Salafi’s Textualism in Understanding Qur’an and Hadith

This paper discusses salafi’s textualism in understanding Quran and Hadith, especially the early salafi’s figures who have great influence in the theology of salafi. Literature study method by examining the books and biographies related to the topic is used in this paper. According to salafi everything that is not mentioned clearly in Quran and Hadith should not be done, and must be left and kept away. Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal which is considered as the inventor of salafi strongly refused Mu’tazilah doctrine who said that Quran is a creature in al-Ma’mun era, because this thought is not exist in Quran and Hadith then the successor of salafi thought Ibnu Taimiyah did not accept the interpretation of Allah attribute, he accepted the ayah and hadith about attribute textually.


Introduction
Islam is the only religion that is accepted by Allah, 1 because actually it is the last Shari'ah revealed through the last Rasūl Prophet Muḥammad peace be upon him, Islamic shari'ah is as a perfection of the shari'ah that have been revealed previously, 2 so that Islam is final, there will be no other shari'ah that erases or perfects it which makes Islam relevant at all times and until the end of the world.
The core message brought by Islam is to improve human morals, one of which is the proclamation of peace which becomes an important jargon in Islam, Islam is not a religion that sees differences as reasons for hostility, berating, let alone the legitimacy of acts of anarchism, to non-Muslims who worship different god, Muslims are prohibited from ridiculing and berating them 3 especially among Muslims, there are often differences in non-fundamental matters such as the problem of furū 'iyyah in fiqh, 4 this difference must be addressed wisely and should not be one of the reasons for the division of Muslims. 1 The status of Islam as the only religion accepted by Allah SWT is mentioned in the Quran: Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were given the Scripture did not differ except after knowledge had come to them -out of jealous animosity between themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the verses of Allah, then indeed, Allah is swift in [taking] account. (Ali 'Imran: 19) Wahbah al-Zuḥaili explained that what is meant by Islam as the only religion accepted by Allah Almighty is all religions carried by all the rasūl, including the shari'ah that was brought before the Prophet Muḥammad, called Islam because the true purpose of the shari'ah is monotheism and alsalām or peace/safety. See Wahbah Zuḥaili, al-Munīr fī Aqīdah wa al- Sharī'ah wa al-Manhaj, 2 ed. (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr, 1997), 3: 179. 2 Islamic Shari'ah does not erase all previous shari'ah, there are some previous shari'ah which are still valid in Islam such as the fasting of the Prophet Daud. 3 In the early days of Islam the Muslims chided the worship of the infidel, and they chided Allah Almighty in return, then after that the verse came down: And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge". (Al-An'am: 108) This verse teaches ethics which is very important for Muslims so that they do not abuse those who have different beliefs, because those who do not know Allah SWT need a good approach, not with diatribes and curses. See Ibnu Jarir al-Ṭabarī, Jami ' al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an, 1st ed. (Beirut: Muassasah al-Risalah, 2000), 12: 34. 4 Furū'iyyah derived from far'un, which can be defined as things that follow aṣl. See 'Ali Ibn Muḥammad al-Jurjani, Al-Ta'rifāt, 1st ed. (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub Al-'Alamiyah, 1983), 166. The muslim scholars often disagree on this issue, such as qunūt, marriage regulation and so on, but actually they agree on fundamantal things such as Allah Almighty is the only god, prophet Muḥammad as the Messenger of Allah, making the Qur'an and Sunnah as the main islamic law resources. Even al-Bustami revealed that the differences of islamic scholars are a blessing, because if there are differences in how to understand the Qur'an and Hadith, then  There is one important principle related to differences in ijtihad, namely alijtihādu lā yunqaḍu bi al-ijtihād which means that one ijtihad cannot be canceled with another ijtihad. Thus, if someone has done it, the results of ijtihad that he does cannot be erased by other people's ijtihad, there is no absolute status in ijtihad products, we can say someone opinion is correct and the other's is wrong or vice versa, ijtihad products are only ẓanni, not 100% correct, 5 therefore ta'aṣṣub with one opinion should be avoided, especially in matters of furu 'iyyah. 6 After the Prophet Muḥammad peace be upon him died various kinds of slander occurred which eventually resulted in the Muslims being divided into several groups, this split became a great slander among the Muslims, a lot of blood was shed, many 'ulamā were jailed, a lot of takfīr, tabdi ' and taḍlīl happened, but apart from that all we must understand that they are only ordinary people who can make mistakes and errors, and more important than that is the words of the Prophet Muḥammad peace be upon him: "who pray like our prayers and face our qiblah and eat our slaughter then he is a Muslim...". 7

