Back to search

What is meant by the Wahhabi movement and the Salafi movement, what is the difference between them, and why does each group name itself thus?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

"Wahhabism" is a title given to the da'wah (preaching) movement of the Imam and Reviver, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. This movement played a significant role in spreading the Salafi da'wah. As for Salafism, it is an academic da'wah movement based on adhering to the method of the righteous predecessors (Salaf al-Salih) in deriving guidance from the Quran and Sunnah. Wahhabism is a part of the Salafi movement. It is permissible to be called by any name that does not contain a religiously forbidden element.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy