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Then there were the seeming concurrent deaths of Ibn Baz, Ibn Uthaymeen and Al-Albani who all died during this period. This started a new period in which the ulamaa became a term to bash brothers who listened to Western speakers. No scholars in the West!!! they would shout at you in their efforts to discredit all Western speakers not in their clique.

They formed a new organization Salafi Society of North America (SSNA) in New York that claimed connection to the ulamaa. This became the new question of the new are you connected to the ulamaa? era.

In reality, the speakers that we were listening to were in fact quoting from scholars past and present, but this is not what they meant by this question. They meant are you listening to the translations of the tele-links being provided by them?

After SSNA disappeared from play in a major way ( although still operating a masjid in Brooklyn that is home to a lot of good brothers), TROID came on the scene and took the inquisition to new heights. Every few weeks, they had a new expose on a new Western speaker that should not be taken from according to the ulamaa.

There was a character assassination taken out on speaker after speaker and one by one, they were discredited with seemingly a mountain of daleel. This great Salafi Speaker purge would leave no survivors from the speakers circuit and eventually kill off the larger events that were not replaced by those who only had the power to destroy and not build.There was a lot of confusion during this time, and many in the rank and file tried to conceal their position on certain speakers and perhaps still benefit from the Western speakers while listening to these tele-links to show face. Just hide your books if someone came over.

Soon, it was not good enough to remain silent on these issues. They started to demand a bayaan from every individual – whether written or spoken and recorded – clarifying their position. In this bayaan one would affirm their rejection of the list of deviants the self appointed ecclesiastical tribunal came up with and affirm their loyalty to a list of scholars many had never heard of that they were calling the Kibaar (i.e., the biggest scholars on earth)

Every common person was suddenly subjected to the rules of jarh wa tadeel as if they were a narrator of hadith and people were divided between thiqah (trustworthy) and matrook (abandoned). All these things were introduced to new Muslims and it was misapplied on people relentlessly.

Things continue to descend into chaos as people even started to ask people their position on people they had never even heard of like Abul Hasan Al-Maribee. No one knew who this man was, yet it was essential for one to take a solid position against him in order to be considered thiqah. Abandonment, name-calling, exposing, rumor-mongering, and the self appointed ecclesiastical tribunals testing peoples manhaj became the rule of the day.

This ideological schism and TROIDs inquisition and thought reform program caused so much confusion that breakdowns in the social fabric started to breakdown

Social Breakdown

Before I talk about the social breakdown, I want to address my own shortcomings as well as those of many that were around me at the time. No matter how much I try, I dont think that I can express the great hope followed by the great pain. Some of you are probably looking down your noses at us, but I say that you dont understand.

I dont tell this story because I am trying to use it as fodder for you all to laugh at. This is a serious story. Lives were revived where there was no hope only to end up right back in ruin.

A lot of us – brothers and sisters – came from poor backgrounds, were poorly educated, and came from dysfunctional homes. That is me as a white man how much more so for a black man or woman?

Many entered the deen wounded by society and were at the bottom of the barrel. It was our belief that our demons could be exorcised by the memorization of the fatawa of scholars and by simply mimicking the ways of the scholars and running around and talking and acting as if we were not still dealing with the issues in our lives that pre-dated Islam when in fact we were dealing with these issues on a daily basis, but were afraid to speak about them to our fellow Muslims. This is one of the main places we went wrong.

Although more of our issues were spoken on at that time – especially as opposed to now – nonetheless, there were no fatawa that told us how to deal with an indifferent mother on drugs, chemical addictions that many around me had, or being able to find a job as a convicted felon.

When the ideological schisms happened, it revived many of the inner demons that were never fully exorcized in many. This left many brothers to attend lectures, and then after isha hit the streets and make money the only way that they knew how. This created a criminal underclass within the Salafi movement that paid lots of lip-service to the deen but in reality had lots of underlying problems. What led us to the streets has been put in our minds in our childhoods living through the harsh realities of urban life in America.

