This review examines Azmi Bishara's engaement with Salafism and its conceptualizations in his book What is Salafism. The review highlights key aspects of the nature and function of Salafi ideological recitations in an inter-disciplinary effort to craft a clear understanding of the phenomenon as a collective memorialization of an imagined past. The book calls to open up research horizons for cross-professional engagement with modern religious movements and their social imagination, clearly rooted in the sociocultural context of the region.