Salafi: Sunni Islamic reformist movement

A Salafist is a Muslim who thinks Islam should be practiced the way the first few generations of Muslims did. The term is also used to talk about certain teachings of Sunni Islam that are based on "conservative" ideals.

The origin of the movement is in the 19th century. Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905) was an Islamic scholar who thought that the values of Islam were compatible with a modern lifestyle. He is often called a Salafi. Another scholar, Ibn Taimiya (1263–1328) said that the teachings of Islam were not compatible with certain modern interpretations, such as Sufism. The ideology behind many of the wars in the northern part of Africa is Salafism.

"Salafi Jihadism" was used to describe those groups who began to use armed jihad during the mid-1990s.