Who are the Ahl ad-Dhikr?

Shaikh Al-Albani رحمه الله :

من هم اهل الذكر؟ Who are the Ahl ad-Dhikr?

اهل الذكر هم اهل القرآن. Ahl Ad-Dhikr (People of Dhikr) are the Ahl al-Qur’ān (People of the Qur’ān).

وأهل القرآن ليسو هم الذين يقرؤون القرآن و يحسنون تقويمه وقراءته جيدا ثم لا يكادون يفقهون منه شيئا ولو قليلا, هولاء ليسوا هم أهل القرآن And the people of the Qur’ān are not the ones who recite the Qur’ān well it’s then hardly understand anything from it, not even a little. These are not from the people of the Qur’ān.

أهل القرآن والذين أثنى عليهم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في الحديث خاص: اهل القران هم اهل الله وخاصته Ahl-al Qur’ān (People of the Qur’ān), are the ones whom the Prophet ﷺ praised in a specific hadith: “The People of the Qur’ān are the People of Allāh who are special to him.”

هم الذين يفهمون القرآن ويفسرونه على ما كان عليه زمن نزوله على قلب النبي عليه الصلاة والسلام. They are the ones who understand the Qur’ān and explain it as it was during the time of revelation upon the heart of the Prophet ﷺ.

أي على ما كان عليه سلفنا الصالح Meaning based on what our Salaf Al-Sālih (pious predecessors) were upon.

هولاء هم اهل الذكر. الذين يجب على عامة المسلمين ان يسألوهم. These are the People of Dhikr, the ones the common Muslims/ laymen should ask.

Audio source & translation: Who are the Ahl ad-Dhikr? - Imam Al-Albānī ¹