Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. This comprises companions of the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

(the ), their followers (the ), and the followers of the followers (the ). Their religious significance lay in the statement attributed to Muhammad: "The best of my community are my generation, the ones who follow them and the ones who follow them", a period believed to exemplify the purest form of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. The generations of Muslims after the third are referred to as the Khalaf.

Second generation

The

Tabi‘un The tābiʿūn (, also accusative or genitive tābiʿīn , singular ''tābiʿ'' ), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of Muslims who followed the Companions of the Prophet, companions (''ṣaḥāba'') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad ...

, the successors of

Sahabah The Companions of the Prophet () were the Muslim disciples and followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime. The companions played a major role in Muslim battles, society, hadith narration, and governance ...

. *

Amir al-Sha'bi Abū ʿAmr ʿĀmir ibn Sharāḥīl ibn ʿAbd al-Kūfī al-Shaʿbī (), 641–723, commonly known as Imam al-Sha'bi or al-Sha'bi, was an Arab historian and jurist of the ''tabi'un'', born during the rule of Umar ibn al-Khattab. As a prominent ...

Abu Muslim Al-Khawlani Abu Muslim Al-Khawlani () (died 684) was a well-known ''tabi'i'' (plural: taba'een) and a prominent religious figure in Damascus, Syria. He was one of the 'Eight Ascetics,' who also included Amir ibn Abd al-Qays, Uways al-Qarani, Al-Rabi ibn Khut ...

* Abu Suhail an-Nafi' ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman *

Al-Ahnaf Abu Bahr Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays () was a Muslim commander who lived during the time of Islamic prophet Muhammad. He hailed from the Arab tribe of Banu Tamim and was born of noble parents. Initially, his father named him ad-Dhahhak, but people called h ...

Malik Ibn Anas Malik ibn Anas (; –795) also known as Imam Malik was an Arab Islamic scholar and traditionalist who is the eponym of the Maliki school, one of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence in Sunni Islam.Schacht, J., "Mālik b. Anas", in: ''E ...

Abu Hanifa Abu Hanifa (; September 699 CE – 767 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic,Pakatchi, Ahmad and Umar, Suheyl, "Abū Ḥanīfa", in: ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'', Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. and epony ...

Ja'far al-Sadiq Ja'far al-Sadiq (; –765) was a Muslim hadith transmitter and the last agreed-upon Shia Imam between the Twelvers and Isma'ilis. Known by the title al-Sadiq ("The Truthful"), Ja'far was the eponymous founder of the Ja'fari school of Isla ...

* Al-Rabi Ibn Khuthaym * Ali Akbar * Ali ibn Husayn (Zain-ul-'Abidin) * Alqama ibn Qays al-Nakha'i * Ata Ibn Abi Rabah * Atiyya bin Saad *

Hasan al-Basri Abi Sa'id al-Hasan ibn Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as al-Hasan al-Basri, was an ancient Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, exegete, scholar, and judge. Born in Medina in 642,Mourad, Suleiman A., “al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in: ''Encyc ...

* Iyas Ibn Muawiyah Al-Muzani * Masruq ibn al-Ajda' *

Muhammad al-Baqir Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir (; ) was a descendant of the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and the fifth of the Twelve Imams, twelve Shia imams, succeeding his father, Ali al-Sajjad, and succeeded by his son, Ja'far al-Sad ...

* Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah * Muhammad Ibn Wasi' Al-Azdi * Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri * Muhammad ibn Munkadir * Nafi Mawla Ibn Umar * Muhammad ibn Sirin, son of a slave of

Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arabs, Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career ...

Musa ibn Nusayr Musa ibn Nusayr ( ''Mūsá bin Nuṣayr''; 640 – c. 716) was an Arab general and governor who served under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim province of Ifriqiya, and directed the Islamic conquest of the Visigothic King ...

Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr () (born 36 or 38 AH and died 106 AH or 108 AH; corresponding to 660/662 and 728/730) The Four Imams by Muhammad Abu Zahrahchapter on Imam Malik was a jurist in early Islam. In the Naqshbandi Sufi or ...

* Raja ibn Haywa * Sa'id ibn Jubayr * Said ibn al-Musayyib * Salamah ibn Dinar * Salih Ibn Ashyam Al-Adawi * Salim Ibn Abdullah Ibn Umar Ibn al-Khattab * Shuraih Al-Qadhi *

Sufyan al-Thawri Abū ʿAbd Allāh Sufyān ibn Saʿīd ibn Masrūq ibn Ḥamza al-Thawrī al-Muḍarī al-Kūfī (; 716–778 CE / 97–161 AH), commonly known as Sufyān al-Thawrī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist, ascetic, traditionist, and eponymous ...

* Tariq Ibn Ziyad * Tawus Ibn Kaysan * Umar Ibn Abdul-Aziz * Umm Kulthum bint Abu Bakr * Urwah Ibn Al-Zubayr * Uwais al-Qarni *

Amr ibn Dinar Amr ibn Dinar (, ) was a seventh-century Muslim jurist and hadith transmitter from the ''tabi'un'' who served as the mufti of Mecca. Biography Amr ibn Dinar's exact date of birth is unknown, but Islamic biographical dictionaries estimate it to ...

Third generation

The

Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in The Tābiʿū al-Tābʿīn (, singular ) is the generation after the Tābi‘ūn in Islam. The first generation of Muslims are called the companions of Muhammad. The second generation of Muslims are called ''tābi‘ūn'' "Successors". The t ...

, the successors of the

. * Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi * Al Qutaybah * Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya *

Muhammad bin Qasim Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Thaqafī (; –) was an Arabs, Arab military commander in service of the Umayyad Caliphate who led the Muslim conquest of Sindh (and Punjab, part of ancient Sindh), inaugurating the Umayyad campaigns in India. His m ...

Al bidaya wan Nahaya,

Ibn Kathir Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (; ), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic Exegesis, exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on (Quranic exegesis), (history) and (Islamic jurisprudence), he is considered a lea ...

* Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya al-Qaysiyya *

Al-Shafi‘i Al-Shafi'i (; ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles of Is ...

Zayd ibn Ali Zayd ibn ʿAlī (; 695–740), also spelled Zaid, was the son of Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, and great-grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib. He led an unsuccessful revolt against the Umayyad Caliphate, in which he died. The event gave rise to t ...

* Ishaq ibn Rahwayh *

Al-Layth ibn Sa'd Al-Layth ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Fahmī al-Qalqashandī () was an Arab and the chief representative, imam, and eponym of the Laythi school of Islamic Jurisprudence. He was regarded as the main representative of an Egyptian tradition ...

Sufyan ibn Uyaynah Sufyan () is an Arabic name. * Nader Sufyan Abbas (born 1975), Qatari weightlifter * Abu Sufyan Al-Azdi (1973–2013), Saudi Arabian deputy leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula * Khaled bin Sufyan Al-Hathali (died 625), be ...

References

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Salaf Salaf (, "ancestors" or "predecessors"), also often referred to with the honorific expression of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (, "the pious predecessors"), are often taken to be the first three generations of Muslims. This comprises companions of the ...

Islamic terminology

Second generation

Third generation

See also

References