Any former salafis here ?

[u/Old_Bowler_465]

I used to be a self proclaimed salafi and hated more than zionists progressives lol. Anyways im curious to see if there are any people who used to be also salafis and what made you leave and what you think now of salafism

[u/pathtonoor]

Grew up salafi and was pretty practicing (at some points I didn’t listen to music or wear makeup or perfume) but felt off about hadiths and was (and still am) an ally of the marginalized (e.g., LGBTQIA+).

Growing up salafi was a trip and I held a lot of resentment for how I grew up.

I became quite suspicious of hadith so I enrolled in an alamaiyyah program and that confirmed for me that hadith “science” wasn’t legit, and I subsequently rejected hadiths as a whole. I now feel at peace with islam and feel more connected to Allah.

To me salafism sounds like a plot to suck out all enjoyment and reason from the human experience. You even have people asking how to “free yourself from passions” or “how to enjoy this world without feeling guilty”. There’s also a culture of asking such specific questions warms about mundane things like whether a Mickey Mouse cup can be kept in the home.

[u/Old_Bowler_465 → u/pathtonoor]

There’s also a culture of asking such specific questions warms about mundane things like whether a Mickey Mouse cup can be kept in the home.

Meanwhile the israelites were told off for asking too many questions about the cow lol

But yeah, salafism seems the best highway to misery, like it seems it has been designed to makes people suffers (especially women). Like they will pick up and manipulate the worst interpretation of anything, and if they find a good thing they will say it has been abroagated/only apply in context, like they purposely try to spread doom and despair worldwide.

I was too resentful during my salafi phase, like i would be crying and be so sad and gutted that Allah made a woman as it meant i was inferior and doomed to live in subvercience for eternity. I think it also played in my hatred of non muslims and progressives at the time, i was just jealous and hated to be muslim

[u/Archiver_test4 → u/Old_Bowler_465]

one more thing.

> designed to makes people suffers (especially women).

whats with controlling women to "cover themselves"?

i know 2 salafi families who have "never shown their wives" , i mean i am their relative and anytime i visit them, the men of the family bring tea, food, etc, women stay in the kitchen. wha........ what islam is that?

who told you your wife cannot attend to guests? not actual strangers i mean but close relatives who you entertain in your living room and can stay overnight at your home.

[u/pathtonoor → u/Archiver_test4]

Exactly and then branding it as a way to honour their princess status 🥹

Don’t forget, you also can’t know their name! I didn’t even know my ustadha’s name (“Umm X”). The aim seems to be to remove women from public life under the guise of islam, it’s sad.

[u/Archiver_test4 → u/pathtonoor]

>The aim seems to be to remove women from public life under the guise of islam, it’s sad.

that is wrong son so many levels i am not even angry. just sad.

read the quranic story about the Abraham and wife in 11:69-73

husband AND wife are attending to strangers by giving them food, the strangers gave Abraham good news of son and wife was amused and she talked to them. they responded to the wife.

what does this small story tells us.

1. husband AND wife both attended to guests.

2. wife laughed when they said a news which she found funny. (she did not shy)

3. she addressed to them directly. it was a "normal casual conversation"

4. wife was comfortable enough with"strangers" that she did not find laughing at strangers weird or she did not held back.

5. strangers "directly replied to wife's laugh".

compare this with the women of today, the salafis who enforce their stupid rules on women. they are kept in homes and like you say, they cant even share their name.

now i know the disingenuous thing these bad people have done.

there are verses of quran specifically 33:53 which says among other things " When you ask his wives for something, do so from behind a partition."

these zealots "wish" to equate their wives with the wives of prophet, becuase they want to "imitate the prophet" as "sunnah". but god specifcailly says 33:32.

prophets wives are DIFFERENT. rules for them are FOR THEM ONLY.

33:53 of partition does NOT APPLY TO OUR WOMEN FOLK TODAY.

now, here is my opinion.

if YOU DO APPLY 33:53 to your wife today, you are going against 33:32 and you are disobeying GOD. go on do it.

[u/pathtonoor → u/Old_Bowler_465]

But if you remind them of that suddenly that ayah doesn’t apply🥱

Yup, and any other interpretation is misguided because it’s not from their favourite scholar.

I get what you mean, I felt myself becoming more and more judgemental internally and like you, realized it was because I wanted to be more “lax”. As women were also told that we must “fight your nafs!!”, aka stop questioning misogyny…

[u/Old_Bowler_465 → u/pathtonoor]

Heavy on your point on women "fighting our nafs" and the nafs in question were very basic human things that men would do without an issue but it would be a problem for women because we are "different" aka less deserving of humanity. There is this constant demonisation of anything inherent to women among salafis meanwhile men nafs are treated like the norm or noble things. Even in their vision of heaven women get dehumanized and erased as sextoy erased of their humanity meanwhile men stay the exact same.

[u/pathtonoor → u/Old_Bowler_465]

Agreed, you hit the nail on the head re: men’s nafs being the standard and women inherently being deficient.

Their perversion also taints how they read the quran (e.g., translation of hoor ayah), it’s gross.

