Understanding Salafism
Seeking the Path of the Pious Predecessors
Author: Yasir Qadhi Series: Oneworld
A comprehensive overview of the most misunderstood movement in modern Islam: Salafism.
3rd November 2025
Hardcover
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
A comprehensive overview of the most misunderstood movement in modern Islam: Salafism.
Description
The Salafi movement invokes fear and dread in outsiders who treat Salafism as synonymous with religious extremism. For Salafis themselves, it’s a jealously guarded title, always in danger of dilution. Salafism has changed the face of Islam; its ideas reach far outside its own ranks. Yet popular portrayals never go beyond hackneyed stereotypes.
In Understanding Salafism, Dr Yasir Qadhi delves into the origins of the movement, from the earliest debates in Islam to Salafism today, in both the Western and Islamic worlds. In an analysis covering Salafism in the Middle
East, Europe, the United States and Africa, he illuminates Salafism’s theological ideas, the debates within Salafism about political participation, and its relationship to other schools in Sunni Islam.
Critic Reviews
'Understanding Salafism meets a daunting challenge: tracing a vibrant and influential genealogy of ideas and practice, as protean as it is influential, across twelve centuries. The author, both an insider and outsider to this tradition, lays it out in full, from abstruse but still vital theological debates in medieval Baghdad to the very worldly politics of extremist movements today. This is a one-stop shop for those who want to know what Salafism is, where it came from, and how it's contested.' Jonathan A. C. Brown, author of Misquoting Muhammad
'Yasir Qadhi’s Understanding Salafism is a true gem. Once the leading voice of Salafism in the Anglosphere but having moved on from its sectarian impulses, Qadhi provides an academically robust and comprehensive account of Salafism that displays intimate knowledge of its theology and social networks and profound sensitivity to its historical contingency.' Jon Hoover, author of Ibn Taymiyya
'There is no better person to write this book than Yasir Qadhi. A leading scholar once immersed in Salafi circles, he combines intimate insights with academic rigor. This long-awaited contribution fills a critical void, offering much-needed clarity on a movement often misunderstood. A must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Salafism.' Emad Hamdeh, author of Salafism and Traditionalism
About the Author
Yasir Qadhi is a resident scholar of the East Plano Islamic Center in Texas, and dean of the Islamic Seminary of America. He is one of the few people who has combined a traditional Eastern Islamic seminary education with
Western academic training in the study of Islam. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Islamic University of Madinah, a master’s from the College of Dawah, and a PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University. He lives in
Dallas, Texas.
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3rd November 2025
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