The Relationship betwwen the Salafist Current and the Wahhabite Movement

Abstract

The Salafist current through its ancestral doctrinal content seems, in principle, simple; the name of
the current is derived from the right ancestors, whose teachings are adhered to by the majority of Muslims
being a mandatory requirement, but some Salafist interpretations exceed the real meaning of some Qur’anic
or Sunni texts and hence a lot of confusion and contradictions regarding the real meaning of these principles
adopted and propagated by Salafi especially that not only among the ulama, in general, but also among the
followers of the Salafist stream themselves. There are many questions about the identity of these Salafist
groups, their historical continuity, if it exists and the differences between the existing and historical groups,
which have joined this current, to which we will try to answer briefly in a summary but explicit framework in
this article. The events of the Arab Spring revealed a series of movements, currents and activities considered
marginal as well as this Salafist movement seen previously through a standard stereotypical lens as static and
intrinsic, against progress and development, stigmatized for ideological rigidity and cultural immobility, who
have become involved in the uprising in the Arab world on different levels, even on the political arena,
participating in parliamentary elections and transforming from traditional social formations into modern
political formations.