Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī
Through late 2025 and 2026, during the ongoing fitnah of ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī and his clique, numerous shaykhs began to write: a) in defence of the foundations of the Sunnah and the Salafī methodology, b) in preservation of academic and scholarly standards, c) in upholding truth and justice and d) rejecting oppression manifesting as unwarranted Ḥaddādī-type aggression against Salafīs based on lies and fabrications or genuine slips that do not represent any underlying deviation.
From them is Shaykh Bilāl al-Salimī from Egypt. The calibre and clarity of his writings are a good reflection of the way and methodology of Shaykh Rabīʿ bin Hādī, Shaykh Aḥmad al-Najmī, Shaykh Zayd al-Madkhalī, Shaykh ʿUbayd al-Jābirī and other scholars who are from his teachers. His writings get to the crux of the matter, are meticulous and are replete with foundations and principles.
In response, the followers and sympathisers of ʿArafāt have resorted to what they do best, which is to evade knowledge-based discussions, character assassinate those who advise, correct and admonition them, wave tazkiyāt (endorsements) as a defence, and employ selective outrage and intellectual terrorism to shield personalities that have received justified criticism.
Additionally, they seek out the slips and errors of their critics (or make them up) in a systematic manner in order to create distractions and diversions to avoid having to admit and face their own errors which are proven against them. Very sadly, this is a vile, vindictive and malicious approach which has polluted the daʿwah. It is has been inherited from deviants such as Abū al-Ḥasan al-Maʾribī, Fāliḥ al-Ḥarbī and their followers.
This is indicative of what Shaykh Rabīʿ pointed out decades ago, of the presence of ghuluww (exaggeration), fanaticism and loyalty to personalities among Salafīs and even described it as reaching the level of the Ṣūfīyyah and Rāfiḍah.
Truthful, knowledge-based criticisms often take place between mashāyikh, and they may offer advice or constructive criticism regarding statements, actions or inactions, deeming it to be of beneficial interest (maṣlaḥah). This is understood by mature people who, instead of being offended and behaving like children, look at the actual issues and see where the truth lies.
This is far removed from the new trend devised by ʿArafāt and his followers to stifle and undermine the healthy academic and intellectual atmosphere that ought to exist for knowledge-based discovery and elimination of error within the ranks of Ahl al-Sunnah so long as it is upon truthfulness, justice, integrity and with sincerity of purpose. Their way is to revile and character assassinate anyone who dares to resist and defend himself against their oppression, and anyone who points out their errors and their unsavoury dealings with Ahl al-Sunnah.
We love all the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah and likewise the mashāyikh and students, and we are obligated to have loyalty towards them by virtue of their Islām, Īmān and sound creed and methodology. This is a given.
However, we do not accept that certain people have exclusively inherited the mantle of scholarship and are returned to in all affairs of al-Jarḥ wal-Taʿdīl, daʿwah and current affairs, and are the specific and unique authority (marjiʿiyyah) for solving all the world's problems, including geopolitical ones, and that their harsh, reckless, dismissive and vindictive approach—worlds apart from the way of Shaykh Rabi` and Shaykh ʿUbayd—can just be left to collect more and more victims and tribulations in the ranks of Ahl al-Sunnah without disapproval and rejection.
We reject this ghuluww categorically, without any shyness, hesitation or fear, because it is demanded by religion and intellect. For if we reject prohibited ghuluww in the Prophets, the Messengers and their Companions, without it being said “You are trying to bring them down”, then surely, we can reject it for those less than them, except of course, in the eyes of those following the ways of the Ṣūfiyyah and Rāfiḍah as Shaykh Rabīʿ alluded to decades ago.[1]
Any scholar, shaykh or student who venerates the truth, the foundations of the Sunnah and the Salafī methodology and comes to its defence and aid with knowledge, evidence and scholarly integrity, we acknowledge him in accordance with the principles of justice and displaying loyalty for the truth, wherever and with whomever it is found.
