This excerpt is taken from the book of Muhaddith al-Asr Sheikh Zubair Ali Zaee, may Allah have mercy on him, titled Ahl-e-Hadith: A Descriptive Name.
Question:
We keep hearing that the Ahl-e-Hadith started during the British era. Earlier, these people had no specific name or identity. Kindly write the names of the Ahl-e-Hadith scholars of the past era of the Indian subcontinent with a brief introduction.
Answer:
Just as in the Arabic language [أهل السنة] means: those who follow the Sunnah. Similarly, اہل الحدیث means: those who follow the Hadith. Just as the Sunnis refer to the rightly guided Sunni scholars and their rightly guided followers, similarly, the Hadith followers refer to the rightly guided Muhaddithin (scholars of Hadith) and their rightly guided followers. Remember that Ahl-e-Sunnat and Ahl-e-Hadith are two descriptive names for the same group.
There are many categories of rightly guided Muhaddithin, for example:
[1] The Noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them
[2] The Great Tabi‘in, may Allah have mercy on them
[3] The Followers of the Tabi‘in
[4] The Followers of the Followers of the Tabi‘in
[5] The Huffaz of Hadith
[6] The Narrators of Hadith
[7] The Commentators of Hadith وغیرہم رحمہم اللہ
There are many categories of the rightly guided followers of the rightly guided Muhaddithin, for example:
[1] Highly educated people
[2] Moderately educated people
[3] Slightly educated people
[4] Uneducated masses
These four (4+7) groups are called Ahl al-Hadith and their most important characteristics are as follows.
[1] To act upon the Quran, Hadith, and consensus of the Ummah.
[2] To not accept anyone's word against the Quran, Hadith, and consensus.
[3] To avoid blind imitation (taqlid).
[4] To believe that Allah Almighty is established on His Throne above the seven heavens. كما يليق بشأنه
[5] To accept faith as heartfelt conviction, verbal declaration, and physical action.
[6] To believe in the increase and decrease of faith.
[7] To understand the Book and Sunnah according to the understanding of the pious predecessors (Salaf) and to reject the opinion of every person against it.
[8] To love all the Companions, trustworthy and truthful Tabi‘in, Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in and their followers, and all trustworthy and truthful scholars of sound creed. وغیر ذلک
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said: [صاحب الحديث عندنا من يستعمل الحديث] In our view, the one who is a scholar of Hadith is the one who acts upon the Hadith.
Reference: (Al-Jami' lil-Khatib: 186, and its chain of narration is authentic)
Hafiz Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: [ونحن لا نعني بأهل الحديث المقتصرين على سماعه أو كتابته أو روايته بل نعني بهم: كل من كان أحق بحفظه ومعرفته وفهمه ظاهرا وباطنا واتباعه باطنا وظاہرا]
And by Ahl al-Hadith, we do not mean only the listeners of hadith, the writers of hadith, or the narrators of hadith, but we mean by them every person who truly memorizes it, has both apparent and inner knowledge and understanding, and follows it both inwardly and outwardly.
Reference: (Majmoo' al-Fatawa Ibn Taymiyyah: 4/95)
From the aforementioned statement of Hafiz Ibn Taymiyyah, two types of Ahl al-Hadith (may Allah increase their number) are established.
[1] The practitioners of hadith, the noble muhaddithin
[2] The common people who act upon hadith
Hafiz Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, further wrote: And from this it becomes clear that among the people, the most deserving of being the saved sect اہل الحدیث والسنۃ are those whose only leader (Imam) is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for whom they have no bias towards anyone else.
Reference: (Majmoo' al-Fatawa: 3/347)
Hafiz Ibn Kathir has narrated from some of the pious predecessors (Salihin) that: [ھذا اکبر شرف لأصحاب الحدیث لأن امامہم النبی ﷺ]
Reference: (This verse: 71, Surah Bani Isra'il)
The greatest virtue of the companions of hadith is that their Imam is the Prophet ﷺ.
Reference: (Tafsir Ibn Kathir: 4/164, Al-Isra: 71)
Sayuti has also written: [لیس لأھل الحدیث منقبۃ اشرف من ذلک لأ نہ لا امام لھم غیرہ ﷺ] There is no greater virtue for the Ahl al-Hadith, because they have no other Imam (followed) besides you ﷺ.
Reference: (Tadreeb al-Rawi: 2/126 Type: 27)
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Imam Bukhari, and Imam Ali ibn al-Madini and others (may Allah have mercy on them) have declared اہل الحدیث as the victorious group.
Reference: (See Ma'rifat 'Uloom al-Hadith by al-Hakim: 2, and authenticated by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Fath al-Bari: 13/293 under Hadith 7311, the issue of al-Ihtijaj by al-Shafi'i for al-Khatib: p. 47, Sunan Tirmidhi with 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi: 9/74 Hadith 2229)
Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim's trustworthy teacher Imam Ahmad ibn Sinan al-Wasiti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: There is no innovator in the world who does not harbor enmity towards اہل الحدیث.
Reference: (Ma'rifat 'Uloom al-Hadith by al-Hakim: p. 4, and its chain is authentic)
Imam Qutaibah ibn Sa'id al-Thaqafi (died 240 AH at the age of 90) said: When you see a person who loves the Ahl al-Hadith, then (understand that) this person is upon the Sunnah.
