Sunan Abi Dawud سُنَن أَبِي دَاوُد

Overview

Sunan Abī Dāwūd (Arabic: سُنَن أَبِي دَاوُد) is the fourth of the Kutub as-Sittah, compiled by Sulaymān ibn al-Ashʿath as-Sijistānī (202–275 AH / 817–889 CE), a foremost ḥadīth master who studied under al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and others.

The collection contains approximately 5,300 hadith drawn from a working pool of about 500,000 hadith. Abū Dāwūd himself wrote: "This book contains four hadith that are sufficient to base one's religion on" — referring to the famous Forty Hadith of an-Nawawī's tradition.

Distinctive features

• Juristic focus — Sunan Abī Dāwūd is primarily a book of fiqh-relevant hadith, organised to support legal rulings.
• Authenticity disclosure — Abū Dāwūd identifies in his Risālah ilā Ahl Makkah that hadith he considers shadīd al-wahn (severely weak) are flagged; if a hadith stands without his comment, it meets at least the basic standard.
• Inclusion of weak material with explanation — when no authentic narration on a topic existed, he sometimes included weaker material with notes.

Famous hadith

Abū ad-Dardāʾ reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "Nothing is heavier on the Scale of the believer on the Day of Resurrection than good character." — Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4799 (graded Sahih by al-Albani)

Significance

The Sunan is universally cited for fiqh; the four classical Sunni schools — Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī — all use it as primary evidence. Modern critical re-grading by al-Albānī covers the entire work in Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd and Ḍaʿīf Sunan Abī Dāwūd.

See also

• Hadith
• Sahih al-Bukhari
• Sahih Muslim
• Jami at-Tirmidhi
• Sunan an-Nasaʼi
• Sunan Ibn Majah
• Imam al-Albani

References

1. Abū Dāwūd, Sunan Abī Dāwūd, ed. Muḥammad Muḥyī ad-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (al-Maktabah al-ʿAṣriyyah).
2. Abū Dāwūd, Risālah ilā Ahl Makkah, ed. Muḥammad aṣ-Ṣabbāgh.
3. al-Albānī, Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd and Ḍaʿīf Sunan Abī Dāwūd.
4. al-ʿAẓīmābādī, ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd Sharḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd.