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Salafi movement
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Al-Nour Party Supporters of the Al-Nour Party, a party that is influenced by
Salafi ideology, attending a campaign rally on October 6, 2015, in Alexandria,
Egypt. (more)
SALAFI MOVEMENT
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Also known as: Salafiyyah
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Adam Zeidan is an Assistant Managing Editor, having joined Encyclopædia
Britannica in 2018. He covers a range of topics related primarily to the Middle
East and North Africa.
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Also called: Salafiyyah (Show more)
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Salafi movement, broad set of Islamic movements that strive to emulate the
practices of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (“the pious predecessors”), the early generations
of Muslims during and after the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad.
Salafis (followers of the al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ) are characterized by the
prioritization of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah as the fundamental uṣūl al-fiqh, or
sources of Islamic law. Other traditional tools that were developed to resolve
issues not addressed directly by scripture, such as analogical reasoning (qiyās)
and scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ), are only applicable when plainly rooted in the
Qurʾān and the Sunnah. Salafis thus reject devoted adherence (taqlīd) to
traditional schools of jurisprudence and hold literalist interpretations of
scripture. They are often regarded as puritanical for their staunch rejection of
certain mainstream beliefs or customs that are not backed by a Salafi
epistemology.
The intellectual foundation of the movement is often traced to the modernist
school of thought that emerged in the Islamic world in the 19th century. The
decline of the Ottoman Empire as an Islamic power and the rapid
industrialization in the West left many in the Islamic world with questions
about identity and the relative sluggishness of material progress in their own
countries. Many concluded that a proper understanding of Islam, which once
inspired scholarship and scientific advancement, had decayed and was in need of
renewal. With increased access to the Qurʾān, owing to growth in literacy and
greater availability of print materials, many modernists sought answers from the
scripture themselves, bucking traditional religious authorities and scholars as
gatekeepers to scriptural interpretation.
1 of 2
Jamāl al-Dīn al-AfghānīJamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, 1883.(more)
2 of 2
Muḥammad ʿAbduh(more)
Among the most influential thinkers of the Islamic modernists were Jamāl al-Dīn
al-Afghānī and Muḥammad ʿAbduh, who argued that the rejuvenation of Islamic
society required extensive reform in Islamic thought and practice. Their
students gave birth to a variety of movements, both secular and Islamic. Rashīd
Riḍā, a student of ʿAbduh, was one early proponent of focusing Islamic reform
around the practices of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (or salaf). He and other like-minded
reformists drew inspiration from the Wahhābiyyah, a movement founded in the
18th-century Najd region (now part of Saudi Arabia) that drew on the teachings
of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (flourished 9th century) and Ibn Taymiyyah (flourished 14th
century). Like Ibn Ḥanbal and Ibn Taymiyyah, the Wahhābiyyah rejected
theological doctrines that rely on conjecture in favour of a theology based on
canonical revelation and early practice. Early Salafi engagement with the
Wahhābiyyah infused the movement with many of its precepts.
Two strands of Salafi thought coexisted for several decades. One strand sought
to emulate the philosophical underpinnings of the salaf and to apply them to a
modern setting. The other strand sought to emulate the practices of the salaf
and to retreat from modern habits that contradict that lifestyle. Both strands
interacted with and influenced each other, with the common goal of reviving a
prosperous Islamic community in a postcolonial environment. The strand that
sought to emulate the philosophy of the salaf eventually faded into secular
nationalist movements that embraced Islam as part of their heritage.
The Salafi movement today is often confused with Islamism, a term which refers
to a set of political ideologies that draw on Islamic symbols and traditions for
a sociopolitical objective. Most Salafis, however, do not seek to inject their
movement into public life. Likewise, many Islamists do not subscribe to the
notion that emulating the salaf should be at the focus of modern Islamic
practice. Nonetheless, although the terms refer to separate phenomena, Salafism
and Islamism are not inherently contradictory, and some movements embrace both
ideologies.
Emad Abdel GhafourEmad Abdel Ghafour, the founder of the Al-Nour Party in Egypt,
speaking during an interview in 2011.(more)
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For many in the West, the difference between Salafis and Islamists is
exemplified by the political environment in Egypt following the Arab Spring.
When the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization’s Freedom and Justice
political party gained control of the Egyptian government after the 2011–12
democratic elections, it enjoyed the support of the Salafi Al-Nour (Al-Nūr)
Party, founded by Emad Abdel Ghafour, in codifying a more strict interpretation
of Islamic practice into civil law. But although the two movements found much
agreement in social practice, the Al-Nour Party participated in government more
as a representative of Salafi Egyptians than as an activist party for public
reform. When the Muslim Brotherhood government was toppled in 2013 and replaced
by a military regime, members of the Muslim Brotherhood took to the streets in
opposition, and the movement was quickly banned and suppressed. By contrast,
Al-Nour cooperated with the new government and remained an influential voice in
Egyptian governance into the 2020s.
