Consequently, even though respondents gave several reasons for seeking out ‘authentic’ knowledge once, they became Salafi the most significant one was the firm belief that its pursuit was an obligation for every individual, male or female, without which nearness to Allah and His pleasure or happiness in this life (and the Hereafter) were unobtainable. This concept is well grounded within Salafism, and is evidenced in the following quote from one of the most illustrious Salafi scholars, Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (d.1350 CE):
From the ways to achieve happiness is knowledge, as it brings happiness to the heart and expands it until it is vaster than the world itself. Ignorance on the other hand, brings anxiety, constriction and confinement. The greater the servant’s knowledge the happier and more the vast his heart will be with joy (Amān al-Jamī transl. Somali 2014:26).
Therefore, acquiring the correct knowledge of Islam was one of the first steps respondents took towards removing past anxieties and achieving ontological security, which Giddens (1990) describes as a type of reflexivity that defines all human action and through which individuals “routinely ‘keep in touch’ with the grounds of what they do as an integral element of doing it” (Giddens 1994/1990:36). This was the case for Rabia, who, like other French MH respondents in desperate need of resolving an identity crisis in the face of ‘9/11’ and the ensuing Islamophobia, could only feel existential fulfilment once she understood the correct meaning of Tawheed and her purpose in life:
Now I won’t say I don’t know why I’m doing this. I can explain everything I’m doing, or at least try to explain. Everything in my life has come together. Before I was Muslim, I was doing haraam, but now I know why I shouldn’t do them. So, life just makes sense now. (Rabia)
A good example of how this type of reflexivity played an important part in the process of converting to Salafism is provided by Sumayyah. She explains that it was not until she questioned the oral traditions of the past that she truly grasped the meaning of Islam, despite having grown up in Malaysia. Sumayyah knew how to do things in the Islamic way, but not why she did them, demonstrating the need for what Giddens describes as a process of “thought and action [that] are constantly refracted back upon one another”, and the important “premise that to be a human being is to know … both what one is doing and why one is doing it” (Giddens 1994/1990:35, 38). For Sumayyah and the other respondents in a similar position, “the routinisation of daily life [came to have] no intrinsic connection with the past at all, save in so far as what ‘was done before’ happen[ed] to coincide with what [could] be defended in a principled way in the light of incoming knowledge” (Giddens 1994/1990:38):
Knowing the Sunnah, why I do things, and that it’s the correct way that is accepted by Allah is the most important thing for me. Before I was just blind following, praying, and not knowing why. Not knowing why I was created—can you imagine? (Sumayyah)
This is a strong example of how “human beings are able reflexively ‘to use history to make history’” (Giddens 1991/2018:211). In addition, it highlights the universal “desire to make sense of the world”, since the “bafflement (lack of explanation)” on the meaning of human events “is an extremely anxiety-producing experience” that religion can “combat” by providing the “religious response to ‘Why?’ answered primarily in term of values: What does a particular event mean in understanding the ultimate purpose or goal of one’s life?” (Roberts and Yamane 2016:55):
Peace and knowing what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, and to actually understand it. There are a lot of people who give their own interpretations, but they don’t back it up with proof. But Salafiyyah provides evidence and explanation … you put your reliance in Allah, He won’t lead you astray unless there’s a sickness in your heart. (Saima)
Respondents understood the important principle within Salafism that for any act of worship to be accepted in the religion, it must align with the prescribed Sunnah of the Messenger Muhammad, which again depended upon the correct knowledge.[1] Seeking knowledge was therefore viewed as essential to the embodiment of Imaan for all respondents, and is proof that (purist) Salafis do not merely ascribe themselves to Salafiyyah, but strive hard to acquire the status of ‘Salafi’. This, in turn, brought order and structure to respondents’ lives while simultaneously averting a state of anomie attributable to the confusion and lack of understanding the religion had caused prior to respondents’ pursuit of correct knowledge:
I don’t have much knowledge, but at least now I know why I am doing things, why I pray, why I fast. It changes everything. Now I understand my Deen. It’s important to know I know my Lord who I worship all day and night, and for the rest of my life, and what pleases and displeases Him, because I didn’t know Him before. (Rabia)
For most respondents, diligence in obtaining knowledge in this way was one of the first things they learnt after becoming Salafi. Saima compared seeking the correct knowledge in the pursuit of truth to working for a pharmaceutical company because both require relying on evidence and adhering to rules and regulations. This is a good example of “those in occupations where obeying rules is fundamental to success are more comfortable with religious systems that are precise and absolute about moral expectations” (Roberts and Yamane 2016:336):
You can trace the authenticity of things all the way back to the Prophet (ﷺ) and his Companions and coming from a science background you can’t move ahead in a matter unless you have evidence for it and you have to adhere to the rules and regulations of the health authority. (Saima)
[1] ‘The Acceptable Action, Author Hussain al-Awaaishah’, Eng. Trans. By Abu Iyaad, accessed 14th August 2020.
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