The True Origin of Ahl al-Ḥadīth and the Emergence of the Deobandi & Barelwī Sects

Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 3 – Issues of Tawḥīd and Sunnah, p. 32

Question​

We often hear the claim that the Ahl al-Ḥadīth sect appeared only during the British colonial era, and that before this there was no such group. Kindly provide the names and brief introduction of pre-colonial Ahl al-Ḥadīth scholars in the Indian subcontinent.
— Questioner: Muḥammad Fayāḍ Dāmānwī, Bradford, England

Answer​

Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾammā baʿd:

True Identity of Ahl al-Ḥadīth​

• In Arabic, Ahl al-Sunnah means “People of the Sunnah.”
• Likewise, Ahl al-Ḥadīth means “People of the Ḥadīth.”
• Just as “Sunnah people” are those who follow authentic Sunni scholars and their teachings, “Ḥadīth people” are those who follow authentic ḥadīth scholars and their methodology.

Note: Ahl al-Sunnah and Ahl al-Ḥadīth are in reality two descriptive names for the same group.

Categories of Ahl al-Ḥadīth Scholars​

① Ṣaḥābah رضي الله عنهم
② Tābiʿīn
③ Atbāʿ al-Tābiʿīn
④ Followers of Atbāʿ al-Tābiʿīn
⑤ Ḥadīth preservers (ḥuffāẓ)
⑥ Ḥadīth narrators
⑦ Ḥadīth commentators and others

Categories of Ahl al-Ḥadīth Laymen​

① Highly educated
② Moderately educated
③ Less educated
④ Illiterate


All these (7 + 4) together are called Ahl al-Ḥadīth.

Distinctive Features of Ahl al-Ḥadīth​

• Acting upon Qurʾān, ḥadīth, and ijmāʿ of the Ummah.
• Rejecting any view that contradicts Qurʾān, ḥadīth, and ijmāʿ.
• No blind following (taqlīd).
• Affirming that Allah is above His Throne “in a manner befitting His Majesty.”
• Īmān consists of belief in the heart, affirmation by the tongue, and action by the limbs.
• Belief in the increase and decrease of īmān.
• Understanding Qurʾān and Sunnah according to the understanding of the Salaf al-Ṣāliḥīn, and rejecting whatever contradicts this.
• Loving all Ṣaḥābah, Tābiʿīn, Atbāʿ al-Tābiʿīn, and trustworthy ḥadīth scholars.

Definitions of Ahl al-Ḥadīth by the Scholars​

Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal رحمه الله:
"In our view, the one worthy of being called a ‘person of ḥadīth’ is the one who acts upon ḥadīth."
(al-Jāmiʿ of al-Khaṭīb, p. 186 — authentic chain)


Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله:
"By Ahl al-Ḥadīth we do not mean only those who listen to, write, or narrate it, but also those who preserve it, understand it correctly, and follow it inwardly and outwardly."
(Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 4/95)


He further said:
"Among the people, those most deserving of being the saved sect (al-firqah al-nājiyah) are Ahl al-Ḥadīth and Sunnah." (Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 3/347)


Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله:
"The greatest honour for the people of ḥadīth is that their Imām is the Prophet ﷺ himself."
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr 4/164, al-Isrāʾ: 71)


al-Suyūṭī رحمه الله:
"There is no virtue for Ahl al-Ḥadīth greater than this — that they have no other Imām besides the Prophet ﷺ."
(Tadrīb al-Rāwī 2/126)

Ahl al-Ḥadīth: The Victorious Group (al-Ṭāʾifah al-Manṣūrah)​

This title has been applied to Ahl al-Ḥadīth by Imām Aḥmad, Imām al-Bukhārī, and Imām ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, among others.
(Maʿrifat ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth by al-Ḥākim, p. 2; Fatḥ al-Bārī 13/293)

Rejection of Blind Following: An Established Position​

Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله stated:
"Imām Muslim, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Mājah, Ibn Khuzaymah, Abū Yaʿlā, al-Bazzār, and others were upon the madhhab of Ahl al-Ḥadīth and were not blind followers of any specific Imām."
(Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 20/40)

Pre-Colonial Ahl al-Ḥadīth Scholars in the Indian Subcontinent​

1. Shaykh Muḥammad Fākhir al-ʿAbbāsī al-Ilāhābādī (d. 1164 AH / 1751 CE) — opposed taqlīd, supported ijtihād and acting on ḥadīth.
2. Shaykh Muḥammad Ḥayāt al-Sindhī al-Madanī (d. 1163 AH / 1750 CE) — non-muqallid scholar.
3. Abū’l-Ḥasan Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī al-Sindhī al-Kabīr (d. 1141 AH / 1729 CE) — non-muqallid scholar.

Ahl al-Ḥadīth Before the British Era​

• Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Baghdādī: "On the borders of Shām, Azerbaijan, Jazīrah, and Bāb al-Abwāb, all people were upon the madhhab of Ahl al-Ḥadīth." (Uṣūl al-Dīn, p. 317)
• Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Maqdisī (380 AH): "The majority of their madhāhib are those of Ahl al-Ḥadīth." (Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm, p. 363)

The Emergence of the Deobandi and Barelwī Sects​

• Deobandi sect: Began in 1867 CE with the founding of Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband.
• Barelwī sect: Founded by Aḥmad Riḍā Khān Barelwī, born in June 1856 CE.

Historical Testimonies​

• Rashīd Aḥmad Ludhiyānwī (Deobandi): "In the 2nd and 3rd Hijrī centuries, the four madhāhib and the Ahl al-Ḥadīth school existed." (Aḥsan al-Fatāwā 1/316)
• Anwarullāh Fārūqī (Khalīfah of Ḥājī Imdādullāh Makki): "All the Ṣaḥābah were Ahl al-Ḥadīth." (Ḥaqīqat al-Fiqh, Part 2, p. 228)
• Muḥammad Idrīs Kāndhlawī (Deobandi): "The Ahl al-Ḥadīth were in fact all the Ṣaḥābah." (Ijtihād aur Taqlīd kī Be-Misāl Taḥqīq, p. 48)

Challenge to Deobandis and Barelwīs​

Present even a single explicit and authentic reference showing the existence of a Deobandi or Barelwī before the 19th–20th centuries (British era). If not, it is proven that both sects are post-colonial products.


Date: 14 February 2012
ھذا ما عندي واللّٰه أعلم بالصواب