Explore the roots of Salafism, its link to ISIS, and how the media often misrepresents this Islamic tradition. A deep dive into theology vs perception.
Abstract
This article critically examines the ideological origins and global perceptions of Salafism, especially in the context of the Islamic State (ISIS). It begins with the rise of ISIS in 2014, its territorial control, atrocities, and the subsequent international efforts to dismantle the caliphate. The article then explores how major global publications and scholars have linked ISIS's ideology to the Salafi movement, often misrepresenting Salafism as a radical deviation from Islam.
The author argues that Salafism, rooted in early Islamic history and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions (the Salaf), has theological legitimacy and should not be conflated with terrorism. The ideological foundation of Salafism, shaped by thinkers like Ibn Taymiyyah and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, emphasizes strict adherence to the Qur’an, Hadith, and practices of the Prophet’s companions.
The article critiques Western media for interpreting Salafism through the limited lens of modern jihadist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, leading to widespread misunderstanding. It calls for a new approach to Islamic studies—one that distinguishes between the behavior of present-day Muslims and the original teachings of Islam. Lastly, it poses critical questions about the difference between public perceptions of Salafism and Wahhabism, and the actual religious doctrines that define the ideal Islamic state.
In June 2014, a group previously known as the Islamic State, under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, established a caliphate over large regions of Iraq and Syria. In the beginning, they achieved significant victories, largely using American-made weapons. Two of the world’s major oil wells were under their control. They committed widespread atrocities, including massacres of non-Muslims, forced conversions, and rapes. The caliphate established by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) became a major global concern.
Now, with the help of countries like the United States, Syria, Turkey, Russia, and others, the influence of ISIS is being gradually diminished, and the caliphate is being dismantled-this is certainly a matter of relief. However, one of the key differences between ISIS and earlier terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda is that ISIS does not need to send trained terrorists from Iraq or Syria to attack America. Instead, a person already living in America carries out the shooting or killing, and ISIS claims responsibility. Several attacks in Europe illustrate this pattern.
Many European and American journalists and scholars recognized the grave threat posed by ISIS and began studying it. Articles were published in journals, and hundreds of books were written on the subject. In contrast, there was a noticeable indifference towards this issue in India.
As studies began to emerge on ISIS’s economy, brainwashing strategies, and history, researchers also started examining the ideological inspiration behind ISIS. Many journals and newspapers concluded that the roots of ISIS lay in the Salafi movement. In many ways, this is accurate. However, several commentators made critical errors in explaining what "Salafi" truly means. Even reputed platforms like Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, and The Economist were not exempt from this misunderstanding. And I will soon explain on what basis I make such a bold claim. For that, it's essential to first understand what Salafism really is and where it originated.
Salafism has often been misrepresented as a militant and jihadi distortion of original peaceful Islam. But we need to delve a little deeper into Salafism to understand it properly.
The Arabic root word Salaf means “predecessors” or “companions.” The term Salaf appears multiple times in the hadiths (sayings) of the Prophet Muhammad. It’s not always used explicitly as the word Salaf, but the meaning implies “companions” or “followers” who had the opportunity to live alongside the Prophet and directly interact with him. It is assumed that such people, having lived with the Prophet, had the most accurate understanding of Islam after him.
In one of the hadiths, the Prophet himself said: “The best people are those of my generation (century), then those who come after them, and then those who come after them.” This hadith is recorded in Sahih Bukhari (Hadith numbers 6429 and 2652). According to the Prophet, the three generations beginning with his own would be the best people to walk the Earth.
These three generations are referred to as the Salaf. Furthermore, the Prophet is also recorded using the word Salaf to refer to himself, as noted in Sahih Bukhari (Hadith numbers 6285 and 6286), where he says:
“So, be afraid of Allah, and be patient, for I am the best predecessor (Salaf) for you (in the Hereafter).”
This hadith shows that the term Salaf was used by the Prophet himself, emphasizing its significance in early Islamic thought.
Islamic scholars say that even when the specific word Salaf is not directly mentioned, many hadiths use terms that imply its meaning. These references are found within the hadith literature itself. Sunni Muslims consider hadiths to be sacred and central to religious understanding. There are six major hadith compilers who painstakingly collected and documented the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. These six are: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawood, Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Sunan an-Nasa'i.
Among these, certain hadiths recorded by Jami' at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah are especially noteworthy. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, “The Jews divided into 71 sects, and the Christians into 72 sects, and my ummah will divide into 73 sects” (Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2640). However, this hadith alone does not give complete clarity on the matter. Ibn Majah recorded two additional hadiths (Hadith Nos. 3991 and 3992), where the Prophet elaborated:
“The Jews split into 71 sects, the Christians into 72 sects, and my nation will split into 73 sects. Of these, 72 will go to Hell. Though they will not remain there forever, only one group will go straight to Paradise.”
The hadith further explains that those 72 groups destined for Hell will eventually be purified of their sins and admitted to Paradise, but only one sect will directly enter Heaven. This one group is referred to in the hadith as "the main body" of Islam.
Many Islamic scholars interpret "the main body of Islam" as referring to the Salaf - the earliest generations of Muslims who closely followed the Prophet and his teachings.
