Salafism’s Historical Continuity: The Reception of ‘Modernist’ Salafis by ‘Purist’ Salafis in Jordan

Abstract

Academics do not agree on the historical continuity between ‘modernist’ Salafis from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and today's ‘purist’ ones. Interestingly, little attention has been paid to how the latter deal with this issue. This article seeks partly to fill this gap by analysing the reception of ‘modernist’ Salafis in the work of Jordanian ‘purist’ Salafis. It first provides background information on the history of ‘purist’ Salafism in Jordan, with a specific focus on the Syrian-Jordanian scholar Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī (1914–1999). It then moves on to analyse the perception of ‘modernist’ Salafi scholars by al-Albānī and the politically quietist branch of ‘purist’ Salafism in Jordan. Next, it deals with the political branch of the ‘purist’ Salafis in the Kingdom and the way they have perceived ‘modernist’ Salafis. Finally, in the conclusion I link the topic of this article to the debate about the historical continuity between ‘modernist’ and ‘purist’ Salafis.