While most Salafis avoid politics—though some participate in a representative
capacity—a portion of Salafis take a more forceful approach toward society and
public policy. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; also called
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS]) represents an extreme example, employing
violence to impose its prescribed way of life and to attack those Muslims and
non-Muslims that members perceive as standing in the way of proper Islamic
society.
Adam Zeidan
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Islam
Table of Contents
* Introduction
* The foundations of Islam
* The legacy of Muhammad
* Sources of Islamic doctrinal and social views
* Doctrines of the Qurʾān
* God
* The universe
* Humanity
* Satan, sin, and repentance
* Prophecy
* Eschatology (doctrine of last things)
* Social service
* Fundamental practices and institutions of Islam
* The five pillars
* The shahādah, or profession of faith
* Prayer
* The zakāt
* Fasting
* The hajj
* Sacred places and days
* Shrines of Sufi saints
* The mosque
* Holy days
* Islamic thought
* Origins, nature, and significance of Islamic theology
* Early developments
* The Hellenistic legacy
* Theology and sectarianism
* The Khārijites
* The Muʿtazilah
* Sunnism
* The way of the majority
* Tolerance of diversity
* Influence of al-Ashʿarī and al-Māturīdī
* Shiʿism
* Ismāʿīlīs
* Related sects
* Other groups
* Sufism
* The Aḥmadiyyah
* Islamic philosophy
* The Eastern philosophers
* Background and scope of philosophical interest in Islam
* Relation to the Muʿtazilah and interpretation of theological issues
* The teachings of al-Kindī
* The teachings of Abū Bakr al-Rāzī
* The teachings of al-Fārābī
* Political philosophy and the study of religion
* Interpretation of Plato and Aristotle
* The analogy of religion and philosophy
* Impact on Ismāʿīlī theology
* The teachings of Avicenna
* The “Oriental Philosophy”
* Distinction between essence and existence and the doctrine of
creation
* The immortality of individual souls
* Philosophy, religion, and mysticism
* The Western philosophers
* Background and characteristics of the Western Muslim philosophical
tradition
* The teachings of Ibn Bājjah
* Theoretical science and intuitive knowledge
* Unconcern of philosophy with reform
* The teachings of Ibn Ṭufayl
* The philosopher as a solitary individual
* Concern for reform
* The hidden secret of Avicenna’s “Oriental Philosophy”
* The teachings of Averroës
* Philosophy
* The divine law
* Theology
* The new wisdom: synthesis of philosophy and mysticism
* Philosophy, traditionalism, and the new wisdom
* Philosophy
* Traditionalism and the new wisdom
* Characteristic features of the new wisdom
* Critiques of Aristotle in Islamic theology
* Synthesis of philosophy and mysticism
* Primary teachers of the new wisdom
* The teachings of al-Suhrawardī
* The teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī
* The teachings of Twelver Shiʿism and the school of Eṣfahān
* The teachings of Mīr Dāmād
* The teachings of Mullā Ṣadrā
* Impact of modernism
* Social and ethical principles
* Family life
* The state
* Education
* Cultural diversity
* Religion and the arts
* The visual arts
* Music
* Literature
* Architecture
* Islamic myth and legend
* Sources and variations
* The Qurʾān and non-Islamic influences
* The mystics
* Types of myth and legend
* Cosmogony and eschatology
* Tales and legends concerning religious figures
* Muhammad
* Other Qurʾānic figures
* Mystics and other later figures
* Mythologization of secular tales
* Tales and beliefs about numbers and letters
* Illustration of myth and legend
* Significance and modern interpretations
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
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Philosophy & Religion Scriptures
Abu Darweesh Mosque Abu Darweesh Mosque in Amman, Jordan. (more)
ISLAM
religion
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Also known as: Al-Islām
Written by
Fazlur Rahman
Professor of Islāmic Philosophy, University of Chicago, 1969–88. Author of Islam
and others.
Fazlur Rahman,
Muhsin S. Mahdi
James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic, Harvard University. Author of Ibn
Khaldun's Philosophy of History.
