Who Are the People of Hadīth?

Shaikh Rabī ibn Hādī Umayr al-Madkhalī, may Allāh have mercy upon him, said in the introduction of his book: 'The Imams of Jarh wa Ta’dil are the protectors of the religion from the plots of the atheists, the misguidance of the innovators, and the falsehood of the liars':

"They are those who followed the path of the Companions and the Tābi’ūn (the followers of the Companions) in adhering to the Book and the Sunnah, holding tightly to them, and giving them precedence over every opinion and guidance, whether in matters of belief, worship, transactions, ethics, politics, or social affairs. They are steadfast in both the fundamentals and branches of the religion, upon what Allāh has revealed and inspired to His servant and Messenger, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

They are the ones who sincerely and diligently call to this truth. They are the ones who carry the Prophetic knowledge and who repel the distortions of the extremists, the false claims of the falsifiers, and the misinterpretations of the ignorant. They are the ones who stand guard against every deviant group that deviates from the Islāmic methodology, such as the Jahmiyyah, the Mu’tazilah, the Khawārij, the Rawāfid, the Murji’ah, the Qadariyyah, and anyone who strays from Allāh’s path and follows their desires in every time and place. They do not fear the blame of the blamers for the sake of Allāh.

They are the group praised by the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) and whom he approved of when he said:

“There will not cease to be a group from my Ummah, manifest upon the truth, unaffected by those who betray them or oppose them, until the Hour is established.”

They are the saved sect, steadfast upon what the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions were upon. The Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) distinguished and defined them when he mentioned that this Ummah would split into seventy-three sects, all of which are in the Fire except one. He was asked:

“Who are they, O Messenger of Allāh?” He said: “Those who are upon what I and my companions are upon.”

This is not an exaggeration or mere claim, but rather the reality testified by the texts of the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, history, and their statements, conditions, and writings. They are the ones who placed before their eyes the saying of Allāh:

وَٱعۡتَصِمُوا۟ بِحَبۡلِ ٱللَّهِ جَمِیعࣰا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا۟ۚ

“And hold firmly to the rope of Allāh all together and do not become divided.”

[Āl-Imrān: 103]

And His saying:

فَلۡیَحۡذَرِ ٱلَّذِینَ یُخَالِفُونَ عَنۡ أَمۡرِهِۦۤ أَن تُصِیبَهُمۡ فِتۡنَةٌ أَوۡ یُصِیبَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ أَلِیمٌ

“Let those beware who oppose his command, lest a trial befall them or a painful punishment.”

[Al-Nūr: 63]

They are the furthest from opposing the command of the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings be upon him) and the furthest from innovation.

They are the ones who made their constitution the verse:

فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا یُؤۡمِنُونَ حَتَّىٰ یُحَكِّمُوكَ فِیمَا شَجَرَ بَیۡنَهُمۡ ثُمَّ لَا یَجِدُوا۟ فِیۤ أَنفُسِهِمۡ حَرَجࣰا مِّمَّا قَضَیۡتَ وَیُسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسۡلِیمࣰا

“But no, by your Lord, they will not [truly] believe until they make you [O Muhammad] judge in what disputes between them and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in [full] submission.”

[Al-Nisā’: 65]

Thus, they gave the texts of the Qur’ān and Sunnah their due, honoured them as they deserve, and placed them above the statements of all people. They followed the guidance of the Qur’ān and Sunnah above the guidance of all others, and they referred to them in all matters with complete satisfaction and open hearts, without any resistance or discomfort. They submitted fully to Allāh and His Messenger in their beliefs, worship, and dealings.

They are the ones described by the verse:

إِنَّمَا كَانَ قَوۡلَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِینَ إِذَا دُعُوۤا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ لِیَحۡكُمَ بَیۡنَهُمۡ أَن یَقُولُوا۟ سَمِعۡنَا وَأَطَعۡنَاۚ وَأُو۟لَـٰۤىِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ

“The only statement of the [true] believers when they are called to Allāh and His Messenger to judge between them is that they say, “We hear and we obey.” And those are the successful.”

[Al-Nūr: 51]

They are the successors of the Companions of the Messenger of Allāh, especially the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and the leaders of the Tābi’ūn, such as Sa’īd ibn al-Musayyib (d. 94 AH), ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (d. 94 AH), ‘Alī ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-‘Ābidīn (d. 93 AH), Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (d. After 80 AH), ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utbah ibn Mas’ūd (d. 94 AH or after), Sālim ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (d. 106 AH), al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr al-Siddīq (d. 106 AH), al-Hasan al-Basrī (d. 110 AH), Muhammad ibn Sirīn (d. 110 AH), ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz (d. 101 AH), and Muhammad ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (d. 125 AH).

