The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (82 page)

 
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Ahl al-Hadith
(People of the Tradition)
.

A relatively small but vigorous Islamic reform movement. It first appeared in India at the end of the 19th cent., and its characteristics are similar to the
Wahh
b
movement of Arabia. Their creed is ‘whatever the Prophet
Mu
ammad
taught in the
Qur’
n
and the authentic traditions, that alone is the basis of our religion’. On matters of Islamic law, the ahl-al-Hadith far exceed Wahh
b
puritanism. They cast aside the four orthodox schools of law, and instead contend that every believer is free to follow his own interpretation of the Qur’
n and the traditions, provided that he has sufficient learning to enable him to give a valid interpretation.

 
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Ahl al-Kit
b
.

‘People of the Book’, i.e. possessing a
scripture
; the name given by the Qur’
n to the Jewish (Ban
Isr
’
l) and Christian (
Na
r
) communities, possessors respectively of the
Tawr
t
(Torah) and Zab
r (Psalms) and of the
Inj
l
(Gospel), and later extended by Muslim law to the Sabeans and the
Zoroastrians
. To these people was given the status of
dhimma
, ‘protection’. Although the Qur’
n allows them to keep their own religion, and affords them protection, they are expected to pay a special tribute, the
jizya
(9.29). Because of this special status, it is a vital issue in community relations whether the category can be extended to include others, e.g., Hindus.