Is Salafism A Sect or a Thinking Style? An assessment on Salafi Thought's Secrets

Abstract

We aimed to identify basic dynamics of Salafi thought throughout history. Salafism is not a sect. Rather, it is a protectionist mindset and world view. It is a reactionary revolt against current religious acceptances in regions where sociocultural world of Islam destabilized. Moreover, its expansionist and interventionist approach does not fit the boundaries of a religious sect. As a technical term "Salafism" is probably considered as "Hanbelism". As a mindset "Salafism" exceeded the borders of "Hanbelism" and even succeeded to invade mental infrastructure of heirs of its archenemy "ehl-i rey school". This study aimed to investigate the grounds for Salafi thought as a mentality by deciphering the codes of its inner workings from classical to modern times and tried to demonstrate how well it penetrated the Sunni theological system.