Ahl al-Hadith

Ahl al-Hadith (Arabic: أهل الحديث‎, Urdu: Ahl-e-Hadith, "The people of hadith" or "People of the traditions (of the Prophet)"; also Așḥāb al-ḥadīṯ; أصحاب الحديث), is a branch of Sunni Islam and a name given to various Islamic conservative traditionalists, and refers to the adherent's belief that they are not bound by taqlid but consider themselves free to seek guidance in matters of religious faith and practices from the authentic hadith which, together with the Qur'an, are in their view the principal worthy guide for Muslim. Adherents contrast themselves with those they call Ahl al-Rai, literally "the people of rhetorical theology". The Ahl-e-Hadith movement is often described as being synonymous with Salafism.[1][2][3]

In recent times it has referred to a sect in Indian subcontinent started in the mid-nineteenth century in Northern India. Followers call themselves as Ahl al-Hadith (Ahl-e-Hadith) or Salafi, while others refer to them as Wahhabi,[4] or consider them a variation on the Wahhabi movement.[5][6] In recent decades the movement has drawn both inspiration and financial support from Salafi Saudi Arabia,[7] but the movement itself claims to be distinct from Wahhabism,[7] and some believe it possesses some notable distinctions from the mainly Arab Salafis.[8][9][10]

History

Early and medieval Islam

The characterization Ahl al-Hadith refers to the adherents of the powerful movement of the late second and third centuries of Islam (late eighth and ninth centuries C.E.) that insisted on the authority of the traditions (hadith) attributed to Muhammad, as against the informed “opinions” (ray) on which many contemporary juristic schools based their legal reasoning. This movement played a critical role in the emergence of Sunni Islam.[11]

According to R. Kevin Jaques, it appears to have "developed out a of a pious reaction" to the assassination of Caliph Yazid b. Walid (d.744).[12] Ibn Hazm has been called "the foremost philosopher-theologian" (by Cyril Glasse) of the Ahl al-Hadith.[3]

They again drew attention in the post-Mongol era, when Ibn Taymiyyah, the very influential Hanbali scholar of Damascus, (1263–1328) started a reformist movement to purge the Islamic community of what he believed as deviant beliefs.[13] Noting the academic prowess of the people of hadith, Al-Dhahabi remarked, "Where is the knowledge of hadith, and where are its people? I am on the verge of not seeing them except engrossed in a book or under the soil."[14]

The orientation towards the Salaf and a textualist commitment to hadith instead of speculative reasoning characterized the ahl al-hadith movement of 9th-century scholars like Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (d. 855). Classical Salafism represented a revival of Hanbali thought in the 14th century, specifically at the hands of Ibn Taymiyya, and his chief acolyte, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 1351).[15] Early proponents ascribe the authority of Ahl al-Hadith to specific hadith of Muhammad al-Bukhari. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned the people of hadith in his commentary of the hadith, "And this nation will continue, established upon Allah's Command, unharmed by those who oppose them until the arrival of Allah's Order." He stated that Muhammad al-Bukhari was adamant that those referred to in this hadith were the people with knowledge of the narrations, Ahl al-Athar, i.e. the people of hadith, and then quoted Ahmad ibn Hanbal as saying, "If they are not Ahl al-Hadith, then I do not know who they are." Qadi Ayyad explained that Ahmad was referring to Ahl al-Sunnah and those who share the beliefs of the people of hadith (Essentially, according to Fath al-Bari, it is the opinion of Imam Ahmad that the faithful Ahl al Sunnah and Ahl al Hadith are not separate).[16] The followers of the Ahl al-Hadith movement claim their beliefs and practices to be the same as those of early Muslims and, in particular, the Rashidun (rightly guided caliphs). The movement rose to prominence in the 9th century AD during the Abbasid era to counter the beliefs of Mutazilities.[17]

South Asia

In the mid-nineteenth century an Islamic religious reform movement was started in Northern India that rejected everything introduced into Islam after the Quran, Sunnah and Hadith.[18] Syed Nazeer Husain from Delhi and Siddiq Hasan Khan of Bhopal drew primarily on the work of hadith scholars from Yemen in the early years of the movement, reintroducing the field into the Indian subcontinent. Their strong emphasis on education and book publishing has often attracted members of the social elite both in South Asia and overseas;[2] University of Paris political scientist Antoine Sfeir has referred to the movement as having an elitist character which perhaps contributes to their status as a minority in South Asia.[1] Folk Islam and Sufism, commonly popular with the poor and working class in the region, are anathema to Ahl al-Hadith beliefs and practices. This attitude toward Sufism has brought the movement into conflict with the rival Barelvi movement even more so than the Barelvis perennial rivals, the Deobandis.[19]

