Sunan Abu Dawood

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Sunni1 Kutub Al-Sittah ("The Six Books") Sahih Bukhari صحيح البخاري Sahih Muslim صحيح مسلم Al-Sunan Al-Sughra السنن الصغرى Sunan Abu Dawood سنن أبي داود Sunan al-Tirmidhi جامع الترمذي Sunan ibn Maja سُنن ابن ماجه Others Period (CE) Muwatta Imam Malik 8th–9th cent. Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 780–855 Sunan Al-Darimi 868 Shama'il Muhammadiyah (Shamaail Tirmidhi) 9th century Sahih Ibn Khuzaymah 923 Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān 965 Al-Mustadrak a. Al-Ṣaḥīḥaīn 11th century Al-Mawdū'āt Al-Kubrā 1128–1217 Rīaḍ As-Ṣāliḥīn 1233–1278 Mishkat Al-Masabih 1340 Talkhis Al-Mustadrak 1274–1348 Majma Al-Zawa'id 1335–1405 Bulugh Al-Maram 1372–1449 Kanz al-Ummal 16th century Zujajat al-Masabih 19th century Muntakhab Ahadith 20th century
Shi'ah Al-Kutub Al-Arb'ah ("The Four Books") Kitab Al-Kafi الكتاب الكافي Man La Yahduruhu Al-Faqih من لا يحضره الفقيه Tahdhib Al-Ahkam تهذیب الاحکام Al-Istibsar الاستبصار Others Period (CE) Nahj Al-Balagha 10th century Bihar Al-Anwar 17th century Book of Sulaym Ibn Qays 7th century Al-Sahifa Al-Sajjadiyya 678–713 Uyun al Akhbar ar Reda 10th century Sharh Usul al-Kafi 11th century Wasā'il Al-Shīʿah 17th century Haqq al-Yaqeen 17th century Ain Al-Hayat 17th century Qalam-e-Mowla   Daim al-Islam 10th century Al-Ghadir 19th century
Ibadi Jami Sahih Tartib al-Musnad
Mu'tazila On the Peak of Eloquence  (13th century)
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Sunan Abu Dawud (Arabic: سنن أبي داود‎, translit. Sunan Abī Dāwūd) is one of the Kutub al-Sittah (six major hadith collections), collected by Abu Dawud.^[1]

Introduction

Abu Dawud compiled twenty-one books related to Hadith and preferred those ahadith which were supported by the example of the companions of Muhammad. As for the contradictory ahadith, he states under the heading of 'Meat acquired by hunting for a pilgrim': "if there are two contradictory reports from the Prophet (SAW), an investigation should be made to establish what his companions have adopted". He wrote in his letter to the people of Mecca "I have disclosed wherever there was too much weakness in regard to any tradition in my collection. But if I happen to leave a Hadith without any comment, it should be considered as sound, albeit some of them are more authentic than others". Hadith Mursal (a tradition in which a companion is omitted and a successor narrates directly from Muhammad) has also been a matter of discussion among the traditionists. Abu Dawud states in his letter to the people of Mecca: "if a Musnad Hadith (uninterrupted tradition) is not contrary to a Mursal or a Musnad Hadith is not found, then the Mursal Hadith will be accepted though it would not be considered as strong as a Muttasil Hadith (uninterrupted chain)".

The traditions in Sunan Abu Dawud are divided in three categories. The first category consists of those traditions that are mentioned by Bukhari and/or Muslim. The second type of traditions are those which fulfil the conditions of Bukhari or Muslim. At this juncture, it should be remembered that Bukhari said, "I only included in my book Sahih Bukhari authentic traditions, and left out many more authentic ones than these to avoid unnecessary length".

Description

Abu Dawud collected 500,000 hadith, but included only 4,800 in this collection. Sunnis regard this collection as fourth in strength of their six major hadith collections. It took Abu Dawud 20 years to collect the hadiths. He made a series of journeys to meet most of the foremost traditionists of his time and acquired from them the most reliable hadiths, quoting sources through which it reached him. Since the author collected hadiths which no one had ever assembled together, his sunan has been accepted as a standard work by scholars from many parts of the Islamic world,^[2] especially after Ibn al-Qaisarani's inclusion of it in the formal canonization of the six major collections.^[3][4][5]

Commentaries

Sunan Abu Dawud has been translated into numerous languages. The Australian Islamic Library has collected 11 commentaries on this book in Arabic, Urdu and Indonesian.^[6]

See also

• Sahih Bukhari
• Sahih Muslim
• Jami al-Tirmidhi
• Sunan al-Sughra
• Either: Sunan ibn Majah, Muwatta Malik

References

External links

•  Arabic Wikisource has original text related to this article: Sunan Abu Dawud
• Translation and Commentaries in English, Urdu, Arabic and Indonesian Languages
• English translation of Sunan Abu Dawud