Shaykh Abū al-ʿAbbās Bilāl ibn ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Sālimī (حفظه الله) has upheld the foundations of the Sunnah and the Salafī methodology in relation to rulership, obedience, rebellion, sedition and treatment of Ahl al-Sunnah and Ahl al-Bidʿah upon the way and detail of Shaykh Rabīʿ, Shaykh Aḥmad al-Najmī, Shaykh Zayd, Shaykh ʿUbayd (رحمهم الله) and others who clarified many of the affairs of Salafī methodology alongside their love, mercy and kindness towards Ahl al-Sunnah and their genuine concern for them and their daʿwah.
Biographical Resources
We present here some biographical details about the shaykh (حفظه الله). There is a short biography (PDF). It is reproduced below for easier reading.[2] There is also an an autobiography.
Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī also has some ijāzāt, one relating to Ṣaḥīḥ al-Imām al-Bukhārī, with a connected chain to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), and one from Shaykh Aḥmad al-Najmī (رحمه الله) related to the beginnings of the Six Books (of Ḥadīth), and an ijāzah related to the Sunan of Abū Dāwūd and other books.
There is also a strong recommendation from Shaykh ʿAlī al-Waṣīfī (رحمه الله), who was one of the senior and prominent Salafī scholars in Egypt.
See also a praise by Shaykh Aḥmad al-Najmī (رحمه الله) for the book of Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī, “Abraʾū Ilallāh Min al-Intisāb Ilā al-Ashkhāṣh wal-Aḥzāb”. Shaykh Rabīʿ was also given a copy of the book and said that illness prevented him from reviewing it, but that the comment of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Najmī in commendation of it suffices.
Khālid ʿUthmān and the Speech Against Shaykh Bilāl
In the early stages of the fitnah of the Muṣaʿfiqah, Shaykh Ḥasan bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bannā (رحمه الله) had some words regarding Shaykh Bilāl due to Khālid ʿUthmān who had sided with Muḥammad bin Hādī. Shaykh Ḥasan was not clear about the fitnah at the beginning until Shaykh Rabīʿ spoke and clarified the matter to him. After this, Shaykh Ḥasan changed his view and had good words about Shaykh Bilal, maintaining his prior view of him, and recognising that he was correct regarding the fitnah. This matter has been used deceptively by some of the fanatics to defame Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī.
Clarification of Speech From Shaykh Ḥassan bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bannā. See also pages 5-6 in the short biography which also addresses this matter.
Sadly, some of them continue to use this issue, even after it has been clarified, indicating their malice and evil intentions.
Differentiating Between Scholars and Pseudo-Scholars
Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī’s excellent exposition of ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī’s attempts to trample upon Shaykh al-Albānī is a good illustration of the reality of ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī. If the detractors were read these three illustrations, academic and intellectual honesty, if they possessed it, would force them to acknowledge this.
—Part 1: Between Scholarship and Audacity: Exposing Arafat Al-Muhammadi’s Fallacies Regarding the Payment of Zakat al-Fitr (19/03/2026). ʿArafāt opposed the view settled upon by the senior scholars of the era, and in trying to inflate himself over them, he confused between two narrators having the same name, which is the basis for him weakening the ḥadīth in the subject matter. Original source.
—Part 2: The Conclusive Proof Refuting the Challenge Against the Hadith of the Two Rak'ahs After the Eid Prayer. “An examination of Arafat’s words reveals a flagrant transgression against authoritative scholars, singling them out for rebuttal in matters where they had correctly identified the truth and grasped the very essence of the reality.” Original source.
—Part 3: The Hadith of Wa’il bin Hujr and the additional phrase “and he moves (the finger) it while supplicating” . “This hasty application of the ruling of shudhūdh (irregularity) is merely a superficial judgment based on a cursory view; it does not originate from a scholar who has rigorously scrutinized this discipline or mastered its intricacies and depths—as was the case with the great critical Imams.” Original source.
As expected, the ʿArafātiyyah have drawn upon the speech of Shaykh Muqbil (رحمه الله) in this last issue to defend ʿArafāt. Firstly however, there is a world of difference between Shaykh Muqbil and this liar. Secondly, the stronger evidence and reasoning in the matter lies with Shaykh al-Albānī and aligns more strongly with the principles. Thirdly, for Shaykh Muqbil and others, it’s an ijtihād emanating from genuine scholarship, and they are rewarded. As for ʿArafāt, then whoever reads all three parts and looks at the titles and language used by ʿArafāt, alongside his alliance with and defence of Hishām al-Beily, it becomes clear that it emanates from pseudo-scholarship and an agenda. If ʿArafāt is merely following Shaykh Muqbil’s view, then he is not speaking with knowledge from himself, but following another. And if he is speaking from himself, then he is not qualified to follow up Shaykh al-Albānī (رحمه الله) in this manner and nor to make subtle digs at him with demeaning words.
The above three articles demonstrate the difference between the two parties, those who are upon the way of the scholars as actually demonstrated in their writings and refutations, in meaning and substance, and those who argue by way of statuses and endorsements (tazkiyāt) and retort with selective outrage and intellectual terrorism with nothing of any real substance in their writings, except airing grievances, making mockery and belittlement, shedding tears, and bringing side issues as distractions.
Short Biography of Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī
Name and Lineage
Abū al-ʿAbbās Bilāl ibn ʿAbd al-Ghanī ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAṭiyyah ibn Ibrāhīm Abū Hilāl al-Hilālī al-Sālimī, al-Iskandarī.
Birth and Early Life
Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī was born on 21 July 1970 and was raised in his father’s home in the village of al-Sālimiyyah.
From an early age, he had a strong inclination toward adherence to the Sunnah. Before reaching the age of twenty, he had already committed himself to following it and began regularly attending gatherings of knowledge around 1990.
Pursuit of Knowledge
In 1997, he traveled for ʿUmrah, eager to meet the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah, most notably Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رحمه الله. He attended one of the Shaykh’s lectures in Jeddah, met him personally, and later attended his lessons in al-Masjid al-Ḥarām. These encounters greatly intensified his desire for knowledge and structured study.
In 2000, during another ʿUmrah journey, he met Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī, who further clarified to him—both deeply and comprehensively—the principles of the Salafī methodology.
Studies and Formal Education
The Shaykh resided in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for an extended period, studying in several major centers of learning, including:
- Four years at the Grand Mosque of ʿUnayzah (al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr), studying with senior students of Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn.
- Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Makkiyyah, where he studied under prominent Salafī scholars, foremost among them Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAlī Ādam al-Ithyūbī.
- Imām Muḥammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Faculty of Sharīʿah, where he completed a Bachelor’s degree.
His Teachers
Shaykh Bilāl studied with more than two hundred of the Mashayekh, among the most eminent and influential in his scholarly journey were:
- Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn (رحمه الله)
- Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Najmī (رحمه الله)
- Shaykh Zayd ibn Muḥammad al-Madkhalī (رحمه الله)
- Shaykh Ṣāliḥ ibn Fawzān al-Fawzān (رحمه الله)
- Shaykh Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad al-Luḥaydān (رحمه الله)
- Shaykh Rabīʿ ibn Hādī al-Madkhalī (رحمه الله)
- Shaykh ʿUbayd ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Jābirī (رحمه الله)
- Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ghudayyān (رحمه الله)
- Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Bannā (رحمه الله)
His Scholarly Commendations (Tazkiyāt) The Shaykh Al-Allāmah Hasan Ibn Abdil-Wahhab Al-Banna رحمه الله stated about the noble Shaykh; Bilāl Ibn Abdil-Ghaniyy As-Sālimi حفظه الله:
- - “You are the Muhaddith of Misr.”
