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Refers to the first few generations of Muslims, including the Prophet Muhammad, the early Khalifahs, the Companions, and first generation after them. These two generations are classified as the Pious generations.
Islamic jurisprudence holds that the only religious figures to hold any permanent weight comes from these generations, with later religious thinkers positions or opinions only having temporary permanence.
In modern Islam, the term Salafi has come to describe a group of fundamentalist Muslims who seek to return to a 'purer' Islam, rejecting some classical and most medieval Islamic jurisprudence, and are influenced by Islamic thinkers such as Ibn Taymiyah. These modern Salafis are sometimes called "neo-Salafis" (often disparagingly), in order to distinguish them from the early generations of Muslims (the original salaf).