Criticism of Hadith Criticism of Hadith The criticism of "Hadith" refers to the critique directed towards collections of "ahadith", i.e. the collections of reports of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Islamic prophet Muhammad on any matter. The criticism revolves primarily around the authenticity of "hadith" reports and whether they are attributable to Muhammad, as well as theological and philosophical grounds as to whether the "hadith" can provide rulings on legal and religious matters when the Quran has already declared itself "complete", "clear", "fully detailed" and "perfected". Because of Quranic injunctions to Muslims to follow the instructions of and to
Ahl al-Hadith on to the early Sunni creed. This theological school, which is also known as traditionalist theology, has been championed in recent times by the Salafi movement. The term "ahl al-hadith" is sometimes used in a more general sense to denote a particularly enthusiastic commitment to hadith and to the views and way of life of the Salaf (exemplary early Muslims). The Ahl al-Hadith movement emerged toward the end of the eighth century CE among scholars of hadith who held the Quran and authentic hadith to be the only acceptable sources of law and creed. At first these scholars formed minorities