Ahl-i Hadith

Ahl-i Hadith (Urdu: اہلِ حدیث, romanized: ahl-i ḥadīth, lit. 'people of hadith') is a Salafi reform movement that emerged in North India in the mid-nineteenth century from the teachings of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, Nazir Husayn and Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan. It is an offshoot of the 19th-century Indian Tariqah-i Muhammadiya movement tied to the 18th-century traditions of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi and the Wahhabi movement. The adherents of the movement described themselves variously as "Muwahideen" and as "Ahl e-Hadith."

Initially coterminous with the so-called (Indian) "Wahhabis", the movement emerged as a distinct group around 1864, having claimed the appellation of "Ahl-i Hadith" to highlight its commitment to the body of ḥadīth—statements attributed to Muhammad, validated through chains of transmission—and its political quietism. The movement was noteworthy for its robust opposition to practices associated with the veneration of saints, which they regarded as a breach of the doctrine of Tawḥīd (Islamic monotheism). Its adherents profess to hold the same views as those of the early Ahl al-Hadith school. They reject taqlid (following legal precedent) and favour ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) based on the scriptures. Today, the terms "Salafi" and "Ahl-i Hadith" are often used interchangeably, the movement shares doctrinal tendencies with the Hanbali school prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula, and many of its members have identified themselves with the Zahiri school of thought. Some believe it possesses some notable distinctions from the mainly Arab Salafis.

Holding considerable influence amongst the urban Islamic intellectual circles of South Asia, the Ahl-i Hadith consolidated themselves into the All India Ahl-i-Hadith Conference in 1906 and, in Pakistan, formed a political wing in the Jamiat Ahle Hadith in 1986. The movement has drawn support and funding from Saudi Arabia.