In the 1920s, the Ahl al-Hadith opened a center for their movement in Srinagar. Followers of the Hanafi school of law, forming the overwhelming majority of Muslim in Jammu and Kashmir, socially boycotted and physically attacked Ahl al-Hadith followers, eventually declaring such followers to be apostates and banning them from praying in mainstream mosques.[20] From the 1930s the group also began dabbling in the political realm of Pakistan, with Ehsan Elahi Zaheer leading the movement into a full foray in the 1970s, eventually gaining the movement a network of mosques and Islamic schools.[1] Following other South Asian Islamic movements, the Ahl al-Hadith now also administer schools and mosques in the Anglosphere. In the modern era, the movement draws both inspiration and financial support from Saudi Arabia,[21] now being favored over the rival Deobandi movement as a counterbalance to Iranian influence.[22]

Tenets

Its adherents oppose taqlid. They believe that they are not bound by taqlid (as are Ahl al-Rai, literally "the people of rhetorical theology"), but consider themselves free to seek guidance in matters of religious faith and practices from the authentic hadith which, together with the Qur'an, are in their view the principal worthy guide for Muslim. They reject the use of kalam in theology.[1]

Due to their reliance on the Qur'an and Hadith only and their rejection of analogical reason in Islamic law, the modern-day Ahl al-Hadith are often compared to the older Zahirite school of Islamic law,[23][24] with which the Ahl al-Hadith consciously identify themselves.[10]

While their educational programs tend to include a diverse array of Muslim academic texts, few adherents of the movement ascribe themselves to one school of Muslim jurisprudence, placing a greater emphasis on personal responsibility to derive judgments and ritual practice.[2] While the movement's figureheads have ascribed to the Zahirite legal school, with a great number of them preferring the works of Yemeni scholar Shawkani, the generality of the movement is described as respecting all Sunni schools of Islamic law while preferring to take directly from the Qur'an, prophetic tradition and consensus of the early generations of Muslims.[2] While the movement has been compared to Salafist movement in Arab nations and been branded as Wahhabist by the opposing Barelwi movement,[1] the Ahl al-Hadith remain similar to yet distinct from Salafists.[25]

In the 19th century, the Ahle Quran formed in reaction to the Ahle Hadith, whom they considered to be placing too much emphasis on hadith instead of Quran.[26]

Practices

Like other Islamic movements, the Ahl al-Hadith are distinguished by certain common features and beliefs. The men tend to have a particular style of untrimmed beard often considered a visual indicator. In regard to ritual acts of Muslim worship, the movement's practices are noticeably different from the Hanafi legal school which predominates in South Asia; the men hold their hands above the navel when lined up for congregational prayer, raise them to the level of their heads before bowing, and say "amen" out loud after the prayer leader.[2]

While the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba has recruited followers of the Ahl al-Hadith movement in the past, the organization's views on jihad are thought to alienate the mainstream of the movement.[27]

Organizations

Leading proponents of the movement joined forces against the opposition they faced from established ulama (religious scholars) and in 1906 formed the All India Ahl-i-Hadis Conference.[28] One member organization of the conference is the Anjuman-i-Hadith, formed by students of Maulana Sayyid Miyan Nadhir Husain and divided into Bengal and Assam wings. After the 1947 separation of India and Pakistan, the Pakistani Ahle-Hadith center was based in and around Karachi.[29]

In 1930 Ahl-i Hadith was founded as a small political party in India.[1] In Pakistan, the movement formed a political party, Jamiat Ahle Hadith, which unlike similar Islamic groups opposed government involvement in affairs of sharia law.[30] Their leader, Ehsan Elahi Zaheer, was assassinated in 1987. The Ahl-i Hadith oppose Shi'ism.[18]

The number of Ahle Hadith madrassa in Pakistan has grown from 134 in 1988 to 310 in 2000. The group has 17 organisations active in Pakistan, "looking after their own seminaries," three of them involved in jihad. It is linked to the Ahl al-Hadith movement, and receives support from Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia.

Demographics

During the rule of the British Raj, no accurate census was ever taken of the movement's exact number of followers.[19] In the modern era, the number of followers of the movement in Pakistan constitute 4% of the Muslim population, 25-30 million followers in India,[31] and 27.5 million in Bangladesh.[32]

In the United Kingdom, the Ahl al-Hadith movement maintains 42 centers and boasts a membership which was estimated at 5,000 during the 1990s and 9,000 during the 2000s.[33] Although the movement has been present in the UK since the 1960s, it has not been the subject of extensive academic research and sources on the movement are extremely limited and rare.[33]