The History Of Salafi
Between "Salafi" And "Wahabi" The terms "salafi" and "wahabi" do sound identical and connotes the same group so that it is a little difficult to distinguish between the two, salafi refers to the group that makes the scholars of the early centuries namely 1-3 H as role models in religion, they are people who get direct legitimacy from the Prophet in carrying out shari'ah. See 'Abdul Karīm al-Qushairi, Al-Risālah al-Qushairiyah (Cairo: Dār al-Ma'arif, n.d  were destroyed and made into plantations, and people were forbidden to come with strict guard from the officer. One of the officers said: "whosoever we meet in the grave of Ḥusayn Ibn 'Ali more than three times will be put in an underground prison". 21 Al-Mutawakkil also freed the scholars detained by the regime that supported the

Salafi's Textualism
Salafi's textualism clearly visible since the beginning of its appearance, the figure of Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal who is also an expert of Hadith who wrote Musnad Aḥmad was very textually in a matter of law and aqidah, his dakwah at that time was campaigning to return to the Quran and Hadith, even he often times in polemics with the ahl al-ra'yi. Salafi textualism can also be seen from salafi teachings related to theology, specifically the concept of tauḥīd asmā wa ṣifāt, and also in the issue of fiqh.

The Concept of Monotheistic Trilogy
One of the most important concepts in salafi theology is the division of monotheism into three: Rubūbiyyah, Ulūhiyyah and Asmā wa Ṣifāt, this concept is not found in the books written by Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal, or other early generation salafi scholars, because the one who built it and introduced was Ibnu Taimiyah.
However, this concept of trilogy is accepted by all groups who call themselves salafi post-Ibn Taymiyyah. 29 Without these three monotheisms, someone cannot yet be considered as a believer. 28   [every] matter?" They will say, "Allah", so say, "Then will you not fear Him?" (Yunus: 31) Ibn Abī al-'Izz more clearly explained about Tawḥīd Rubūbiyyah, according to him Tawḥīd Rubūbiyyah is acknowledging that Allah Almighty is the creator of all things, and it is impossible for the universe to have two gods at once. 31 In other words, every Muslim must believe that the universe has a creator who governs everything, namely Allah Almighty. 32 Recognition of Allah as Lord and Ruler of everything isn't enough to consider someone as a muslim according to salafi.
Tawḥīd Ulūhiyyah is making Allah as the only god with the action of servants, such as praying, nadhar, sacrifice, hope, fear, resignation. 33 Other scholars define it as the right of Allah almighty as the only one who must be worshiped who has no allies. 34 Among the ayah about Ulūhiyyah is as follow:  30 'Abdul Qādir al- Arna'ut, Majmu'at al-Tauhīd (Saudi Arabia: Maktabah Dār al-Bā, 1987), 5. 31 Ibnu Abī al- 'Izz, Sharhu Al-Ṭahawiyyah Fī al-'Aqīdah al-Salafiyyah (Cairo: Dār al-Hadith, 2005), 19. 32 'Id,13. 33 al- Arna'ut,18  Regarding the attribute, salafi more textualism, 36 they did not interpret the attributes of Allah, they just believe it, this can be seen from the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah: "And among the parts of faith in Allah Almighty is to believe in the attribute of Allah Almighty which He describes in His book (Quran) and which is described by His Messenger Muḥammad peace be upon him without any tahrif (change), ta'til (negation), takyif (ways and circumstances ) and tamtsil (likeness)". 37 35 'Id, al-Da'wah  The four keywords in understanding the attribute of Allah Almighty are always repeated by Ibnu Taymiyyah in some of his works, he accepted the meaning of the text about the attribute of Allah Almighty without interpreting it, but it is not appropriate if he is assumed to be a mujassimah because he himself rejected Allah Almighty as a jism. 38 It is proved that the salafi has textual understanding about the verses and Hadiths regarding the attribute of Allah Almighty, they refuse to use reason to understand it, let see the verse that says God has a hand, 39 istiwa 40 and Hadith that Allah comes down to earth in a third night, 41 they accept it all as one the attribute of Allah Almighty without interpretating the meaning of yad, nuzūl and istiwā, but although they accept the arguments textually but they still believe that yad, nuzul, istiwa of Allah Almighty is not the same as being.
