Ahl al-Hadith

Ahl al-Ḥadīth (Arabic: أَهْل الحَدِيث, lit. 'The People of Hadith') is an Islamic school of Sunni Islam that emerged during the 2nd and 3rd Islamic centuries of the Islamic era (late 8th and 9th century CE) as a movement of hadith scholars who considered the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only authority in matters of law and creed.^[1] They were known as "Athari" for championing traditionalist theological doctrines which rejected rationalist approaches and advocated a strictly literalist reading of Scriptures.^[2]^[3] Its adherents have also been referred to as traditionalists and sometimes traditionists (from "traditions", namely, hadiths).^[4] The traditionalists constituted the most authoritative and dominant bloc of Sunni orthodoxy prior to the emergence of mad'habs (legal schools) during the fourth Islamic century.^[5]

In jurisprudence, Ahl al-Hadith opposed many of their contemporary jurists who based their legal reasoning on informed opinion رَأْي (raʼy) or living local practice عُرْف (ʽurf), who were referred to, often derogatorily, as Ahl ar-Ra'y.^[1]^[6] The traditionalists condemned the practice of taqlid (blind-following scholarly opinions or ra'y without scriptural proofs) and advocated ittiba (adherence to scholarly traditions by asking for proofs from the Quran and Sunnah and taking only their literal meaning). In turn, the Ahl al-Hadith upheld ijtihad (scholarly legal reasoning) by adhering to Scriptures.^[7]^[8]^[9]

In matters of faith, Ahl al-Hadith were pitted against the Mu'tazilites and other theological currents, condemning many points of their doctrines as well as the excessive rationalistic methods Mu'tazilites used in defending and justifying themselves.^[10] The most prominent leader of the movement was ʼAḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal.^[10] Subsequently, other Islamic legal schools gradually came to accept the reliance on the Quran and hadith advocated by the Ahl al-Hadith movement as valid,^[10] while al-Ash'ari (874-936) used rationalistic argumentation favored by Mu'tazilites to defend most of the same tenets of the Ahl al-Hadith doctrine, carrying on the legacy provided by Ibn Kullab.^[11] In the following centuries, the term ahl al-hadith came to refer to those scholars of the Hanbali and Zahiri schools; who rejected rationalistic theology (kalam) and held on to the creed of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and especially Imam Zahiri.^[12]^[13] This theological school, which is also known as traditionalist theology, has been championed in recent times by the Salafi movement.^[14] The term ahl al-hadith is sometimes used in a more general sense to denote a particularly enthusiastic commitment to hadith and to the views and way of life of the Muhammad's contemporaries and the early generations of believers.^[15]

^ ^a ^b John L. Esposito, ed. (2014). "Ahl al-Hadith". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512558-0.
^ Azoulay, Rivka (2020). Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. 50 Bedford Square, London, UK: I.B. Tauris. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-8386-0505-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ Vlad Ghiță, Adrian (2019). "Revivalismul islamic. Tendinţe înnoitoare" [Islamic Revivalism: Renewing trends]. Theology and Life. 40 (9–12): 143 – via The Central and Eastern European Online Library.
^ Hodgson (2009, p. 1589 (Kindle location)); Blankinship (2008, p. 51)
^ M. Naf'i, Basheer (2006). "A Teacher of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb: Muḥammad Ḥayāt al-Sindī and the Revival of Asḥāb al-Ḥadīth's Methodology". Islamic Law and Society. 13 (2). Brill Publishers: 235. JSTOR 40377907 – via JSTOR.
^ Cite error: The named reference Lapidus130 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Schmidtke, Sabine (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 273–274. ISBN 978-0-19-969670-3.
^ Meijer, Roel (2013). "Introduction". Global Salafism: Islam's New Religious Movement. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-19-933343-1.
^ "Do the Ahl al-Hadith say a Form of Taqlid is Wajib". Salafi Research Institute. 4 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lapidus (2014, p. 130-131)
^ Blankinship 2008, p. 53.
^ Brown 2009, p. 168 In the wake of the tenth-century Ash'ari synthesis, some Muslim theologians still maintained the strict details of the early Sunni creed. This continuation of the original Sunni theological School is often referred to as the Salafi school of theology [...] or as followers of 'Traditional (Athari)' or ahl al-hadith theology.}}
^ Haynes, Jeffrey; S. Sheikh, Naveed (2022). "Making Sense of Salafism: Theological foundations, ideological iterations and political manifestations". The Routledge handbook of Religion, Politics and Ideology. New York, USA: Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-367-41782-6.
^ Hoover 2014, p. 625.
^ Leaman, Oliver (2009). "Ahl al-Ḥadīth". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530513-5.

[ODI-1] John L. Esposito, ed. (2014). "Ahl al-Hadith". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512558-0.

[2] Azoulay, Rivka (2020). Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. 50 Bedford Square, London, UK: I.B. Tauris. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-8386-0505-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

[3] Vlad Ghiță, Adrian (2019). "Revivalismul islamic. Tendinţe înnoitoare" [Islamic Revivalism: Renewing trends]. Theology and Life. 40 (9–12): 143 – via The Central and Eastern European Online Library.

[4] Hodgson (2009, p. 1589 (Kindle location)); Blankinship (2008, p. 51)

[5] M. Naf'i, Basheer (2006). "A Teacher of Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhāb: Muḥammad Ḥayāt al-Sindī and the Revival of Asḥāb al-Ḥadīth's Methodology". Islamic Law and Society. 13 (2). Brill Publishers: 235. JSTOR 40377907 – via JSTOR.

[Lapidus130-6] Cite error: The named reference Lapidus130 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[7] Schmidtke, Sabine (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 273–274. ISBN 978-0-19-969670-3.

[8] Meijer, Roel (2013). "Introduction". Global Salafism: Islam's New Religious Movement. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-19-933343-1.

[9] "Do the Ahl al-Hadith say a Form of Taqlid is Wajib". Salafi Research Institute. 4 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018.

[Lapidus130-131-10] Lapidus (2014, p. 130-131)

[FOOTNOTEBlankinship200853-11] Blankinship 2008, p. 53.

[Brown168-12] Brown 2009, p. 168 In the wake of the tenth-century Ash'ari synthesis, some Muslim theologians still maintained the strict details of the early Sunni creed. This continuation of the original Sunni theological School is often referred to as the Salafi school of theology [...] or as followers of 'Traditional (Athari)' or ahl al-hadith theology.}}

[13] Haynes, Jeffrey; S. Sheikh, Naveed (2022). "Making Sense of Salafism: Theological foundations, ideological iterations and political manifestations". The Routledge handbook of Religion, Politics and Ideology. New York, USA: Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-367-41782-6.

[FOOTNOTEHoover2014625-14] Hoover 2014, p. 625.

[15] Leaman, Oliver (2009). "Ahl al-Ḥadīth". In John L. Esposito (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530513-5.

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