We were angry before we took shahadah, many were killers by the time they were in high school, and had emotional issues that had never been resolved, and our anger towards life manifested itself in a harshness in the deen and a rigid approach to the dawah.

Just as many wanted to proudly proclaim their blocks and neighborhoods and schools before Islam, so they proclaimed being salafi after that. The Salafi Dawah had given us something to live for, work for, fight for, and if necessary die for.As the TROID ecclesiastical edicts were passed around, it had a negative effect on friendships, marriages, and entire communities. Especially after TROIDs thought reform started to take affect.

Many, whod been friends for years, were now splitting up over these issues of who is on it or off it. Marriages broke down and even ended in divorce because of arguments over these issues. There were even instances of blood brothers splitting and not speaking to one another. It ravaged the entire movement like a forest fire.Even when you spoke to an old friend, you did not know which side of the issue he was on. The trips and visits across the country stopped. Brothers stopped keeping in touch as it might end up in an argument.

As I mentioned earlier, many more reasonable brothers did not like any of this at all and disassociated themselves from the movement completely. Others, because of the damage and evil associated with the movement, ran away from the label and refused to acknowledge it for themselves.

The feelings of brotherhood and closeness were replaced by suspicion, fear, and eventually pain great pain. Brothers no longer had a network of friends to stay in touch with. They no longer had anyone they would relate to. A spiraling cycle of chaos began in which we saw depression grow and the social problems begin. These brothers needed a social network and it was torn apart, ripped to shreads and stomped on

There were brothers that were just confused from all the discord and hit the streets. Many stopped practicing and even became drug addicts and alcoholics because their tranquil world had been destroyed as their group of good friends were split, or they were abandoned by their close Muslim friends and they had no place else to go. Some went insane (no exaggeration). Others got angry and became very anti-salafi. Others even left Islam completely.

I have to agree with some points in the OP however they are many good salafi brothers/sisters. The only problem I have with them is their group mentality and aggressive approach at times.

Who the hell is Umar lee guy? Nobody knows him! So how dare he insult Sheikh Rabee (xafidahullah) I'm not gonna read any of this bullshit.


I go to TROID myself and I know all the brothers there follow the correct aqeedah and manhaj and have close relations with the scholars. They refute ahlu bid'ah and protect the communtiy from deviance. May Allah reward them, we will keep doing our da'wa, and trust me more people are following Salafiyyah everyday.

Who the hell is Umar lee guy? Nobody knows him! So how dare he insult Sheikh Rabee (xafidahullah) I'm not gonna read any of this bullshit.


I go to TROID myself and I know all the brothers there follow the correct aqeedah and manhaj and have close relations with the scholars. They refute ahlu bid'ah and protect the communtiy from deviance. May Allah reward them, we will keep doing our da'wa, and trust me more people are following Salafiyyah everyday.

Who the hell is Umar lee guy? Nobody knows him! So how dare he insult Sheikh Rabee (xafidahullah) I'm not gonna read any of this bullshit.


I go to TROID myself and I know all the brothers there follow the correct aqeedah and manhaj and have close relations with the scholars. They refute ahlu bid'ah and protect the communtiy from deviance. May Allah reward them, we will keep doing our da'wa, and trust me more people are following Salafiyyah everyday.

Who the hell is Umar lee guy? Nobody knows him! So how dare he insult Sheikh Rabee (xafidahullah) I'm not gonna read any of this bullshit.


I go to TROID myself and I know all the brothers there follow the correct aqeedah and manhaj and have close relations with the scholars. They refute ahlu bid'ah and protect the communtiy from deviance. May Allah reward them, we will keep doing our da'wa, and trust me more people are following Salafiyyah everyday.

Bro, this is very wrong. The vast majority of the people I knew who were there 6 years ago have all realized how blind their methods are. You will, soon enough.

The only good thing about those kinda places are the emphasis they put on scholars. Besides that, their manners alone drove me away.