Takfīr if we examine further the teachings of previous salafi figure such as Ibn Taymiyyah we can understand that it is not so easy to consider someone as infidel, there should be certain conditions that make takfīr legal to be done, in the book hakadha taḥaddatha Ibn Taimiyah, 'A'id Ibn Sa'ad al-Dusarī explains the teachings of Ibn Taymiyyah including the rules of takfīr, while rejecting the 38 Hasyim,Teologi Muslim Puritan,Geneologi dan Ajaran Salafi,221. 39 Allah Almighty said:  Your almighty Lord descends every night into the sky of the world in the final third of the night saying: "Whosoever prays to me, I will grant and who asks me, I will give, whoever asks forgiveness from me, I will forgive". See Muḥammad Ibn Ismā'il al-Bukhāri, Ṣahih Bukhāri, 3rd ed. (Beirut: Dār Ibnu Katsir, 1987) According to Ibn Taymiyyah a person who is believed to be 100% muslim cannot be considered as disbeliever just because he did something wrong, he further explained: "It is not permissible for someone to disbelieve a Muslim even though he did something wrong until strong evidence is found, someone who has confirmed his faith with confidence cannot be eliminated only by doubt" 43 From this we can understand that takfir in salafi theologians is not an easy thing to be done, if it is still doubtful it would be better not to do it, until there is strong evidence of its deviation. 44 But it cannot be denied that there are some contemporary salafi who regard the tawassul with the righteous people who have died as infidels. 45 But apart from that all, takfīr among the salafi happened because when they see social phenomena that are not in the Quran and Hadith then these are things that should not be done, and more important than that is not all textualists require takfīr movements, due to the fact that Ibn Taymiyyah himself, who was a very important figure in salafi geneology, was not easy to disbelieve someone.

Isbāl
According to salaf Isbal or wearing clothes under the legs is prohibited, this is because isbāl is a sign of someone concealing themselves with the clothes he has, further Ibn Taymiyyah explained in Majmū ' 'Fatāwā: "It is strictly forbidden for us to wear silk, and gold, vessels made of gold and silver which are the most luxurious jewelry in the world, and Allah Almighty also forbids proud and arrogant including clothes that show pride and arrogance such as lengthening clothing (isbāl)". 49 One of the propositions used by Ibn Taimyah to strenghten his opinion is the Based on this hadith lengthen the beard and trimming the mustache is something highly recommended among Salafi, and become symbols of pride for them, and there are more typical of Salafi in matters of fiqh, such as forbidding music, forbidding mawlid, and so on which clearly show their textualism in understanding the Quran and Hadith.

Conclusion
Salafi textualism in understanding the Quran and Hadith can be clearly seen from Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal's attitude who strongly rejected the Mu'tazilah doctrine which used ratio frequently during the leadership of al-Ma'mun, Aḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal's attitude was followed by his students, because their textualism salafi is often considered to be old-fashioned, but despite all that they have a very important role in the development of Islamic sciences, in the end the differences in methods of understanding the Quran and Hadith are not a big problem, instead it is a mercy for muslim. 50 al-Bukhāri, Ṣahih Bukhāri, 3: 1340. 51 al-Bukhāri, Ṣahih Bukhāri, 5: 2209.