Ahle Hadith
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Ahl Hadith (Urdu: اہل حدیث, ahl-e hadīs or ahl-i hadith) is an Islamic school found predominately in the Middle East and South Asia, in particular, Pakistan and India. The term Ahl-e Hadith is often used interchangeably with the Salafi dawah.[1]
Unlike the Ahl-al-rai, literally "the people of rhetorical theology," the Ahl-e hadith, "the people of prophetic narrations" are not bound by taqlid but consider themselves free to seek guidance in matters of religious faith and practices from the authentic traditions (hadith) which, together with the Quran, are in their view the only worthy guide for Muslims.
The Ahl-e hadith exert effort to raise traditional principles while restoring the original simplicity and purity to faith and practices. Emphasis is accordingly laid in particular on the reassertion of Tawheed and the denial of occult powers and knowledge of the hidden things to any of his creatures. This involves a rejection of the miraculous powers of saints and of the exaggerated veneration paid to them. They also make every effort to eradicate customs either to innovation (bid‘a) or non-Islamic systems. As strict adherents to hadith, members of the Ahl-e hadith take for themselves a broader meaning with wider implications and claim themselves to be the followers of Sahih (the reliable) Hadith.
The Ahl-e Hadith significantly grew as a movement in Bengal in the 1830s[2] , and later spread to other parts of South Asia. Its members reject the four major Sunni schools of Islamic law and emphasize what members say are the original principles of Islam. Indeed, the movement spread extensively throughout British India during the second half of the nineteenth century. Inspired by the ways of life of the early generation of Muslims, the members of Ahl-e-Hadith launched the movement for reviving Islam on the basis of its fundamental principles.
In a word, Ahl-e-Hadith leans strongly towards strict and immutable principles formulated by their leading advocates. Contemporary exponents of Ahl-e-Hadith in the subcontinent convincingly depict it as a continuous religious puritanical movement. According to their scholars the Ahl-e-Hadith movement in India has been founded on four pillars: (a) belief in pure tawheed, (b) the Sunnah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, (c) enthusiasm for jihad (struggle against the self) and (d) submission to Allah. Ahl-e hadith insists on taking all decisions on the basis of the Quran and hadith, and not by applying the methodology of Qiyas (analogy). [3]
Originally, collectors of Ahadith (sayings and traditions of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad like Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim and many other transmitters of Ahadith called themselves Ahle-Hadith (literally meaning "People of Hadith"). The name derives from their claim that they consider the hadith and the Qur'an as being the only sources of religious authority.
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