Ahl al-Hadith (Arabic: أَهْل الحَدِيث, romanized: Ahl al-Ḥadīth), also known as Ashab al-Hadith, were followers of the movement that emerged in the late second and third centuries of Islam that insisted on the authority of hadith. It played a critical role in the emergence of Sunni Islam.
In Sunni tradition, the Ahl al-Hadith were mainly concerned with the narrations and traditions related to the responsibilities of the ruler.
In the 7th–8th Century CE, the belief that hadith were part of the Sunnah was a minority position among Muslims. Later, the hadith-based approach to Sunnah was popularised by the Ahl al-Hadith, who were opposed by the Mu'tazila. During the religious inquisition or Mihna (833–850 CE) started by the Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun, many of the Ahl al-Hadith were imprisoned for refusing to agree to the doctrine of the "Created Qur'an".
The term "Ahl al-Hadith" is sometimes used for all those who accept hadith, including the four Sunni schools of thought (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali). Nevertheless, some Hanafis staunchly oppose the Ahl al-Hadith, holding that the prayer of any Hanafi performed behind an imam belonging to Ahl al-Hadith is null and void.