Bismilah
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، أَمَّا بَعْدُ
In the Name of Allah. All praise is due to Allah. May Allah's prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and all of his Companions. To proceed:
Know, may Allah have mercy on you and may Allah elevate your status in this life and the hereafter. Know that there are a few fundamental things one should be grounded in knowledge with in regards to their religion.
Firstly, the only true religion that is accepted in the sight of Allah is Islam alone, as Allah says in His book:
. . . إِنَّ ٱلدِّينَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْإِسْلَـٰمُ ۗ
Truly, the religion with Allah is Islam . . .
[Surah Aal ‘Imran - Verse 19]
Know that, may Allah have mercy on you, that Islam calls to monotheism, which means worshiping Allah alone and not associating any partners with Him.
Allah says:
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍۢ رَّسُولًا أَنِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱجْتَنِبُوا۟ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتَ ۖ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِ ٱلضَّلَـٰلَةُ ۚ فَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): “Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Tâghût (all false deities i.e. do not worship Tâghût besides Allâh).” Then of them were some whom Allâh guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified. So travel through the land and see what was the end of those who denied (the truth).
[Surah An Nahl - Verse 36]
No Prophet was sent except to teach that nothing can be associated with or be made equal to Allah. Neither Muhammad (ﷺ), who is undeniably the greatest man to have ever walked on the face of this earth, neither any of the prophets, neither the angels, neither celestial bodies like stars and planets, neither a stone or rock, neither the sun or the moon. Allah is the only true deity worthy of worship.
Allah says:
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِۦ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدِ ٱفْتَرَىٰٓ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا
Verily, Allâh forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He wills; and whoever sets up partners with Allâh in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.
[Surah An Nisa - Verse 48]
Thus, Tawheed (oneness of Allah) is the greatest thing in Islam. And it’s opposite, Shirk (associating partners with Allah), is the greatest sin in Islam. Shirk is the only sin that shall never be forgiven if one dies upon it without repenting from it. As for the other sins, Allah may punish for a period of time or may forgive the person, but in the end Allah will make the person enter the Jannah if he has an atom’s weight of Tawheed.
Secondly, the religion is followed in accordance to what is commanded to us by our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, as Allah says in His book, to follow the Prophet ﷺ if you claim to love Allah:
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّٰهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى يُحْبِبْكُمُ ٱللَّٰهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَٱاللَّٰه غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم to mankind): "If you (really) love Allâh then follow me (i.e. accept Islâmic Monotheism, follow the Qur’ân and the Sunnah), Allâh will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
[Surah Aal 'Imran, Verse 31]
So, one follows the Prophet ﷺ in doing what he commanded and in staying away from what he prohibited. Every action and saying of the prophet was noted down and was recorded. Some of the Sahaba such as Ali (رضي الله عنه), Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) used to maintain notebooks.
So we follow all the narrations (ahadeeth) that have been recorded by Sahaba, Tab’een (the generation that followed them), Atba’ At Tabi’een (the generation that followed them) and the other Imams that came after them such as Imam Al Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Ahmed, Imam Malik, and many others. A lot of research is done in grading if the hadeeth is weak, good or “Saheeh” which means authentic.
So for us Muslims, there are two important sources in regards to the Islamic Knowledge:
The Qur’an and the Sunnah (Ahadeeth of the Prophet ﷺ)
This is well known to the people, but what many fall short is in this:
The Qur’an and Sunnah upon whose understanding and intellect? Your understanding, my understanding? Understanding of any person who starts speaking?
The answer is in the following ahadeeth:
Prophet’s ﷺ saying: “The best of mankind is my generation, then those that come after them, then those that come after them.” [Sahih al-Bukhari 2651]
Prophet’s ﷺ saying: “Verily he among you who lives long will see great controversy, so you must keep to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the Khulafa ar-Rashideen (the rightly guided caliphs), those who guide to the right way. Cling to it stubbornly [literally: with your molar teeth]. Beware of newly invented matters [in the religion], for verily every bidah (innovation) is misguidance.” [Abu Dawud] [Hadith 28, 40 Hadith an-Nawawi]
Thus it becomes clear from this and many countless ahadeeth, that the Qur’an and Sunnah are to be followed upon the understanding of the Salaf (the pious predecessors and they are basically the first three generations). One who follows the Islam based on their understanding, follows the religion as and is how it was taught by the Prophet ﷺ.
This is the place where many have gone astray, they took the Qur’an and the Sunnah but understood not how Sahaba understood, but by their intellect, philosophy, and statements of an XYZ person. Sahaba are the ones who lived with the Prophet ﷺ, the Quran was revealed whilst they were with the the Prophet ﷺ.
They knew about each and every verse of the Quran, when it was revealed, for what reason and which situation it was revealed. They knew the ahadeeth of the Prophet ﷺ and how his ﷺ statements were applied in different scenarios.
