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Abu Dawud
Sahih Bukhari | Sahih Muslim | Abu Dawud | Shmail -la- Termizi | Malik Mouta | Fiqh-us-Sunnah | Extra(40 Hadith Qudsi, Novi's Hadiths etc) |
The Hadith : Abu Dawud.
English Translation by Prof. Ahmad Hasan.
Introduction.
Sunan Abu Dawud is a collection of sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), also known as the sunnah. The reports of the Prophet's sayings and deeds are called ahadith. Imam Abu Dawud lived a couple of centuries after the Prophet's death and worked extremely hard to collect his ahadith. Each report in his collection was checked for compatibility with the Qur'an, and the veracity of the chain of reporters had to be painstakingly established.
Imam Abu Dawud's collection is recognized by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world to be one of the most authentic collections of the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW), however it is also known to contain some weak ahadith (some of which he pointed out, others which he did not).
It is important to realize, however, that Imam Abu Dawud's collection is not complete: there are other scholars (i.e. Imam Bukhari, Muslim, Malik etc.) who worked as Imam Abu Dawud did and collected other reports.
NOTE : THIS PLUG-IN VERSION HAS MANY HADITHS MISSING. AS SOON AS THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION IS AVAILABE THIS VERION WILL BE UPDATED.
Background.
Sunan Abu Dawud is one of six important and authentic collections (Sihah Sittah) of the Prophetic Traditions. Imam Abu Dawud, following the practice of his time, travelled far and wide to collect Hadith. He visited Hijaz, Iraq, Khurasahn, Egypt, Syria, Nishapur, Marv and Isfahan for the purpose. His proficience in Hadith is accepted by a large majority of muslims around the world. He also had keen insight in law (fiqh). His Sunan, naturally, is replete with legal traditions; it also indicates his point of view on various questions and his acuman in ijtihad.
The Sunan is Abu Dawud's most important work. It has 4800 traditions selected from a mass of 50,000. It can be called one of the fundamental works on Hadith.
Imam Abu Dawud He compiled twenty-one books related to Hadith and preferred those ahadith which were supported by the practical example of the companions of the Prophet (SAW). 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 Makkah: "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 the Prophet) (SAW) has also been a matter of discussion among the traditionists. Imam Abu Dawud states in his letter to the people of Makkah: "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 Imam Bukhari and/or Imam Muslim. The second type of traditions are those which fulfil the conditions of Imam Bukhari or Imam Muslim. At this juncture, it should be remembered that Imam 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". He had no intention of collecting all the authentic traditions. He only wanted to compile a manual of Hadith. according to the wishes of his teacher Ishaq b. Rahaway (d. 238A.H.), and his function is quite clear from the complete title of his book Al-Jami', al-Musnad, al-Sahih, al-Mukhtasar, Min 'Umur Rasul Allah Wa-Sunanihi Wa-Ayyamihi. The word al-Mukhtasar (epitome), itself explains that Imam Bukhari did not attempt to compile a comprehensive collection. Imam Muslim said that he condensed his Sahih from 300,000 Sahih ahadith. This proves that there are many ahadith which are authentic in spite of their not being mentioned in either Sahih Bukhari or Sahih Muslim.
Brief Biography of Imam Abu Dawud.
Imam Abu Dawud (full name Abu-Dawud Sulaiman bin Al-Aash'ath Al-Azdi as-Sijistani) was born in 202 A.H in Sajistan, a place near Qandhar in Afghanistan. He was one of the most widely travelled of the scholars of ahadith, going to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Tarsus, Damascus, Khurasahn, Egypt, Basra, Syria, Nishapur, Marv, and other places for the sole purpose of collecting ahadith. His primary interest was in law (fiqh), hence his collection focuses purely on legal ahadith. From about 50,000 ahadith, he chose 4,800 for inclusion in his work based on their superior authenticity.
Imam Abu Dawud began the learning of hadith while he was less than 20 years old. He gained a wide reputation in his lifetime. At that time, Basra was deserted due to disturbance of Zanj (in 257 A.H.). The Governor Abu Ahmad visited Imam Abu Dawud in his house in Baghdad and requested that he move to Basra so that the deserted city may be rehabilitated by his presence and gathering of the scholars and students. The scholars are unanimous about his great ability, trustworthiness and accuracy. He was not only a good narrator of hadith but also a good lawyer. Sometimes he checked written material, papers, and ink to discover their age.
Imam Abu Dawud was married and had children.
Imam Abu Dawud's literary works includes the following:
Al Marasil.
Masail al Iman Ahmad.
An Nasikh wal Mansukh.
Risalah fi wasf kitab as sunan.
Az Zuhd.
Ijabatan Sawalat Al Ajurri.
Asilahan Ahmad b Hanbal.
Tasmiyat al Akhwan.
Kitab al Qadr.
Al Bath wan Nushur.
Al Masail allati halafa alaiha al Imam Ahmad.
Dalail an Nubuwat.
Fadail al Ansar.
Musnad Malik.
Ad Dua.
Ibtida al wahy.
At Tafarrud fus sunan.
Akhbar al Khawarij.
Alam an Nubuwat.
Sunan.
His most famous text, Sunan Abu Dawud was compiled when he stayed in Tarsus for twenty years. As mentioned before, he selected some 4,800 ahadith from 500,000 for his sunan, and he was contended with only one to two hadith for each chapter, Imam Abu Dawuf himself writes the following:
"I do not record more than one or two hadith in every chapter though there were other authentic hadith concerning the same chapter, as it would be too much as I meant one (book) which could be used easily."
Many commentaries have been written on the book, the best is Shamsul Haq Azimabadis Awn al Mabud Sharh Sunan Abi Dawud.
Death.
Imam Abu Dawud died in 275 A.H. at the age of 73. (To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return).
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