Muhsin S. Mahdi•All
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Last Updated: Oct 1, 2024 • Article History
Table of Contents
Key People: Muhammad Ibn Taymiyyah Muḥammad I Askia Aurangzeb Maḥmūd Ghāzān
(Show more)
Related Topics: Islamic arts Islamic world Sufism sharia Shiʿi (Show more)
On the Web: Golden Gate University School of Law - Digital Commons - Arbitration
of Islamic Financial Disputes (Oct. 01, 2024) (Show more)
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Islam, major world religion promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the
7th century ce. The Arabic term islām, literally “surrender,” illuminates the
fundamental religious idea of Islam—that the believer (called a Muslim, from the
active particle of islām) accepts surrender to the will of Allah (in Arabic,
Allāh: God). Allah is viewed as the sole God—creator, sustainer, and restorer of
the world. The will of Allah, to which human beings must submit, is made known
through the sacred scriptures, the Qurʾān (often spelled Koran in English),
which Allah revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam Muhammad is considered
the last of a series of prophets (including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Solomon,
and Jesus), and his message simultaneously consummates and completes the
“revelations” attributed to earlier prophets.
Retaining its emphasis on an uncompromising monotheism and a strict adherence to
certain essential religious practices, the religion taught by Muhammad to a
small group of followers spread rapidly through the Middle East to Africa,
Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Malay Peninsula, and China. By the early
21st century there were more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. Although many
sectarian movements have arisen within Islam, all Muslims are bound by a common
faith and a sense of belonging to a single community.
This article deals with the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam and with
the connection of religion and society in the Islamic world. The history of the
various peoples who embraced Islam is covered in the article Islamic world.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF ISLAM
THE LEGACY OF MUHAMMAD
From the very beginning of Islam, Muhammad had inculcated a sense of brotherhood
and a bond of faith among his followers, both of which helped to develop among
them a feeling of close relationship that was accentuated by their experiences
of persecution as a nascent community in Mecca. The strong attachment to the
tenets of the Qurʾānic revelation and the conspicuous socioeconomic content of
Islamic religious practices cemented this bond of faith. In 622 ce, when the
Prophet migrated to Medina, his preaching was soon accepted, and the
community-state of Islam emerged. During this early period, Islam acquired its
characteristic ethos as a religion uniting in itself both the spiritual and
temporal aspects of life and seeking to regulate not only the individual’s
relationship to God (through conscience) but human relationships in a social
setting as well. Thus, there is not only an Islamic religious institution but
also an Islamic law, state, and other institutions governing society. Not until
the 20th century were the religious (private) and the secular (public)
distinguished by some Muslim thinkers and separated formally in certain places
such as Turkey.
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Islam
This dual religious and social character of Islam, expressing itself in one way
as a religious community commissioned by God to bring its own value system to
the world through the jihād (“exertion,” commonly translated as “holy war” or
“holy struggle”), explains the astonishing success of the early generations of
Muslims. Within a century after the Prophet’s death in 632 ce, they had brought
a large part of the globe—from Spain across Central Asia to India—under a new
Arab Muslim empire.
The period of Islamic conquests and empire building marks the first phase of the
expansion of Islam as a religion. Islam’s essential egalitarianism within the
community of the faithful and its official discrimination against the followers
of other religions won rapid converts. Jews and Christians were assigned a
special status as communities possessing scriptures and were called the “people
of the Book” (ahl al-kitāb) and, therefore, were allowed religious autonomy.
They were, however, required to pay a per capita tax called jizyah, as opposed
to pagans, who were required to either accept Islam or die. The same status of
the “people of the Book” was later extended in particular times and places to
Zoroastrians and Hindus, but many “people of the Book” joined Islam in order to
escape the disability of the jizyah. A much more massive expansion of Islam
after the 12th century was inaugurated by the Sufis (Muslim mystics), who were
mainly responsible for the spread of Islam in India, Central Asia, Turkey, and
sub-Saharan Africa (see below).
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Beside the jihad and Sufi missionary activity, another factor in the spread of
Islam was the far-ranging influence of Muslim traders, who not only introduced
Islam quite early to the Indian east coast and South India but also proved to be
the main catalytic agents (beside the Sufis) in converting people to Islam in
Indonesia, Malaya, and China. Islam was introduced to Indonesia in the 14th
century, hardly having time to consolidate itself there politically before the
region came under Dutch hegemony.
The vast variety of races and cultures embraced by Islam (an estimated total of
more than 1.5 billion persons worldwide in the early 21st century) has produced
important internal differences. All segments of Muslim society, however, are
bound by a common faith and a sense of belonging to a single community. With the
loss of political power during the period of Western colonialism in the 19th and
20th centuries, the concept of the Islamic community (ummah), instead of
weakening, became stronger. The faith of Islam helped various Muslim peoples in
their struggle to gain political freedom in the mid-20th century, and the unity
of Islam contributed to later political solidarity.