- - ”Go to the Shaykh and Muhaddith in Alexandria.”
- - ”We have with us the Muhaddith: Bilal…”[3]
01 Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Najmī (رحمه الله) Under whom he read the opening portions of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, and listened to the opening portions of the remaining four Sunan collections. Shaykh al-Najmī granted him ijāzah for these readings, as well as a general ijāzah in all of his narrations. He also read portions of the Shaykh’s authored works to him directly. These authorizations are recorded in al-Laʾālī al-Durriyyah fī Jamʿ al-Asānīd al-Najmiyyah.
02 Shaykh Yaḥyā ibn ʿUthmān al-ʿAẓīm Ābādī Al-Mudarris (رحمه الله) With whom he studied Nukhbat al-Fikar along with its explanation. He frequently attended his well-attended gatherings in al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, including lessons on Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah, the two Ṣaḥīḥs, Sunan al-Tirmidhī, and al-Nuzhah. The Shaykh granted him both a specific and a general ijāzah, documented in al-Najm al-Bādī fī Tarjamat al-ʿAllāmah al-Muḥaddith al-Salafī al-Mudarris ʿAẓīm Ābādī.
03 Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAlī Ādam al-Ithyūbī (حفظه الله) Under whom he attended lessons and scholarly gatherings for over a year and six months at Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Makkiyyah and Masjid al-Abrār in the al-Nakkāsah area of Makkah. Among the texts studied were Ṣaḥīḥ al-Nasāʾī and Sunan Ibn Mājah. The Shaykh granted him ijāzah for these studies and a general ijāzah in all narrations, recorded in Mawāhib al-Ṣamad li-ʿAbdih Muḥammad.
04 Shaykh Muḥammad Amīn al-Ḥarārī (حفظه الله) To whom he read the opening sections of al-Sunnah in the Shaykh’s home in Makkah al-Mukarramah. He also attended his tafsīr lessons at Dār al-Ḥadīth al-Makkiyyah for over a year. Shaykh al-Badr granted him both a specific and a general ijāzah, recorded in Muʿjam Shuyūkh al-Maqāṣid bi-Asānīd al-Funūn.
His Authored Works
Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī has authored several scholarly works, including:
- Al-Ḥāfil fī Fiqh al-Nawāfil
The Comprehensive Work on the Jurisprudence of Voluntary Acts of Worship (First volume published) - Khazāʾin al-Asrār fī Adhkār al-Mashy wa-l-Ibkārv Treasuries of Secrets on Supplications for Walking and for Morning and Evening (Published multiple times)
- Abrāʾu ilā Allāh min al-Jāmiyyah wa-l-Madkhaliyyah
A Declaration of Disavowal before Allah from the Jāmiyyah and the Madkhaliyyah (Published more than once) - Al-Zahr al-Maṭlūl fī al-Khabar al-Maʿlūl
The Withered Blossom on the Defective Narration (Unpublished; four volumes completed) - Bahjat al-Akhbār fī Fiqh al-Aḥādīth al-Qiṣār
The Delight of Reports in the Jurisprudence of Short Hadiths (One volume; currently in print) - Al-Fawāʾid wa-l-Farāʾid
Benefits and Rare Insights (One volume; unpublished) - Al-Fiqh al-Uṣūlī
Foundational Jurisprudence (Concise treatise) - Jamʿ al-Baḥrayn wa Multaqā al-Nahrayn fī Ḥifẓ al-Arbaʿīn
The Confluence of the Two Seas and the Meeting of the Two Rivers in Memorizing the Forty (Two volumes, question-and-answer format)
Sources
Compiled from a question-and-answer on the Shaykh’s page alongside his biography published on his website.
Doubts and Misconceptions
Some of them have claimed that Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī is “unknown”. Just because he is “unknown” to them as they claim (and some of them are just plain liars), it does not make him unknown to the scholars, which is what counts.
