Allah (subhaanahu wa ta'ala) said He is pleased with them:
وَالسَّابِقُونَ الأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالأَنصَارِ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي تَحْتَهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدا ً ۚ ذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
"The first to embrace Islam of the Muhajirin (those who migrated from Makkah to al-Madinah in obedience to Allah) and the Ansar (the citizens of al-Madinah who gave aid to the Muhajirin), and also those who follow them in the best way; Allah is well pleased with them, and they are with Him." [Surat At-Tawbah 9:100]
It was reported from Awf ibn Maalik who said: the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
"The Jews were divided into seventy-one sects, one of which is in Paradise and seventy are in the Fire. The Christians were divided into seventy-two sects, seventy-one of which are in the Fire and one is in Paradise. By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, my Ummah will be divided into seventy-three sects, one of which will be in Paradise and seventy-two will be in the Fire." It was said, O Messenger of Allaah, who are they? He said, "Al-Jamaa’ah."
[Sunan Ibn Maajah, no. 3982]
He ﷺ was asked: “Which one ya Rasool Allah?” He ﷺ said: “Those who believe what I and my companions believe today.” Hence, if you want to belong to that sect you must attain the same exact belief of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Sahabah of the Prophet ﷺ. So this is the first generation.
Now we add to this the hadith narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas’ood and ‘Imraan bin Husayn and others, the Prophet ﷺ added to that generation two more generations.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"The best of people is my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them (Salaf-as-Saalih)." [Sahih Muslim 2535]
In another narration ’Aa‘ishah – radiy Allahu ’anhaa – said: A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, ‘Who is the most excellent of mankind?’ So the Prophet ﷺ said, “The generation which I am in, then the second, then the third. [Sahih Muslim 2536]
So he ﷺ confirmed the first hadith (the generation of the Sahabah); the best of the Muslims are my generation, so he ﷺ confirmed what he said in the first hadith (the generation of the Sahabah) and he ﷺ added two more generations to it: their immediate followers (Tabiun), and the followers of the Tabi'in, stop there. These were praised by the Prophet (ﷺ). So we called those “Salaf”. And guess what Abu Hanifa came in those three hundred years. Al-Shafai'i belongs to that time, Ahmad belongs to that time, Malik belongs to that time, Sufyan al-Thawri belongs to that time, Al-Layth ibn Sa'd belongs to that time, Al-Awza'i belongs to that time, Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah belongs to that time, and many more. Those are our “Salaf”. It’s not about being “Salafi”, “I’m Salafi”. If you have a problem with the word “Salaf”, guess who was the first one to use the word “Salaf”? The Prophet ﷺ was the first one to used the word when his daughter Zaiynab died, he ﷺ said to her: “ El hauqi bi salafeke al-awwal” (meaning: join your righteous predecessor) and he pointed at the grave Uthmaan ibn Maooth.
So it is the first three generations – the Salaf-us-Saalih – whose era has been praised with an excellence, whose path is to be followed and whose understanding of the Religion is to be accepted and affirmed.
The followers of the salaf are those who adhere to the Qur’an and Sunnah in their beliefs, fiqh and conduct and do not go against what is proven in the Qur’an and Sunnah and what is agreed upon by the salaf of this ummah.
BETWEEN US AND THEM IS THE SALAF, BETWEEN US AND THEM ARE THE BOOKS OF THE SALAF-AS-SALIH
We follow the adopted text (of the Qur'an and Sunnah) as understood and implemented by the three rightly guided generations and do not invent (innovate), do not come up with your own understanding of the text.
We do not allow any ignorant to come on here and say whatever he thinks. It doesn't matter what he quotes. The most important thing is understanding. Even if he quotes the whole Qur'an we will not accept from him until he comes with the understanding of the As-Salaf-As-Salih.
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