Abu Dawud al-Sijistani

Sulaymān ibn al-Ash‘ath ibn Isḥāq al-Azdī, Abū Dāwūd (Dā’ūd) al-Sijistānī
Abu Dawud's name in the style of Arabic calligraphy
Personal
Born	817–18 CE / 202 AH Sistan, Abbasid Caliphate
Died	889 CE / 275 AH Basra, Abbasid Caliphate
Religion	Islam
Ethnicity	a Persian but of Arab descent[1]
Era	Islamic golden age (Abbasid era)
Denomination	Sunni
School	Hanbali
Main interest(s)	ḥadīth and fiqh
Notable work(s)	Sunan Abī Dāwūd
Occupation	muhaddith
Muslim leader
show Influenced by Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub al-Juzajani,[2] Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ali ibn al-Madini, Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh, Yahya ibn Ma'in
show Influenced Tirmidhi, Al-Nasa'i

Abū Dāwūd (Dā’ūd) Sulaymān ibn al-Ash‘ath ibn Isḥāq al-Azdī al-Sijistānī (Arabic: أبو داود سليمان بن الأشعث الأزدي السجستاني‎), commonly known simply as Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī, was a scholar of prophetic hadith who compiled the third of the six "canonical" hadith collections recognized by Sunni Muslims, the Sunan Abu Dāwūd. He was a Persian of Arab descent.^[1]

Biography[]

Abū Dā’ūd was born in Sistan and died in 889 in Basra. He traveled widely collecting ḥadīth (traditions) from scholars in Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Hijaz, Tihamah, Nishapur, and Merv among other places. His focus on legal ḥadīth arose from a particular interest in fiqh (law). His collection included 4,800 ḥadīth, selected from some 500,000. His son, Abū Bakr ‘Abd Allāh ibn Abī Dā’ūd (died 928/929), was a well known ḥāfiẓ and author of Kitāb al-Masābīh, whose famous pupil was .^[3][4]

School of thought and Quotes[]

Imam Abu Dawud was a follower of Hanbali although some have consider him Shafi.^[5]

Imam Abu Dawud himself has stated: "From this book of mine four (4) Hadith are sufficient for an intelligent and insightful person.^[6] They are:

• Deeds are to be judged only by intentions.^[7]
• Part of a man's good observance of Islam is that he leaves alone that which does not concern him.
• None of you can be a believer unless you love for your brother that which you love for yourself.
• The permitted (halal) is clear, and the forbidden (haram) is clear, between these two are doubtful matters. Whosoever abstains from these doubtful matters has saved his religion."

Works[]

Principal among his twenty-one works:

• Sunan Abu Dāwūd; contains 4,800 hadith – mostly sahih (authenticated), some marked ḍaʿīf (unauthenticated) – usually numbered after the edition of Muhammad Muhyi al-Din `Abd al-Hamid (Cairo: Matba`at Mustafa Muhammad, 1354/1935), where 5,274 are distinguished. Islamic scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani), and some others, believe a number of the unmarked hadith are ḍaʿīf.
• Kitab al-Marāsīl, lists 600 extensively investigated sahih mursal hadith.
• Risālat Abu Dāwūd ilā Ahli Makkah; letter to the people of Makkah describing his Sunan Abu Dāwūd.^[8]
• Kitāb al-Masāhif, catalogs non-Uthmanic variants of the Qur'an text

See also[]

• Kutub al-Sittah
• Sunan Abu Dawood

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Baghdādī (al-), Al-Khaṭīb Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī (2001). Ta'rīkh Madīnat al-Salām (Ta'rīkh Baghdād) (PDF) (in Arabic). X, §4591. Beirut: Dār al-Gharib al-Islāmī. p. 75.
• Khallikān (Ibn), Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad (1843). Wafayāt al-A'yān wa-Anbā' Abnā' al-Zamān (The Obituaries of Eminent Men). I. Translated by McGuckin de Slane, William. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. pp. 590–91.
• Nadīm (al), Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq Abū Ya’qūb al-Warrāq (1970). Dodge, Bayard (ed.). The Fihrist of al-Nadim; a tenth-century survey of Muslim culture. New York & London: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231029254.
• Nawawī (al-), Abū Zakarīyā’ Yaḥyā (1847) [1842]. Wüstenfeld, Ferdinand (ed.). Kitāb Tahdhīb al-Asmā' (Biographical Dictionary of Illustrious Men) (in Arabic). Göttingen: London Society for the Publication of the Oriental Texts. p. 708 Arabic.

Further reading[]

• Abderrazzaq, Mohammad A. (2009). "Sijistānī, Abū Dāʿūd al-.". In Esposito, John L. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530513-5.
• Bowker, John (2000). "Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280094-7.
• Esposito, John L., ed. (2003). "Sijistani, Abu Daud al-". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512558-0.
• Melchert, Christopher (2007). "Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
• Pakatchi, Ahmad; Khodaverdian, Shahram (2008). "Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī". In Madelung, Wilferd; Daftary, Farhad (eds.). Encyclopaedia Islamica Online. Brill Online. ISSN 1875-9831.
• Robson, J. (1960). "Abū Dāʾūd al-Sid̲j̲istānī". In Gibb, H. A. R.; Kramers, J. H.; Lévi-Provençal, E.; Schacht, J.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume I: A–B. Leiden: E. J. Brill. OCLC 495469456.
• Thomas, David (24 March 2010). "Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān ibn al-Ashʿath al-Sijistānī". In Thomas, David (ed.). Christian-Muslim Relations 600 – 1500. Brill Online.

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Abu Dawud al-Sijistani

• Biodata at MuslimScholars.info * Biography at Sunnah.com
• Letter from Imam Abu Dawud to the people of Makkah explaining his book, terms he uses, and his methodology.