Much of the research on Salafism focuses on its ideologies and the differences between ideological currents and key figures. At the same time these discourses are tied to transnational flows of people, money, ideologies and to Islam as a global space of flows of ideas, references and debates about the role and nature of Islam. In order to understand to dynamics between Salafi networks, it is not sufficient to look at the global level only. Glick Schiller has suggested that in studying transnational connections we have to ask questions pertaining to the "dynamic between transnational networks and ideologies of legitimation" (2005:440). This dynamic has to be explored at both the local and global level. Based upon ethnographic research in the Netherlands, this paper draws on that question in the case of Salafism by exploring two transnational networks. One network belongs to the so-called quietist Salafi branch with Al-Madkhali as its most prominent scholar. By looking at the life-histories of one imam and two Salafi activists I will try to find out how the Saudi Madkhali network expanded throughout Europe, in particular the Netherlands, how issues that dominate Islam and Salafism as global spaces are re-localized but also how, in turn, local issues become part of the global space. The second network features one native Dutch Salafi activist who works as a volunteer for the US based Salafi preacher Sheikh Yasin. I will look in particular at the life history of the Dutch Salafi activist in order to how this Saudi-US-Dutch network came into being. Both cases have been chosen because on the global as well as on the local level these networks are part of eachother's counter-public. With this comparative approach I will attempt to explain how religious authorities are shaped and situated in transnational social fields and how forms of power are produced on a more local level. I will show how Salafi discourse on for example truth and justice link up to powerful religious gnd secular discursive regimes and how people within the Salafi networks use those connections in order legitimate Salafi discourse and build their own position as authorities. This paper therefore contributes to ongoing efforts of exploring and analyzing sources of authority and the process of authorization of religious knowledge among young Muslims in Europe. Schiller, Nina Glick. 2005. "Transnational social fields and imperialism: Bringing a theory of power to Transnational Studies." Anthropological Theory 5:439-461.