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On May 21, 2016, the infamous Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, now deceased, published an article in Al Hayat newspaper titled ‘This is not our Salafism.’ This piece, also featured on Al Arabiya News on May 22, 2016, and criticized Salafism, by asserting, “Salafism became radical and divided into several parties.” Khashoggi’s writing style and analysis targeted a so called ‘woke’ liberal audience, but in reality, it only resonated with a dimwitted liberal crowd who do not read beyond the tales told by deceptive journalists.

It’s evident from the article that Khashoggi’s understanding of Salafism mirrored that of the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwanis) and liberal critics of Islam. He inaccurately lumped Salafis with heretical Kharijite groups (Daesh/AQ), addressing both as ‘Salafists’ without distinguishing between the two. This indicates that Khashoggi never sought knowledge to understand the Salafi methodology under prominent Salafi scholars like Shaykh Ibn Bāz, Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, and Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan during the course of his life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Despite Khashoggi’s delusion that his pseudo-intellectual narrative would hold weight, his errors revealed a lack of comprehension of the Salafi methodology, its principles, and the implications of identifying as a Salafi. Moreover, he contradicted foundational principles within Salafism by failing to differentiate between Salafis and the violent extremist Kharijite revolutionaries (Daesh/AQ), marking a similarity with the methodology of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In 2014, prominent Salafi scholars, including Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan (from Riyadh, KSA) and Shaykh Salih as-Suhaymee (the Mufti of Madinah, KSA) refuted Daesh, Al Qaeda, and their affiliates, by denouncing them as “Takfeeri Kharijites” who excommunicate other Muslims. They freed Salafism from the diseased methodology of these extremist Kharijite revolutionary entities by addressing them as polar opposite movements which oppose the core principles of the Salafi methodology. Therefore, Khashoggi’s claim that “Salafism became radical and divided into several parties” is oxymoronic and far from the truth since Salafism has remained a unified creed and methodology synonymous to Islam and the prophetic method (Sunnah).