View source for Salaf

{{Short description|First three generations of Muslims}}
{{Distinguish|Salafi movement}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=February 2015}}
{{Islam|collapsed=1}}
'''Salaf''' ({{langx|ar|سلف}}, 'ancestors' or 'predecessors'), also often referred to with the honorific expression of '''al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ''' ({{lang|ar|السلف الصالح}}, 'the pious predecessors'), are often taken to be the first three generations of [[Muslims]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Lacey|first=Robert|title=Inside the Kingdom, Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia|year=2009|publisher=Viking|location=New York|page=9}}</ref> This comprises companions of the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] (the {{Transliteration|ar|[[Companions of the Prophet|Sahabah]]}}), their followers (the {{Transliteration|ar|[[Tabi'un]]}}), and the followers of the followers (the {{Transliteration|ar|[[Tabi' al-Tabi'in|Taba al-Tabi'in]]}}).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Meaning of the Word "Salaf" – Abu 'Abdis-Salaam Hasan bin Qaasim ar-Raymee |url=https://abdurrahman.org/2014/09/29/the-meaning-of-the-word-salaf-abu-abdis-salaam-hasan-bin-qaasim-ar-raymee/ |website=AbdurRahman.org |date=2014-09-29 |language=en |access-date=2019-11-30}}</ref> Their religious significance lay in the statement attributed to Muhammad: "The best of my community are my generation, the ones who follow them and the ones who follow them",<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp8RDQAAQBAJ&q=salaf+3+generations&pg=PT20 |title=The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State |last=Wood |first=Graeme |date=20 December 2016 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=9780241240120 |language=en}}</ref> a period believed to exemplify the purest form of [[Islam]]. The generations of Muslims after the third are referred to as the '''Khalaf'''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0070.xml?rskey=0OpaqS&result=204 |title= Islamic Studies: Salafism |last= Brown |first= Jonathan A. C. |date= 14 December 2009 |website= Oxford Bibliographies |publisher= Oxford University Press|access-date= 21 September 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

==Second generation==
The [[Tabi‘un]], the successors of [[Sahabah]]. 
{{dynamic list}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Amir al-Sha'bi]]
* [[Abu Muslim Al-Khawlani]]
* [[Abu Suhail an-Nafi' ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman]]
* [[Al-Ahnaf]]
* [[Malik Ibn Anas]]
* [[Abu Hanifa]]
* [[Ja'far al-Sadiq]]
* [[Al-Rabi Ibn Khuthaym]]
* [[Ali al-Akbar ibn Husayn|Ali Akbar]]
* [[Ali ibn Husayn|Ali ibn Husayn (Zain-ul-'Abidin)]]
* [[Alqama ibn Qays al-Nakha'i]]
* [[Ata Ibn Abi Rabah]]
* [[Atiyya bin Saad]]
* [[Hasan al-Basri]]
* [[Iyas Ibn Muawiyah Al-Muzani]]
* [[Masruq ibn al-Ajda']]
* [[Muhammad al-Baqir]]
* [[Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah]]
* [[Muhammad Ibn Wasi' Al-Azdi]]
* [[Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri]]
* [[Muhammad ibn Munkadir]]
* [[Nafi Mawla Ibn Umar]]
* [[Ibn Sirin|Muhammad ibn Sirin]], son of a slave of [[Khalid ibn al-Walid]]
* [[Musa ibn Nusayr]]
* [[Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr]]
* [[Raja ibn Haywa]]
* [[Sa'id ibn Jubayr]]
* [[Said ibn al-Musayyib]]
* [[Salamah ibn Dinar]]
* [[Salih Ibn Ashyam Al-Adawi]]
* [[Salim Ibn Abdullah Ibn Umar Ibn al-Khattab]]
* [[Shuraih Al-Qadhi]]
* [[Sufyan al-Thawri]]
* [[Tariq Ibn Ziyad]]
* [[Tawus Ibn Kaysan]]
* [[Umar Ibn Abdul-Aziz]]
* [[Umm Kulthum bint Abu Bakr]]
* [[Urwah Ibn Al-Zubayr]]
* [[Uwais al-Qarni]]
* [[Amr ibn Dinar]]
{{Div col end}}

==Third generation==
The [[Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in]], the successors of the [[Tabi‘un]]. 
{{dynamic list}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi]]
* [[Al Qutaybah]]
* [[Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya]]
* [[Muhammad bin Qasim]]<ref>Al bidaya wan Nahaya, [[Ibn Kathir]]</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2015}}
* [[Rabia of Basra|Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya]]
* [[Al-Shafi‘i]]
* [[Zayd ibn Ali]]
* [[Ishaq ibn Rahwayh]]
* [[Al-Layth ibn Sa'd]]
* [[Sufyan ibn Uyaynah]]

{{Div col end}}

==See also==
* [[List of Sahaba]]
* [[Non-Muslims who interacted with Muslims during Muhammad's era]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Salaf| ]]
[[Category:Lists of Muslims|Salaf]]
[[Category:Salafi movement| ]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]