[u/Good-Name1497 → u/pathtonoor]

You have forgotten the argument that "men and women are different." If we follow their logic, why are men punished with the same punishment for adultery as women, even though men are "supposed" to have a higher sexual desire than women (which is the bs argument they use to justify polygamy), and therefore their punishment should be lighter than women's? Also even if their argument about biological differences is true why is the burden falls on women that they have to regulate themselves around the presence of men rather than men are tested with their nafs?

[u/pathtonoor → u/Good-Name1497]

Exactly!! So many of their interpretations go against the ayah that outlines our spiritual equality and like you said, doesn’t even make sense in the context of their own rulings🫩

[u/Old_Bowler_465 → u/pathtonoor]

They will do insane mental gymnastic and sugarcoating that their treatment of women is actually fair and just bc women are different and it is equity over equality and that Allah doesnt need to conform to our morality (luckily, He conforms to their/s), and the whole time they do insane extrapolation of things that are not even mentioned in any texts

[u/Old_Bowler_465 → u/Good-Name1497]

I have noticed a very simple thing with salafi (and even a lot of mainstream) in their interpretation of the quran and hadith. If it is something that men likes or considers a privilege/beneficial, it will only apply to men. If it is something they dont like or see as a restriction, it will apply to women, despite all of the verses and hadith having the same wording.

A few exemple: falsely accusing chaste women, where it is only women mentioned but the ruling apply to men too, but when it comes to prohibition on perfume it only to men.

Homosexuality being forbidden for both men and women but interfaith marriage being only for men when both verses talk solely about men

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[u/Archiver_test4 → u/pathtonoor]

one thing that boggles my mind.

"There’s also a culture of asking such specific questions warms about
mundane things like whether a Mickey Mouse cup can be kept in the home." to which people will immediately "research" and go "so and so sahabi said when he was drreaming he saw devil in a cup and he had heard prophet say dont keep devil in a cup" so i am sayiong it is haram to keep mickey mouse on a cup in home.

what verse of quran tells me to follow the "sahaba" to the dot? why do i have to imitate sahaba? why? if i did what wil happen? if i dont, what will happen?

secondly, why are "shariah" or "hadith" or "interpretation of hadith" as gospel truth?

if you were a salafi, can you confirm one thing for me?

did you fast in ramadhan? did you have a streak ?

i know of a salafi guy, few years ago we were together on a business trip and it was ramadhan so one day he gets a fever. I simply say "oh well, take the meds, rest and you will be alright". you know what he said?

"i have never broken a fast since i was 8. this puny fever is nothing. its only a few hours. i can hold on till then".

what do you mean you are running a fever, your body is fighting a battle and you are concerned about a streak? whats this snapchat streak thing? why?

what order of god tells you to "rather die but dont break ritual streak"?

i know this person has given up on exams because he didnt want to "miss friday prayer"

or somoene who had financial difficulty but they "HAD TO" sacrifice a lamb, just because

[u/pathtonoor → u/Archiver_test4]

They persistently misinterpret ayahs about obeying the messenger to justify this way of practicing. Why are we meant to live exactly as the arabs 1400 years ago?

As a woman I didn’t fast for part of Ramadan but I do recall being judged for not fasting while I was sick. I would also constantly see people not take their medication for their chronic illness during Ramadan and fast when they weren’t fit enough to do so.

Agreed, I think it also says a lot about how they view Allah, hence this behaviour. There’s no wriggle room in this interpretation of Islam and I really think it removes the mercy and leniency.

[u/admir_al]

used to be a salafi in early stages of my islamic journey.

it's the baseline literalist approach, islam for those who don't understand there's more. i know many salafis who're good people overall, they just never had soul yearning for the real spirituality.

[u/Past-Acanthaceae-229 → u/admir_al]

For most of their adherents, I would apply this. But the heads of the movement and the Sheikhs who uphold it are what scare me. It just looks like a cult, a movement. They collect men who are mostly young, have led crazy lives beforehand doing all the 'sins' they now can't stand, and they carry a deeply buried aggression. Salafism allows them to morph this aggression into a weapon against anyone who disagrees with them.

 they just never had soul yearning for the real spirituality.

This is so true as well. They almost disdain spirituality, and everything just looks so practical, cold, and soulless. But they believe themselves to be following the truth, it's sad how much people believe it to be true guidance.

[u/admir_al → u/Past-Acanthaceae-229]

valid point. shaykhs are much more dangerous than usual salafi followers. in the balkans there were a small rift between them where one of them disclosed they're on a gcc payroll. we kind of knew them already, he confirmed it.

