He is asking: are all the pious shaykhs Salafis?
Question

                I am confused about the Islamic groups that exist.  I believe that the Salafees and the Ahlul Hadeeth are the closest to the Sunnah.  

Are all the Pious Scholars Salafees? .
Praise be to Allah.
    Yes, the closest of the groups that exist nowadays to the 
    Sunnah are the Salafis, because their principles are based on the idea of 
    referring all matters of religion, theoretical and practical, to the Book of 
    Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger  (peace and blessings of Allaah 
    be upon him), and the consensus of the earliest generations (salaf) of this 
    ummah, the first three generations: the generation of the Prophet  
    (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then those who followed them, 
    then those who followed them; as well as venerating the Sunnah of the 
    Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the way of the 
    Rightly-Guided Caliphs; loving those who follow the Sunnah, avoiding bid’ah 
    and innovations in the religion of Allaah, both theoretical and practical, 
    and condemning those who follow them; striving to cleanse people’s thoughts 
    and actions of these innovations and to bring them back to the way of life 
    of the Prophet  (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his 
    companions, following his guidance and the true religion. 

    But… this does not mean that all the pious shaykhs are 
    Salafis or that all the Salafis are pious and that others are not pious. No, 
    this is not the case. 

    Piety (taqwa) means doing that which Allaah and His Messenger 
     (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have enjoined and forsaking 
    that which Allaah and His Messenger  (peace and blessings of Allaah be 
    upon him) have forbidden. Everyone who obeys Allaah and avoids disobeying 
    Him is following light from Allaah and is pious. Everyone who disobeys 
    Allaah is falling short in piety to the extent of his disobedience or sin. 

    If this is what piety means, then it cannot be attained 
    simply by calling oneself a Salafi or anything else, or joining any of the 
    groups. Rather the more one attains of the causes of piety – such as 
    learning about Allaah and His laws and acting upon them – the greater share 
    one will have of piety and the higher his status will be in Islam. 

    Because of that, we have to differentiate between the Salafi 
    manhaj (way or methodology) which is protected from error as it is based on 
    the sources of sharee’ah, namely the Qur’aan, Sunnah and scholarly 
    consensus, and the individuals who claim to belong to this path. These 
    individuals are not free of error with regard to their knowledge or actions, 
    whether that error is a sin or even a bid’ah (innovation). Rather the person 
    who does it is to blame for it; it is not permissible to blame the manhaj 
    for this mistake. That leads to vilification of the Salafi manhaj on the 
    grounds that So and so (a Salafi) made a mistake and did such and such. 

    There follow some examples which will explain that: 

    Islam is undoubtedly the religion of Allaah, and He will not 
    accept any other. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

    “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will 
    never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers”

    [Aal ‘Imraan 3:85] 

    “Truly, the religion with Allaah is Islam”

    [Aal ‘Imraan 3:19].

     This does not mean that the Muslims are infallible or that 
    everything the Muslims do is correct. Indeed many Muslims – unfortunately – 
    have gone against Islam and disobeyed the Sovereign, the All Knowing. Just 
    as it is essential to differentiate between Islam and what the Muslims do, 
    it is also essential to differentiate between the Salafi manhaj (way) and 
    the Salafis. 

    And Allaah knows best.