Then came the followers of the Tābi’ūn, such as Mālik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH), al-Awzā’ī (d. 157 AH), Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161 AH), Sufyān ibn ‘Uyaynah (d. 198 AH), Ismā’īl ibn ‘Ulayyah (d. 193 AH), and al-Layth ibn Sa’d (d. 175 AH).

Then came their followers, such as ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubārak (d. 181 AH), Wakī’ ibn al-Jarrah (d. 197 AH), Imām Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfi’ī (d. 204 AH), ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Mahdī (d. 198 AH), Yahya ibn Sa’īd al-Qattān (d. 198 AH), and Hammād ibn Salamah (d. 219 AH).

Then their students, such as Imām Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH), Yahya ibn Ma’īn (d. 233 AH), and ‘Alī ibn al-Madīnī (d. 234 AH).

Then their students, such as al-Bukhārī (d. 256 AH), Muslim (d. 261 AH), Abu Hātim (d. 277 AH), Abu Zur’ah (d. 264 AH), Abu Dāwūd (d. 275 AH), al-Tirmidhī (d. 279 AH), and al-Nasā’ī (d. 303 AH). Then those who followed their path in the generations that came after them, like ibn Jarīr (d. 310 AH), ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311 AH), al-Dāraqutnī (d. 385 AH), al-Khatīb al-Baghdādī (d. 463 AH), ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (d. 463 AH), ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī (d. 600 AH), ibn Qudamah (d. 620 AH), ibn al-Salah (d. 643 AH), ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH), ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH), al-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH), ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH), and their contemporaries and those who followed them, holding firmly to the Book and Sunnah until this very day.

They have authored numerous works in defence of the correct ‘aqīdah (creed), derived from the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, and what the Companions and Tābi’ūn were upon.

These works are vast and innumerable, but I will mention some of them:

1. Al-Radd ‘ala al-Jahmiyyah by Imām Ahmad.

2. Al-Sunnah by ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad.

3. Al-Imān by ibn Abu Shaybah.

4. Al-Imān by Abu ‘Ubayd.

5. Khalq Af’āl al-‘Ibād by al-Bukhārī, and within his Sahīh are Kitāb al-Imān, Kitāb al-Tawhīd, and Kitāb al-I’tisām.

6. Kitāb al-Sunnah by al-Khallāl, which compiles the knowledge of Ahmad in three volumes.

7. Al-Radd ‘ala al-Jahmiyyah and al-Radd ‘ala Bishr al-Mirīsī both by ‘Uthmān ibn Sa’īd al-Dārimī.

8. Kitāb al-Sunnah by al-Athram.

9. Kitāb al-Sharī’ah by al-Ājurri.

10. Al-Sunnah by ibn Abu ‘Āsim.

11. Al-Sunnah by ibn Shahīn.

12. Al-Istiqāmah by ibn Abu ‘Āsim.

13. Kitāb al-Tawhīd by ibn Khuzaymah.

14. Al-Imān and Kitāb al-Tawhīd by ibn Mandah.

15. Kitāb al-Imān bil-Qadr and Kitāb al-Asmā wa al-Sifāt by Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ishāq, known as al-Sabghī.

16. Kitāb al-Sunnah by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-‘Assal.

17. Kitāb al-Sifāt.

18. Kitāb al-Nuzūl.

19. Kitāb al-Ru’yah in three volumes by Imām al-Dāraqutnī.

20. Al-Ibānah al-Kubra, Al-Ibānah al-Sughra, and Kitāb al-Sunnah all by ibn Battah al-‘Ukbarī.

23. Sharh Usūl al-Sunnah by Imām al-Lālakā’ī.

24. Al-Hujjah fi Bayān al-Mahajjah by Abu al-Qāsim al-Taymī.

25. Kitāb al-Sifāt in two volumes by ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī.

26. Numerous works by Imām ibn Taymiyyah and his student ibn al-Qayyim.

Their writings have continued in the service of the Sunnah and ‘aqīdah until this day.

They, by Allāh’s grace, are the leaders and masters of the Ummah in Hadīth, knowledge of narrators, ‘aqīdah, and fiqh.

They are the defenders of Allāh’s religion in creed and Sharī'ah, and the suppressors of the people of atheism and innovation in every time and place. In my book, I have counted approximately fifty major works authored by the scholars of Hadīth and Sunnah in this era alone, responding to atheists, the people of innovation such as the Rawāfid, and other misguided groups. This is just a small sample of their jihād in raising the banner of Islām and the Sunnah and refuting falsehoods and misguidances that their proponents have strayed from the path of Islām and deviated from the straight path.

All of this stems from their realisation of the greatness of the truth brought by Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and the dangers posed by anything that contradicts it, be it disbelief, shirk, or innovation. May Allāh reward them with the best for their service to Islām and the Muslims, and may He humiliate those who belittle them and scorn their efforts."