Ahl al-Hadith

Ahl al-Ḥadīth (أَهْل الحَدِيث) was an Islamic school of Sunni Islam that emerged during the 12/13th Islamic centuries of the Islamic era (late 18th and 19th century CE) as a movement of hadith scholars who considered the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only authority in matters of law and creed and even allows according to layman interepration. They even encourage layman's do the interepration of Quran and Hadith from themselves that's why other group refer them as extremist in islam. They were known as "Athari" for championing traditionalist theological doctrines which rejected rationalist approaches and advocated a strictly literalist reading of Scriptures. Its adherents have also been referred to as traditionalists and sometimes traditionists (from "traditions", namely, hadiths). The traditionalists constituted the most authoritative and dominant bloc of Sunni orthodoxy prior to the emergence of mad'habs (legal schools) during the fourth Islamic century. In jurisprudence, Ahl al-Hadith opposed many of their contemporary jurists who based their legal reasoning on informed opinion رَأْي (raʼy) or living local practice عُرْف (ʽurf), who were referred to, often derogatorily, as Ahl ar-Ra'y. The traditionalists condemned the practice of taqlid (blind-following scholarly opinions or ra'y without scriptural proofs) and advocated ittiba (adherence to scholarly traditions by asking for proofs from the Quran and Sunnah and taking only their literal meaning). In turn, the Ahl al-Hadith upheld ijtihad (scholarly legal reasoning) by adhering to Scriptures. In matters of faith, Ahl al-Hadith were pitted against the Mu'tazilites and other theological currents, condemning many points of their doctrines as well as the excessive rationalistic methods Mu'tazilites used in defending and justifying themselves. The most prominent leader of the movement was ʼAḥmad Ibn Ḥanbal.