Al-Shaykh Jamil al-Siqdi al-Zahawi [*] said:

“The name Salaf has been usurped by a movement which seeks to impose its own narrow interpretation of Religion towards a re-fashioning of the teachings of Islam. The adherents of this movement call themselves "Salafi." Such an appellation is baseless since the true Salaf knew no such school as the "Salafi" school nor even called themselves by that name; the only general name they recognized for themselves was that of Muslim.”

“In reality, today's so-called "Salafi" movement, now about thirty years old, is the modern outgrowth of an two-century old heresy spawned by a scholar of the Najd area in the Eastern part of the Arabian peninsula by the name of Muhammad ibn `Abd al- Wahhab (1703-1792). This scholar has been refuted by a long line of scholars both in his time and ours.”

“It can be ascertained that the troublemakers (al-mushaghibun) in our time who claim that they belong to the school of the Salaf, outwardly making a show of such affiliation, do not in any way whatsoever belong to it: neither in knowledge nor in practice. They are propagators of falsehood, deception, and misguidance devoid of all guidance.”
(Munir 'Abduh Agha)