Reference: (Sharaf Ashab al-Hadith by al-Khatib: 143, and its chain is authentic)
Reference: For details see my book: Tahqeeqi Maqalat (Vol. 1 pp. 161-174)
Hafiz Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote: (Imams) Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaymah, Abu Ya'la, and Bazzar وغیرہم اہل الحدیث followed the same creed; they were not followers of any specific scholar among the ulema...
Reference: (Majmoo' al-Fatawa 20/40, Tahqeeqi Maqalat 1/168)
From the above statements, it is established that the term Ahl al-Hadith refers to two groups:
[1] The pious predecessors and noble muhaddithin who had correct creed and did not follow taqlid (blind imitation)
[2] The common people who have the correct creed of the pious predecessors and noble muhaddithin and do not practice taqlid
The author has presented references from more than one hundred scholars of Islam in his research article who did not follow taqlid, and some of their names are as follows:
Imam Malik, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Imam Yahya ibn Saeed al-Qattan, Imam Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Abu Dawood al-Sijistani, Imam Tirmidhi, Imam Ibn Majah, Imam Nasai, Imam Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah, Imam Abu Dawood al-Tayalisi, Imam Abdullah ibn al-Zubair al-Humaydi, Imam Abu Ubaid al-Qasim ibn Salam, Imam Saeed ibn Mansur, Imam Baqi ibn Makhlad, Imam Musaddad, Imam Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili, Imam Ibn Khuzaymah, Imam Zahli, Imam Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, Muhaddith Bazzar, Muhaddith Ibn al-Mundhir, Imam Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, and Imam Sultan Ya'qub ibn Yusuf al-Marrakushi al-Mujahid وغیرہم۔ رحمہم اللہ اجمعین
All these Ahl al-Hadith scholars passed away centuries ago on this earth.
Abu Mansur Abdul Qahir ibn Tahir al-Baghdadi said about those living on the borders of Sham, Jazira, Azerbaijan, and Bab al-Abwab, etc.: They are all from Ahl al-Sunnah and follow the creed of Ahl al-Hadith.
Reference: (Usool al-Deen: p.317)
Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ahmad bin al-Banna al-Bashari al-Maqdisi (died 380 AH) said about Multan: [مذاہبہم: أكثرهم أصحاب حديث]Their sects: The majority among them are Ahl al-Hadith.
Reference: (Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim: p. 363)
The Deobandi sect began in 1867 with the establishment of Madrasa Deoband, and the founder of the Barelvi sect, Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi, was born in June 1856.
[1] Both the Deobandi and Barelvi sects emerged long after Sheikh Muhammad Fakhr bin Muhammad Yahya bin Muhammad Amin al-Abbasi al-Salafi al-Ilahabadi (died 1164 AH / 1751 CE) did not follow taqlid (imitation). Rather, he acted upon the evidences of the Book and Sunnah and exercised ijtihad himself.
Reference: (See Nuzhat al-Khawatir: 351/6, 351/2, Tahqiqi Maqalat 58/2)
[2] Sheikh Muhammad Hayat bin Ibrahim al-Sindhi al-Madani, may Allah have mercy on him (died 1163 AH / 1750 CE), did not follow taqlid and was an advocate of acting upon hadith.
Master Amin Okaraavi wrote about Muhammad Hayat Sindhi, Muhammad Fakhr Ilahabadi, and Mubarakpuri: Apart from these three non-taqlid scholars, no Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki, or Hanbali even called it a slip.
Reference: (Tajalliyat Safdar: 243/2, also see Tajalliyat Safdar 355/5)
[3] Amin Okaraavi has written about Abu al-Hasan Muhammad bin Abdul Hadi al-Sindhi al-Kabir, may Allah have mercy on him (died 1141 AH corresponding to 1729 AD): Although this Abu al-Hasan al-Sindhi was non-conformist.
Reference: (Tajalliyat Safdar: 44/6)
All these references are from long before the British occupation of India, so those from whom you have heard that: Ahl al-Hadith started during the British era and had no name or identity before, this is completely false and slanderous.
Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi Deobandi has written: Around the second to third century AH, due to differences of opinion in resolving subsidiary and minor issues among Ahl al-Haqq, five schools of thought were established, namely the four madhhabs and Ahl al-Hadith. From that time until today, the truth has been considered dependent on these five methods.
Reference: (Ahsan al-Fatawa: Vol. 1, p. 316)
In this statement, Ludhianvi Sahib has acknowledged the antiquity of Ahl al-Hadith, their existence long before the British era, and their being the people of truth.
Haji Imdadullah Makki's "Authorized Caliph" Muhammad Anwarullah Farooqi, in "The Virtue of War," has written: Although Ahl al-Hadith were all companions.
Reference: (Haqiqat al-Fiqh: Part Two, p. 228, Published by Idara al-Quran wal Uloom al-Islamia Karachi)
Muhammad Idris Kandhlawi Deobandi has written: Ahl al-Hadith were all companions.
Reference: (Ijtihad aur Taqlid ki Bemaisal Tehqeeq: p. 48)
From my side, a question to all the Deobandis and all the Barelvis is: Before the nineteenth and twentieth centuries AD (i.e., the period of British occupation of India), was there a person belonging to the Deobandi sect or the Barelvi sect? If yes, then present a correct and clear single reference, and if not, then it is proven that both the Barelvi religion and the Deobandi religion are products of the period after the British occupation of India.
وما علینا الا البلاغ