Further, regardless of whether he is known or not known to you, we accept the truth from wherever and whomever it comes, whether he is an aged scholar, or a college student, and this is a principle the scholars of humility have made clear.
Where are these people compared to Shaykh Rabīʿ who said:
And if you find me errant or unjust in anything, I am prepared, by Allāh, to accept advice from a high school student or a middle school student.
Speaking of age, if ʿAbd al-Ilāh al-Rifāʿī (said to be a former Ikhwānī/Quṭbī with associations with extreme Ḥaddādīs) can be entered into the affairs of Western daʿwah, then how can they have an issue with people conveying truth and clarity from those who are decades older than him such as Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī and more grounded and greater in veneration of the Sunnah and the Salafī methodology than al-Rifāʿī and his likes?
Also, the notion of introducing “unknowns” to the West is a strange one, given that some of these people began to quote from individuals like Aḥmad Bādukhn whom they likely never heard of before. Some of them from Western countries went looking for the deviant Hishām al-Beily upon the advice of ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī, thereby introducing an “unknown” to Salafīs in Western lands.
In addition, no one has declared Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī or the others to be a “marjiʿiyyah”. Rather, they have simply accepted the truth that they have spoken in these particular issues, and outside of that, they are considered to be among the generality of the shuyūkh of Ahl al-Sunnah, we give them respect and we take from them the knowledge that they have and are competent in, and if they come with truth in any matter, it is accepted.
Further still, Shaykh Bilāl is not alone, for there are both Shaykh ʿAlī al-Hudhayfī and Shaykh Nizār who are not unknowns to the West at all. Shaykh ʿAlī has had participation in lectures and dawrāt numerous times and we have translated materials from Shaykh Nizār seven or eight years ago.
As for the doubt of “muwāfaqah”, that you raise these shaykhs because of “agreement”, then when Salafīs who have been nurtured upon the way of the Rabbānī scholars and have stood behind and with them during many tribulations, fail to see the continuity of the just, kind and merciful dealings with Ahl al-Sunnah as exemplified by those scholars—which kept Ahl al-Sunnah united around the foundations of the Sunnah with mutual love and affection—and instead, experience oppression, recklessness, and the seeding of tribulations through such misconduct, then, naturally, they will become averse and incline towards anyone who courageously exhibits and preserves the way of those senior scholars that they know and cherish. Any truthful person would have a natural aversion to liars and agitators such as ʿArafāt al-Muḥammadī and his ilk.
In essence, these are all nonsense arguments to evade and reject the truth. when faced with legitimate criticisms for their errors related to foundations of the Sunnah, ʿArafāt and his followers resort to fault-finding and character assassination in order to protect perceived statuses, and this is what their activities revolve around. They flee from addressing anything in substance and treat knowledge-based inquiry, advice and justified criticism as “attacking the scholars”, indicating their bankruptcy and inability to engage with sincerity of purpose, may Allāh guide us and them to what He loves and is pleased with.
Speaking of Unknowns: Aḥmad Bādukhn
During 2025, some aggrieved agitators from the UK (and elsewhere) began to quote from Aḥmad Bādukhn to attack certain Salafī shaykhs and students, and for sure, they knew next to nothing about him. Here is a glimpse of his reality.
Shaykh ʿAlī al-Ḥudhayfī said:
When someone comes to us from outside our governorate, from outside Aden, he comes as a guest—someone younger than us who ought to have been seeking knowledge from the brothers here—yet he comes to Aden as a guest and incites people to fight the government and the Presidential Brigades established by the late President Abd Rabbihī Manṣūr—Allah’s mercy be upon him—and I advise him, saying, “O so-and-so, you are young; do not write about this or incite against the state”, only for his associates to scatter and for the pens to start writing against me, “He ought to fear Allah, ʿAlī al-Hudhayfī ought to fear Allāh.” Why? Because I advised him to exercise restraint regarding the shedding of blood. And then you ask me why I call him a low-life?
