Transcribed and translated from an answer given by Shaykh Ṣāliḥ Al-Fawzān
May Allāh be benevolent to you, the questioner asks:
Some callers, may Allāh guide them, say: the word Salafi splits (discriminates between) people, so don’t say “I am Salafi…”
[The Shaykh interjects]:
Yes, yes, the word Salafi splits people apart, between the Salafis and the People of Bidʿah and the people of misguidance. And all praise and thanks are to Allāh, this is a distinction, for a person to be upon the way of the Salaf.
And I have followed the religion of my fathers, Ibrāhīm, Isḥāq and Yaʿqūb. Never could we attribute any partners to Allāh…
Meaning of Quran 12:38
Following the Salaf, upon Tawḥīd and upon the ʿAqīdah, this is an honour, a compliment; we are proud [to be] and we ask Allāh to make us be upon the way of the Salaf, and to make us steadfast upon it, yes.
[The questioner begins the next question, but the Shaykh adds]:
Even if people split away from us, we do not try to gather people, we do not try to gather people; we call them to the way of the Salaf, and the correct beliefs. If they respond, all praise and thanks are for Allāh, but if they choose to separate, then they go with what they have chosen for themselves, yes.
“Yes, The Word Salafi Splits People (Arabic)”.(2014).Sahab Salafi Network. Retrieved 9 Aug 2014, from http://www.sahab.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=146097