Salafi

A Salafi (Arabic: سلفي‎) is a follower of an Islamic movement that takes the Salaf of the patristic period of early Islam, as exemplary models. The word Salaf is an Arabic noun which translates to "predecessor", or "forefather" and who are collectively referred to as the "Salaf as-Saaleh", or Pious Predecessors, namely the first three Muslim generations: the Sahabah ("Companions"), the Tabi‘un ("Followers") and the Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in ("Those after the Followers"). These three generations and their understanding of the texts and tenets of Islam are looked upon by Salafis as the Islamic orthodoxy.