The transformation of Salafi into an -ism (Salafism) has its own distinct origins. In 1258 CE, the Mongol invasions led to the destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. Five years later, in the southern town of Harran, located in present-day Turkey, Ibn Taymiyyah was born. He went on to become a major thinker within the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence-one of the four main Sunni legal schools.
During the Abbasid Caliphate, Baghdad was an important city in the world. In his book Capital Cities of Islam, Professor Philip Hitti has presented the place of the city of Baghdad in world politics in great detail. The Abbasid Caliphate is also considered an incredible event in the history of Islam. The reason for this is the Mu'tazilite movement that emerged during the Abbasid Caliphate. In short, Mu'tazilite means a movement that gives importance to logic over tradition. The Mu'tazilite movement, which took a very fundamentally progressive role in the traditions of Islamic theology, emerged during the Abbasid period itself. We will discuss the religious, philosophical and historical roles of the Mu'tazilite movement in detail later. But the Islamic theology that believed in word(God)-basedness was interrupted by the Mu'tazilite movement that believed in causality. For the first time in Islamic history, someone took a progressive role. To counter this, to once again take Islam towards fundamentalism, Ibn Taymiyyah was born.
Interestingly, nowhere in Ibn Taymiyyah’s writings does he use the term Salafism. However, modern Muslim scholars often consider him the intellectual founder of Salafism. The word Salaf was first used in a political reformist sense by Muhammad Abduh, a disciple of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, who was one of the pioneers of the Pan-Islamic movement. That said, the term Salaf itself can be found much earlier in hadith literature and early Islamic texts.
“If you choose the religion of the Salaf, no one will criticize you, for that religion is aimed at noble objectives. The religion of the Salaf is not separate from truth.”
Similarly, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, another influential figure often linked with modern Salafism, wrote:
“We are, and praise be to Allah, followers and not innovators. We are followers of the Book and the Sunnah and of the Righteous Salaf of this Ummah.”
Salafism is a puritanical movement that insists on governing according to the principles of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, the Hadith, and the Prophet’s close companions. While Ibn Taymiyyah is considered the intellectual precursor of Salafism, it was the 18th-century Islamic reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab who gave the movement its systematic ideological form. His approach was not fundamentally different from that of Ibn Taymiyyah-he echoed similar ideas.
What is known today as Wahhabism was initiated by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. In fact, the line between Wahhabism and Salafism is quite blurred; there’s very little difference between the two. It was this same Wahhab who, in alliance with Muhammad ibn Saud, established the first Saudi state. Muhammad ibn Saud became the first ruler of that state. The entire religious and ideological foundation of present-day Saudi Arabia rests on the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.
As I stated at the beginning, major publications have failed to accurately explain what Salafi truly means. They describe Salafism as a distorted, aggressive version of Islam. But when you examine thinkers like Ibn Taymiyyah, Muhammad Hayyat ibn Ibrahim al-Sindhi, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab-the foundational figures of the Salafi or Wahhabi movement-you see a common theme: their vision of an ideal Islamic state is one that adheres strictly to the Hadith, the Qur’an, and the practices of the Prophet’s companions (the Salaf). Even non-Muslim scholars acknowledge this framing. Salafism is a puritanical movement that insists on governing according to the principles of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, the Hadith, and the Prophet’s close companions. It is not in fact incorrect, aggressive or wrong interpretation of Islam. It is an attempt to bring back the ideal Islamic State, which was created by the Prophet himself and nurtured by the pious caliphs.
In my view, this common framing is flawed. Most publications that criticize Salafi Islam seem to forget that the Prophet himself referred to himself as a Salaf. Therefore, it's not accurate to assume that the concept of Salafism is purely a modern invention or deviation. On many levels, Salafism cannot simply be dismissed as a modern construct-it is rooted in a much deeper and older Islamic tradition.
Even reputed and leading publications like Frontline have defined the word "Salaf" as “the ancient one.” This leads to two possible interpretations: either there's a misunderstanding of the Arabic script and language, or the concept of Salaf has been studied only through the limited lens of groups like Al-Qaeda and similar Islamic militant organizations. Due to this narrow perspective, many media outlets seem to have fallen into the same interpretive trap.
So I want to raise a question: Is it possible to consider a new method of studying Islam-one that asks whether each concept in Islam has a basis in Islamic theology? In other words, there should be two parallel paths of study: one, how Muslims behave today, and two, what the religion actually says about that behavior. Let’s take “Salaf” as an example. The question is-does what we call Salafism today have a theological basis in Islam? The answer to this has already been discussed in the previous paragraph.
Now the second part is: what do people think about Salaf today? The thoughts and perceptions of people-especially those shaped by high-profile publications like Frontline, Foreign Affairs, The Economist, and The New York Times-provide various answers to that. However, there is now a need to investigate whether this particular concept (Salaf) has any grounding in religious doctrine.
It is also worth asking: Is there a difference between the ideological framework of Salafism and Wahhabism versus the religious framing of an ideal Islamic state? If such a difference exists, what exactly is it? Here, the reference to Wahhabism and Salafism pertains to how people conceptualize them. On the other hand, the ideal Islamic state refers to how religion itself defines such a state.
© Mukul Ranbhor
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