not being true
"Salafis".
Madkhalism is a term typically referring to the
strain of Salafists viewed as supportive of authoritarian regimes in the Middle
East .[62][63][64] Originally
taking its name from controversial Saudi Arabian cleric Rabee
Al-Madkhali, the movement lost its support in Saudi Arabia proper when
several members of the country's clerical body known as the Permanent Committee denounced Madkhali
personally.[65] Influence
of both the movement and its figureheads have waned so much within the Muslim
world that analysts have declared it to be a largely European phenomenon.[65]
Salafist activism has sometimes been described as a
third strain of the global movement, being different from the Salafist
Jihadists by eschewing violence and from the Salafist Madkhalists by engaging
in modern political proceses.[66] Due
to numerical superiority, the movement has been referred to the mainstream of
the Salafist movement at times.[64]
Qutbism is a movement which has, at times, been
described both as a strain of Salafism and an opposing movement,[49] providing
the foil to Madkhalism in that the movement is typically found in radical
opposition to the ruling regimes of the Middle East .[62] Qutbism
has, at times, been associated with the above mentioned Salafist Jihadist
trend.[66]
Despite some similarities, the different contemporary
self-proclaimed Salafist groups often strongly disapprove of one another and
deny the other's Islamic character.[67]
Comparison with other movements
Main article: Islamism
Some Salafi Muslims often preach disengagement from Western
activities, and advocate being apolitical and being against any form of
extremism, "even by giving them an Islamic slant."[68] Instead,
it is thought that Muslims should stick to traditional activities, particularly
Dawah. Nevertheless, Salafis do not preach willful ignorance of civil or state
law. While preaching that the Sharia takes precedence, Salafi Muslims conform
to civil or state law as far as they are required, for example in purchasing
mandatory auto insurance.
Criticism
Salafism has been recently criticized by Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl of UCLA School of Law. El Fadl argues that the
Salafi methodology "drifted into stifling apologetics" by the
mid-20th century, a reaction against "anxiety" to "render Islam
compatible with modernity," by its leaders earlier in the century.[69] He
attacks those who state "any meritorious or worthwhile modern institutions
were first invented and realized by Muslims". He argues the result was
that "an artificial sense of confidence and an intellectual lethargy"
developed, according to Abou El Fadl, "that took neither the Islamic
tradition nor" the challenges of the modern world "very
seriously."[70][71]
Treatment of salafism in China
Salafism is intensely opposed by a number of Hui Muslims
in China, by the Gedimu and Sufi Khafiya and Jahriyya. So
much so that even the Yihewani (Ikhwan) Chinese sect, which is fundamentalist
and was founded by Ma Wanfu who was originally inspired by the Salafis,
condemned Ma Debao and Ma Zhengqing as heretics when they attempted to
introduce Salafism as the main form of Islam. Ma Debao established a Salafi
school, called the Sailaifengye (Salafi) menhuan in Lanzhou and Linxia, and it is a completely
separate group from other Muslim sects in China.[72] Muslim
Hui avoid Salafis, even if they are family members, and they constantly
disagree.[73]The
number of Salafis in China China
German government's statement on Salafism
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