SOURCES OF ISLAMIC DOCTRINAL AND SOCIAL VIEWS
Islamic doctrine, law, and thinking in general are based upon four sources, or
fundamental principles (uṣūl): (1) the Qurʾān, (2) the Sunnah (“Traditions”),
(3) ijmāʿ (“consensus”), and (4) ijtihād (“individual thought”).
QurʾānMuslim girl studying the Qurʾān.(more)
The Qurʾān (literally, “reading” or “recitation”) is regarded as the verbatim
word, or speech, of God delivered to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel. Divided
into 114 suras (chapters) of unequal length, it is the fundamental source of
Islamic teaching. The suras revealed at Mecca during the earliest part of
Muhammad’s career are concerned mostly with ethical and spiritual teachings and
the Day of Judgment. The suras revealed at Medina at a later period in the
career of the Prophet are concerned for the most part with social legislation
and the politico-moral principles for constituting and ordering the community.
Sunnah (“a well-trodden path”) was used by pre-Islamic Arabs to denote their
tribal or common law. In Islam it came to mean the example of the Prophet—i.e.,
his words and deeds as recorded in compilations known as Hadith (in Arabic,
Ḥadīth: literally, “report”; a collection of sayings attributed to the Prophet).
Hadith provide the written documentation of the Prophet’s words and deeds. Six
of these collections, compiled in the 3rd century ah (9th century ce), came to
be regarded as especially authoritative by the largest group in Islam, the
Sunnis. Another large group, the Shiʿah, has its own Hadith contained in four
canonical collections.
The doctrine of ijmāʿ, or consensus, was introduced in the 2nd century ah (8th
century ce) in order to standardize legal theory and practice and to overcome
individual and regional differences of opinion. Though conceived as a “consensus
of scholars,” ijmāʿ was in actual practice a more fundamental operative factor.
From the 3rd century ah ijmāʿ has amounted to a principle of stability in
thinking; points on which consensus was reached in practice were considered
closed and further substantial questioning of them prohibited. Accepted
interpretations of the Qurʾān and the actual content of the Sunnah (i.e., Hadith
and theology) all rest finally on the ijmāʿ in the sense of the acceptance of
the authority of their community.
Ijtihād, meaning “to endeavour” or “to exert effort,” was required to find the
legal or doctrinal solution to a new problem. In the early period of Islam,
because ijtihād took the form of individual opinion (raʾy), there was a wealth
of conflicting and chaotic opinions. In the 2nd century ah ijtihād was replaced
by qiyās (reasoning by strict analogy), a formal procedure of deduction based on
the texts of the Qurʾān and the Hadith. The transformation of ijmāʿ into a
conservative mechanism and the acceptance of a definitive body of Hadith
virtually closed the “gate of ijtihād” in Sunni Islam while ijtihād continued in
Shiʿism. Nevertheless, certain outstanding Muslim thinkers (e.g., al-Ghazālī in
the 11th–12th century) continued to claim the right of new ijtihād for
themselves, and reformers in the 18th–20th centuries, because of modern
influences, caused this principle once more to receive wider acceptance.
The Qurʾān and Hadith are discussed below. The significance of ijmāʿ and ijtihād
are discussed below in the contexts of Islamic theology, philosophy, and law.
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Rahman, Fazlur , Mahdi, Muhsin S. and Schimmel, Annemarie. "Islam". Encyclopedia
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External Websites
* Humanities LibreTexts - Islam
* IndiaNetzone - Islamic Concepts
* PBS - Latino Muslims
* World History Encyclopedia - Islam
* United Religions Initiative - Islam: Basic Beliefs
* The Metropolitan Museum of Art - William Blake
* Golden Gate University School of Law - Digital Commons - Arbitration of
Islamic Financial Disputes
* JewishEncyclopedia.com - Islam
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
* Islam - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
* Islam - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
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Rahman, Fazlur , Mahdi, Muhsin S. and Schimmel, Annemarie. "Islam". Encyclopedia
Britannica, 1 Oct. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islam. Accessed 6
October 2024.
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External Websites
* Humanities LibreTexts - Islam
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* PBS - Latino Muslims
* World History Encyclopedia - Islam
* United Religions Initiative - Islam: Basic Beliefs
* The Metropolitan Museum of Art - William Blake
* Golden Gate University School of Law - Digital Commons - Arbitration of
Islamic Financial Disputes
* JewishEncyclopedia.com - Islam
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
* Islam - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
* Islam - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)