Thus the Qur’an and the Sunnah have to be followed the way the early generations have followed them.
Calling yourself Ahl e Hadeeth?
The word “Ahl e Hadeeth” means “The People of Hadeeth“. Hadeeth linguistically refers to “speech“. We know that Quran is the speech of Allah, it is Allah’s revelation. Do you know that whatever Prophet ﷺ said and did is also a revelation from Allah. The principle that the Prophet's words are a form of revelation is primarily mentioned in the Quran, Surah An-Najm (53:3-4), where Allah states: "Nor does he (Prophet’s ﷺ) speak of his own desire. It is only a Revelation revealed". Thus the ahadeeth of the Prophet’s ﷺ is also a revelation.
So when one says he is from “Ahlul Hadeeth” meaning “from the people of hadeeth”, he is referring to both the Qur’an and Hadeeth.
Many muslims think one should not call themselves by any name, rather call themselves “Muslims” only, and they qoute the below verses from the Quran:
Allah says:
“And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allâh (i.e. this Qur’ân), and be not divided among yourselves. . .“
[Surah Aal ‘Imran, Verse 103]
and they also bring the verse where Allah says:
“It is He (Allâh) Who has named you Muslims both before and in this (the Qur’ân), that the Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) may be a witness over you and you be witnesses over mankind!”
[Surah Al Hajj Verse 78]
You should know, may Allah have mercy on you, that using these verses in trying to say that we should call ourselves muslims alone is wrong and again points that one is trying to bring out rulings from the Quran and Sunnah with his intellect alone and not understanding them the way Sahaba understood.
Indeed one does not intend to divide the Muslims, for it is a big sin. And ofcourse we call ourselves “Muslims”. But nowadays, you have many “Muslims” with different beliefs and acts, that are actually completely the opposite of what the Prophet saw commanded. So how do you differentiate between these muslims now, if everyone calls themselves muslims?
You should know that this happened at the time of Sahaba, after Muhammad ﷺ passed away, when a group of people emerged at the time of Uthman (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ), who the Prophet ﷺ had already warned the Sahaba about. Prophet ﷺ called them “Khawarij“ and said about them that they will leave the fold of Islam like an arrow that leaves the bow, subhan Allah! After the passing of the Prophet ﷺ, during the caliphate of Uthman (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ), these group of people indeed came and they brought lot of chaos to the Muslim land, they even went on and killed Uthman (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)! They also killed Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)!
And yet they called themselves “Muslims“! Can you understand the context here?
Ofcourse a “Kharji” will never call itself a Kharji, he will say he is a muslim. Thus the Sahaba, the best who understood the religion, the ones who were with the Prophet ﷺ when the Quran was being revealed, and they had the deepest understanding of what is right and what is wrong, started calling themselves “Ahul us Sunnah wal Jamaah“ meaning “People of Sunnah and Jamaah“ which means that unlike the Khawarij, sticked to the Sunnah of the prophet and the Jamaah of the Muslimeen (the Khalifah of thier time). So now what shall we say? The Sahaba divided the Ummah? The Sahaba did an innovation by giving themselves a name?
No of course, now one can understand the secanrio and that name can indeed be given, and it exists to differentiate between the people. Different sects and groups have emerged after the passing of the Prophet ﷺ. First came the Khawaraij with such a distorted understanding of Islam. Then came: - Mu’tazilah a. They rejected many attributes of Allah. b. They said Logic is above the Quran and Sunnah, etc - Qadariyyah - Jabariyyah Qadariyyah and Jabariyyah misunderstood the concept of Qadr - Jahmiyyah - Murjiah And many other groups came, and also many new sects have emerged at this time of ours.
But there is one group (Jama’ah) that still sticks to the Prophet and the understanding of his companions.
All the great imams of this religion, such as Imam Malik, Imam Ahmad, Imam Al Bukhari, Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, and many others, ascribed themselves to names such as Ahlul Hadeeth and Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah.
There is no “one name”, as name is just used for it’s identity, so it changes between places and times. Some of the well known names:
Ahlul Hadeeth: At some places they are know as “Ahlul Hadeeth“. Today, this is widely used in the Indian Subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc). Many scholars from the past also used this name. Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah: Some places people know them by “Ahlus Sunnnah Wal Jamaah“. Especially in countries like Saudi Arabia as per my knowledge. Athari: They are also called Athari, meaning “the one who sticks to the authentic narrations”. Salafi: Meaning the follower of the Salaf. Salaf means “the pious predecssors”. And they are the first three generations and of course all the believers that followed their guidance.
Thus this group is not something new but the same thing that the Prophet ﷺ taught, this is what the first three generations were upon.
May Allah make us among those who follow the correct methodology and stick to it till we breath the last breath of this life and grant us the highest station in Jannah. May Allah accept all our deeds and make them for His sake alone. Ameen.
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
O Allah, send Your prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all of his companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Recompense (the Day of Judgment).