Adherents of the Ahl al-Hadith movement

Bangladesh
India

Pakistan

Yemen

See also

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Olivier Roy; Antoine Sfeir, eds. (2007-09-26). The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism. Books.google.com.my. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hewer, C. T. R. Understanding Islam: The First Ten Steps. Books.google.com.my. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  3. 1 2 Glasse, Cyril (2001). The New Encyclopedia of Islam (revised ed.). AltaMira Press. p. 31.
  4. ↑ Rabasa, Angel M. The Muslim World After 9/11 By Angel M. Rabasa, p. 275
  5. ↑ Alex Strick Van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban-Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan, pg. 427. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780199927319
  6. ↑ Lieven, Anatol (2011). Pakistan: A Hard Country. New York: PublicAffairs. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-61039-023-1. Ahl-e-Hadith ... a branch of the international Salafi ... tradition, heavily influenced by Wahabism.
  7. 1 2 Rubin, Barry M., ed. (2010). Guide to Islamist Movements. Volume 1. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. p. 349. ISBN 0-7656-1747-1.
  8. ↑ Dilip Hiro, Apocalyptic Realm: Jihadists in South Asia, pg. 15. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780300173789
  9. ↑ Muneer Goolam Fareed, Legal reform in the Muslim world, pg. 172. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994.
  10. 1 2 Daniel W. Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought: Vol. 5 of Cambridge Middle East Studies, pg. 32. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN 9780521653947
  11. ↑ "Ahl al-Hadith". Oxford Islamic Studies. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Jaque, R. Keven (2004). Martin, Richard C., ed. Encylopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. Thomson Gale. p. 27.
  13. ↑ The Right Way- By Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, Darrussalam publishers KSA
  14. ↑ al-Dhahabi, Muhammad ibn Ahmad. al-Mu`allimi, ed. Tadhkirah al-Huffadh (in Arabic) 1. India. p. 4.
  15. ↑ Jonathan A.C. Brown. "Salafism - Islamic Studies - Oxford Bibliographies". Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Al-`Asqalani, Ahmad ibn `Ali (2005). Abu Qutaybah al-Firyabi, ed. Fath al-Bari (in Arabic) 1 (first ed.). Riyadh: Dar al-Taibah. p. 290. ISBN 1-902350-04-9.
  17. ↑ A Brief History of Islam by Karen Armstrong, Phoenix, London
  18. 1 2 Olivier, Roy; Sfeir, Antoine, eds. (2007). The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism. Columbia University Press. p. 27.
  19. 1 2 Arthur F Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet: the Indian Naqshbandiyya and the Rise of the Mediating Sufi Shaykh, pg. 179. Part of the Studies in Comparative Religion series. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1998. ISBN 9781570032011
  20. ↑ Yoginder Sikand, "Islamist Militancy in Kashmir: The Case of the Lashkar-e Taiba." Taken from The Practice of War: Production, Reproduction and Communication of Armed Violence, pg. 226. Eds. Aparna Rao, Michael Bollig and Monika Böck. New York: Berghahn Books, 2008. ISBN 9780857450593
  21. ↑ Rubin, Barry M., ed. (2010). Guide to Islamist Movements. Volume 1. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. p. 348. ISBN 0-7656-1747-1.
  22. ↑ Sushant Sareen, The Jihad Factory: Pakistan's Islamic Revolution in the Making, pg. 282. New Delhi: Har Anand Publications, 2005.
  23. ↑ Brown, pg. 28.
  24. ↑ M. Mahmood, The Code of Muslim Family Laws, pg. 37. Pakistan Law Times Publications, 2006. 6th ed.
  25. ↑ Mathieu Guidère, Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism, pg. 177. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2012. ISBN 9780810878211
  26. ↑ Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought - Page 38, Daniel W. Brown - 1999
  27. ↑ Geoffrey Kambere, Puay Hock Goh, Pranav Kumar and Fulgence Msafiri, "Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)." Taken from Financing Terrorism: Case Studies. Ed. Michael Freeman. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781409476832
  28. ↑ Mohsin, K. M. (2001). "The Ahl-i-Hadis Movement in Bangladesh". In Ahmed, Rafiuddin. Religion, Identity & Politics: Essays on Bangladesh. Colorado Springs, CO: International Academic Publishers. p. 180. ISBN 1-58868-080-0. It was ... not an easy task for the Ahl-i-Hadis preachers to go against the powerful sunni ulema ... They encountered frequent opposition from the latter ... In order to consolidate their efforts, the leading members of the movement decided to form an all-India organization, called the All India Ahl-i-Hadis Conference in 1906, in Lucknow, India.
  29. ↑ Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A., eds. (2012). "Ahl-e-Hadith". Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  30. ↑ Roy, Olivier, The Failure of Political Islam, by Olivier Roy, translated by Carol Volk, Harvard University Press, 1994, p.118-9
  31. ↑ Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees
  32. ↑ "Ahle Hadith: New moves in religion-based politics". PROBE News Magazine. 23 September 2010. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012.
  33. 1 2 Gilliat-Ray, Sophie (2010). Muslims in Britain. Cambridge University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-521-53688-2.
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