Salafists, Islamists, jihadists – all is one? No. Salafists are not a homogeneous group. What you should know about the Salafism, and how to get to the different currents can be distinguished.
What is Salafism?
“Salafism” is a collective term for a modern phenomenon different lives. In General terms, Salafism is the desire to understand Islam and to live, as it is the first three generations of Muslims have done. Salafism derives from the Arabic word “Salaf”, which refers to ancestor to the pious. But that alone Salafists is no different from the majority of Muslims, because they, too, to write the first generations of an important role.
So-called purist Salafis attempt to follow the prophet and his sayings and see the in this early phase of Islam a “Golden age” for their Religion. Already in the 19th century. Century, there have been theological reform movements that opposed the secularization of society and a return to Islamic values. Current Salafists do not only rely on the way of life of the prophet and the Qur’an, but they reject any deviation from the “true Faith”. According to their idea of the practice of faith is to apply from the early history of Islam, changes, and renewals are not allowed. Outwardly such as Wearing a beard or ankle-long pants these Salafists are some of the essential.
How can the different currents differentiate?
Coarse of Salafism can be divided into three directions divided: traditionalists, activists, and jihadists. The traditionalists relate to the purity of the teaching. Try them all, from their perspective, non-Islamic influences from the life. They focus primarily on the individual piety and spirituality.
The second type is political Salafism. His followers want to impose their Islam understanding not only other Muslims, but society as a whole. Supporters of political Salafism reject democratic processes such as elections. However, this is not true for all. In Egypt there were, for example, in 2011, a Salafist political party.
The third and most dangerous group of Salafists, the jihadists or Salafist terrorists. Unlike most of the Salafis do not reject the use of violence, but they see it as a legitimate means to achieve their religious and political views. Only the West is not considered to be opponents. Also, Muslims who disagree are the enemy. This fundamental rejection of other views of Islam and the claim that the Faith is forfeited, is called “Takfir”. Thus, jihadists legitimize violence against your brothers and sisters.
What are the Figures we know from Germany?
Experts describe the Salafist scene as the fastest-growing flow from the spectrum of Islamist groups. According to the Federal office for the protection of the Constitution, there are, nationwide, about 10.800 Salafists in Germany. These Figures are taken from December 2017. The majority is assigned to the political Salafism and focus on the mission. An example: the Salafist Association “The True Religion”, which has been banned by the Federal Minister of the interior, by two years ago, and resolved. This group would be mainly due to its controversial Qur’an distribution campaign “LIES”.
In the case of the distribution campaign “LIES” distributed Salafist German Quran copies to pedestrians in Germany
Most of the Salafist groups are not openly call for violence. Some clearly speak against it. The national office for the protection of the Constitution speaks of a total of 3,000 members of the Scene in the Federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The office classifies approximately 780 people as a ready to use violence. Nationwide, approximately 690 persons, according to the Federal criminal police office as the so-called Islamist threat. These are persons, in which security authorities assume that you could commit political crimes. In the past few years, approximately 960 Salafis are according to the Federal protection of the Constitution in the direction of Syria and Iraq traveled. About a third of the travelled is now back in Germany.