A man who incites others to fight his own colleagues—the very man inciting against the state and the government institutions established by the former President—is himself a member of one of those brigades.
The commanders of these brigades have told me about his messages demanding his salary. You issue religious rulings calling for combat against the Presidential Brigades established by the President, even though you are a member of one of them, and then you go and demand your salary from the brigade commander? And then you ask why I call him a low-life? Glorified be to Allāh! Look at your own actions, look at your own actions.
What we gather from this is that everything they accuse others of, it is merely a projection of their own deeds. They bring these deeds, and then they accuse others of them.
And it is from justice that they are grouped with low-lifes like Bādukhn, and we are grouped with the likes of Shaykh ʿAlī al-Ḥudhayfī and others who stood for the foundations of the Sunnah, for the protection of Muslim blood and a Muslim nation from sedition, and who endured much harm and abuse in the process.
In Summary
Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī is not an “unknown”, and we come to know and recognise him through the senior scholars themselves. The notion that all the senior scholars of this era combined only have a shaykh or two to show as the fruits of their efforts in teaching, over many decades, is an insult to them and to people’s intelligence. The relative obscurity of some shaykhs outside of their own lands, does not diminish from the fact that they have knowledge that can be benefited from, and as for the truth, then is taken from anyone who speaks it.
Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) said:[4]
Whomever Allāh the Sublime guides to accepting truth, wherever it lies, with whomever it lies, even if it was with someone he hates and shows enmity, and rejecting falsehood from whomever it is, even if it was with someone he loves and allies with, is from those who have been guided to that from the truth which has been differed over.
Shaykh Ḥamūd al-Tuwayjurī (رحمه الله) said:[5]
The status of the scholars is not to be magnified and their statements given consideration simply by glorifying them and extolling them by mentioning them. Rather they are considered by following the truth and avoiding falsehood. So whoever among them speaks in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah, his saying is accepted, even if he is not well-known among the people. And whoever speaks with something that opposes the Book and the Sunnah, then his saying is rejected, even if he was well-known among the people.
Any objective and fair-minded person can see the difference between a) the writings of Shaykh Bilāl which emanate from the desire to preserve and aid the truth based upon the principles we have always known in a rigorous, scholarly manner, and which resemble the detail and clarity of those senior scholars, and b) the writings of ʿArafāt and his followers who are driven by malice and revenge for personalities, and their very obvious tactics of fault-finding and character assassination to drown and distract from the serious violations they have been rightly and justly exposed for.
This is why they are engaged in a vicious, vindictive war against Shaykh ʿAlī al-Ḥudhayfī regarding his correct position in the issue of Yemen, and rebellion and sedition, and against Shaykh Nizār in the issue of jihād behind the ruler against Khārijites and rebels (both relating to the implementation of important foundations of the Sunnah) and anyone who dares to defend himself against oppression. This is the actual root and the true originating cause of the fitan (tribulations), and few are willing to address it.
Footnotes
1. Some of them label such an obligatory rejection as “the way of the Ḥaddādiyyah” while they are most worthy of the label themselves due to their tabdīʿ and taḍlīl of well-known Salafīs without credible evidence and creating schisms and divisions in the ranks of Ahl al-Sunnah thereby.2. Taken from a document circulated in early 2026.
3. During a period of confusion in Egypt during the Fitnah of Muhammad Ibn Hadee, the Musa’fiqah spread a recording by Shaykh Hassan Abdul-Wahhab Al-Banna (رحمه الله) against Shaykh Bilāl al-Sālimī. Seeing as Shaykh Hassan Abdul-Wahhab Al-Banna praised Shaykh Bilal both before and after this recording took place, the criticism found therein was not accepted by the Mashayekh in Egypt specifically and Salafis generally, as everyone knew the circumstances in which it was brought about.
4. Al-Ṣawāʿiq al-Mursalah (2/516).
5. Faṣl al-Khiṭāb Fī al-Radd ʿalā Abī Turāb (p. 264).