While Sir Syed Ahmed blamed Ulema to make mockery of Hadith and Tafsir by mentioning mysterious things, but Syed Ahmed himself is biggest guilty of this act.
During the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), affiliation was due to Islam (اسلام) and Eaman (ايمان). Thus they identified people as either Muslims (believers) or Kufar (non-believers). Then the time came when they called people “Zahidoon” (زاهدون) or “Abidoon” (عابدون), due to their Zuhd (زهد).