Imām Abū Dāwūd

Imām Abū Dāwūd [ أبو داود سليمان بن الأشعث السجستاني]

Early Life and Background

Imām Abū Dāwūd’s full name was Sulaymān ibn al-Ashʿath ibn Isḥāq ibn Bashīr ibn Shaddād ibn ʿAmr al-Azdī al-Sijistānī [ar: سليمان بن الأشعث بن إسحاق بن بشير بن شداد بن عمرو الأزدي السجستاني], born in 202 AH / 817 CE in Sijistān [سجستان] (Sistan, in present-day southeastern Iran, near the Afghan border).^1

He hailed from the Azd tribe, originally of Yemenite Arab stock, known for its scholars and soldiers who migrated eastward during the early Islamic expansions.^2

From childhood, Abū Dāwūd displayed remarkable curiosity for learning. His family’s religiosity and access to regional scholarly circles gave him early exposure to Qurʾānic studies and ḥadīth recitation.^3 By adolescence, he had mastered the Qurʾān, grammar, and the rudiments of fiqh and ḥadīth memorization.^4

Youth and Early Travels

In the intellectual climate of the 3rd century AH, the region of Khurāsān and Iraq were vibrant centers of learning. Abū Dāwūd began his scholarly travels (riḥlah fī ṭalab al-ʿilm) while still young, seeking to meet the great hadith transmitters of his time.^5

He traveled to Khurasān [خراسان], Nīshāpūr [نيسابور], Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Mecca, Medina, Syria, and Egypt, compiling narrations directly from over 300 teachers.^6 Among his most celebrated teachers were:

Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, under whom he studied extensively and from whom he inherited both methodology and humility;^7
Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh [يحيى بن معين، إسحاق بن راهويه], and al-Qaʿnabī [القعنبي];^8
and he transmitted from the same generation as al-Bukhārī and Muslim, sometimes even narrating from them.^9

His contemporaries soon recognized his phenomenal memory, calm temperament, and sharp precision in distinguishing authentic from unreliable narrations.

Scholarly Maturity and Methodology

Principles of Verification

Abū Dāwūd’s contribution to ḥadīth scholarship lies in his legal classification and juristic orientation. He sought to collect narrations useful to legal reasoning (fiqh) rather than mere compilation of all available hadiths.^10
He famously said:

“From the entire body of hadith, four are sufficient for a person’s religion,”
referring to four concise narrations summarizing Islamic ethics and worship.^11

His methodology balanced authenticity with applicability — often including ḥasan and occasionally ḍaʿīf reports to highlight juristic diversity, while clearly labeling their grades.

Major Works

Work	Subject	Notes
Sunan Abī Dāwūd - سنن أبي داود	Canonical collection of hadith arranged by legal topics	Among the Kutub al-Sittah; widely used in fiqh. Contains roughly 4 800 hadiths selected from 500 000 he examined.^12
Al-Marāsīl - المراسيل	Narrations with missing links (mursal)	Important for studying transmitter reliability and hidden discontinuities.
Kitāb al-Qadar - كتاب القدر	On divine decree and predestination	A theological treatise containing relevant narrations.
Kitāb al-Baʿth wa al-Nushūr - كتاب البعث والنشور	On resurrection and the afterlife	Eschatological narrations about the Hereafter.

Sunan Abī Dāwūd

His magnum opus, Sunan Abī Dāwūd, remains one of the Six Canonical Books of Sunni Islam.^13
He devoted over twenty years to collecting, verifying, and organizing narrations into 35 books (kitāb) and 1 878 chapters (bāb).

Its unique qualities include:

systematic arrangement by fiqh topic (rituals, commerce, marriage, jihad, judiciary, etc.);
inclusion of juristic commentary and variant opinions;
clear grading of reports (ṣaḥīḥ, ḥasan, ḍaʿīf [صحيح، حسن، ضعيف]);
and an intention to serve jurists, not mere students of hadith.

Abū Dāwūd presented his Sunan to Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal [الإمام أحمد بن حنبل], who praised its precision and recommended it for legal study.^14

Later Life

After decades of travel and teaching, Abū Dāwūd eventually settled in Basra, then a leading city of hadith learning.^15 There he founded study circles, trained students, and corresponded with jurists throughout the Muslim world.

Among his most famous students were:

Imām al-Tirmidhī [الإمام الترمذي],
Imām an-Nasāʾī [الإمام النسائي],
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Jārūd [عبد الرحمن بن الجارود], and many others who transmitted his works and methodology.^16

In his final years, Abū Dāwūd dedicated himself to worship, teaching, and revising his Sunan. He died in 275 AH / 889 CE in Basra, and his funeral was attended by scholars and masses alike.^17

Character and Legacy

Imām Abū Dāwūd was known for his humility, restraint, and profound reverence for the Sunnah. Al-Dhahabī notes that he was “quiet in speech, firm in principle, and elegant in argument.”^18

His Sunan is considered third in rank after those of al-Bukhārī and Muslim, due to its balance between rigor and legal relevance.^19
He is credited with shaping fiqh-based hadith methodology, influencing scholars such as Ibn Ḥazm, Ibn al-Qayyim, and al-Nawawī.

Later commentators such as al-ʿAẓīmābādī [العظيم آبادي] and al-Khattābī [الخطّابي] wrote comprehensive commentaries on his Sunan, preserving its importance for jurists and students alike.^20

Today, Abū Dāwūd’s legacy endures as that of a jurist-muḥaddith, whose meticulous compilation continues to guide Islamic law, theology, and ethics.

References

Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī.”
Jonathan A. C. Brown, Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World (Oxford: Oneworld, 2009), 58.
“Biography of Imam Abu Dawood,” IslamicFinder.org, accessed October 2025, https://www.islamicfinder.org/knowledge/biography/story-of-imam-abu-dawood.
The Muslim Vibe, “A Short Biography of Imam Abu Dawud,” accessed October 2025, https://themuslimvibe.com/faith-islam/a-short-biography-of-imam-abu-dawud.
Brown, Hadith, 59.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ, vol. 13 (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1982), 221.
Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.
Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, vol. 4 (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1968), 155.
IslamOnline.net, “Imam Abu Dawood (202–275 AH),” accessed October 2025, https://islamonline.net/en/imam-abu-dawood.
Brown, Hadith, 60.
Ibn Ḥajar, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, 156.
Sunnah.com, “About Sunan Abu Dawud,” accessed October 2025, https://sunnah.com/abudawud/about.
Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar, vol. 13, 222.
Brown, Hadith, 61.
Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, vol. 11 (Cairo: Dār al-Fikr, 1986), 102.
Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar, vol. 13, 224.
Mohammad Hashim Kamalī, A Textbook of Hadith Studies (Oxford: Islamic Foundation, 2005), 99.
OnePath Network, “The Life of Imam Abu Dawud,” accessed October 2025, https://onepathnetwork.com/the-life-of-imam-abu-dawud.