Scholars agree in general that new communication technologies in unison with mass education have transformed and are still transforming the nature of religious authority (Mandaville 2007, Eickelman/Anderson 1999). However, it is rarely specified what form or type of authority is affected (Campbell 2007). This paper tries to address the question as to what specifically happens to Salafi authority when increasing numbers of young Muslims engage with the Salafi understanding of Islam in chat rooms and online forums. Salafi ideas of authority are in general closely linked to authenticity. Authoritative is what or who comes closest to the idealized life worlds of Muhammad and the pious ancestors as illustrated in the Quran and the Sunnah (Musa 2008). Muhammad and his companions are regarded as the ideal models of how a pious Muslim should live (Meijer 2009). To be authentic therefore means to base deeds and words on the scriptures. In chat rooms and online forums Muslims following the salafiya try to find their way through the jungle of diverse "Salafi" and "Islamic" voices emanating from different parts of the world and intermingling in diverse transnational networks. One of their main concerns is to stay true to "authentic" Islam despite the manifold temptations to deviate. Based on interviews and participant observation in Dutch and German chat rooms and online forums this paper will explore practices that generate authority in concrete mediated environments. Authority can be bestowed on persons considered to to be on the path of the salaf al-salih or on practices considered to be rooted in the life worlds of the prophet and his companions. Four main interrelated elements are at work in the processes of authority construction in German and Dutch chat rooms and online forums: (1) audio-visual elements like avatars, Quranic recitation and anasheed, (2) discursive elements like the construction of genealogies of Salafi scholars and their students, the use of "Salafi" narratives and exegetic interaction with the the religious sources, (3) stylistic elements like the use of Arabic or different literary genres and (4) performative elements like typing invocations (ad'iya) or modeling one's online behaviour on the salaf al-salih. These elements circulate in different transnational Salafi networks but are simultaneously localized in specific mediated environments like among German and Dutch speaking Salafi communities in chat rooms and online forums.