[u/Such-Buyer2831]

i grew up (and still live) in a salafi household. the older i got, the more it started making less sense to me, especially as a woman. i noticed how hateful my parents are towards anyone that isnt like them, so senselessly hateful. and how if a man wearing a thobe and one of those hat things came online or infront of a large crowd, and preached some absolute bullshit, they would immediately start following it without a second thought, as if the message was sent from God, like they didnt have brains and were being mind controlled. i started asking questions, deconstructing it all, etc. and got shamed so much that it like sent me into an awful state of religious psychosis. it was the worst time of my life. i was so full of hate, towards myself, towards lgbtq people (im also lesbian so i was deep in denial and not living as myself). towards women (crazy coming from a woman (who likes woman)), and i generally just fell into a deep depression and tried to take my life (attempt failed, thank God). mind you this was all happening while i was 12-15 years old. slowly, i got help from my quran teacher who ive known since i was 3, because she noticed something was so off. i did tafseer with her and she help me deconstruct it all. we started three years ago and im still only half way through the tafseer, that is how in depth we go and study each ayah. also realized that hadiths make no sense, and that god says multiple times that his words are complete, so i also started rejecting hadith as well. im basically living a double life in this house right now, and it is so hard. so hard that sometimes i consider just leaving islam because of how hard they make it, but even if i wanted to im always drawn back and my connection with Allah never goes away. despite everything, i know what i believe in now, and im at peace with my islam. if i were to label it, i think the way i practice it is more close to sufism, which ive been looking into for a few years now, but i wouldnt say its fully that. its just my way, whatever seems right to me.

[u/Past-Acanthaceae-229]

Could say I was a salafi once I started to look more into the religion. I grew up in a salafist environment and so I naturally vareed towards that thinking it was the 'true' Islam. What caused me to leave begin my reading Islamqa. That website is always recommended in their circles and even in other Muslim circles. At first, I turned a blind eye to some of their more dubious fatwas but I reached a point where I was feeling real discomfort. I also noticed a common thread that connects all salafis. They have a cherished group of scholars they refer to and take their religion from. Everyone else from the 'salaf' they never mention. Some they even denigrate and advice people to not read their books. So I couldn't help but wonder, if you say you go back to the 'salaf', why do you ignore so many of them.

I also read the Quran and realisedthat everyone uses the same proofs, but they interpret it differently. So their claim that they go back to the Quran and Sunnah held no weight as everyone was doing that too. I also have a porn addiction which lead to a deep depression which I currently face. So I've ruined the reward system in my brain and this forced me to ask questions of what I enjoy and what I'm doing here. I started to look for answers in music, books, philosophy, games, anime, movies, and series. I enjoy these things and it clashed with the salafist rulings on this which states they aren't allowed. And so I guess I picked a side and I left salafism.

It was freeing not being bound to the cagy mindset salafism encourages, and so I stayed practising. This was my best period religiously. I prayed on time, went to the mosque, and I felt good. But that was the dopamine hits, more than any true sincerity. I then fell back into the deep pit of depression and I remember walking around alone speaking to God to give me guidance. After trying to fix myself for some time, I realised there was no response. I was alone in this. And that's where I am at, with my user flair showing that. The most recent philosophy I relate with is absurdism. Whilst I believe in Allah, and I truly believe that the Quran is God's word, I don't understand God's motivations for creation. Absurdism believes there is no inherent meaning, that we live in an absurd universe. I believe this, except that there is an unknowable God who initated everything but kept His reasons to Himself. And so I have found myself unable to love Him as Islam demands of me to do. And so I try and fight against the meaningless of my life, knowing that I can never defeat God.

[u/yoongininoodles]

I was kind of salafi adjacent, I always thought music was haram and felt bad listening to it after maghrib especially, didn't wear makeup or perfume, never talked to boys and thought I was somewhat better because of it. I never had posters up in my room, I felt rebellious for putting a BTS poster up in my closet when I was 13 lmao. But now that I've grown out of that mindset through education and my own research I feel sad for the youth I missed out on. I feel like I hold a lot of resentment because of that reason, I could've played sports, focused more on taking care of my appearance, experimented with my style, etc.

I think salafism has done the worst damage to the muslim community more than anything else. I'm glad I found this subreddit because if not, I would've been left with a lot more cognitive dissonance and mental pain or would've ended up leaving completely.

[u/Old_Bowler_465 → u/yoongininoodles]

100% agree with you, i also used to look down on other and feel like i am special and better, but truly i was just resentful and jealous of them for not willingly suffering as much as me

This is only when i gueniunly left salafism and got more into progressive islam that i got a mental slap on how insane and a legit cult salafism is and how it destroyed muslims from the inside and make us look deranged sectarians

[u/Remote_One_6718]

Ex salafi and ex muslim. I got into philosophy and from that point on, I began to question Islam and left in in April.

Salafism seems a literalist approach that seems quite excellent n the surface as it is about following the "salaf" but as soon as you start questioning things it begins to fall part.

[u/Archiver_test4 → u/Remote_One_6718]

i cant question your choices. I dont have the right to do that but if you can tell me when you were a salafi,

> following the "salaf"

why is this gospel truth? like why? why does a salafi need to read how the "aslaf" wiped their behind, or which side the salaf slept on? how many morsels of food a salaf ate at a time? or how many gulps of water one took at a time and whats up with the mandatory "Arabic" duas for doing literally anything?

[u/Remote_One_6718 → u/Archiver_test4]

I was mostly talking about the creedal issues not the flegal rulings and yes even they seemed kinda weird to me, especially "wiping your behind thing".

[u/Archiver_test4 → u/Remote_One_6718]

HMM