Sunan Abi Dawud


Sunan Abi Dawud is the third hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by scholar Abu Dawud al-Sijistani.

Introduction

Abu Dawood 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, 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". The Mursal Hadith has also been a matter of discussion among the traditionists. Abu Dawood states in his letter to the people of Mecca: "If a Musnad Hadith 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 ".
The traditions in Sunan Abu Dawood are divided in three categories. The first category consists of those of the 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 Dawood 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 Dawod 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, especially after Ibn al-Qaisarani's inclusion of it in the formal canonization of the six major collections.
Abu Dawood started traveling and collecting ahadeeth at a young age. He traveled to many places in the middle east, including Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. Abu Dawood also studied under Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.

Contents

Editor, Muhammad Muhyiddin Abd al-Hamid's 1935, Cairo publication, in 4 volumes, provides the standard topical classification of the hadith Arabic text. Sunan Abu Dawood is divided into 43 'books'.

Translations

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

Arabic commentaries & annotations

  1. Maʿālim as-Sunan Sharḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Imām Abū Sulaymān Ḥamd ibn Muḥammad al-Khaṭṭābī. It is published by Muʾassasat ar-Risālah Nāshirūn in four volumes with the taḥqīq of Saʿd ibn Najdat ʿUmar.
  2. At-Tawassuṭ al-Maḥmūd fī Sharḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Imām Walī ad-Dīn Ibn al-Irāqī. It was recently published by Muʾassasah ʿIlm li Iḥyā ’t-Turāth in two volumes with the taḥqīq of ʿAbd al-ʿĀṭī Muḥyī ash-Sharqāwī.
  3. Sharḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd by Imām Shihāb ad-Dīn Abū ’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn ibn Raslān. It is published by Dār al-Falāḥ in twenty volumes.
  4. Sharḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Imām Maḥmūd ibn Aḥmad Badr ad-Dīn al-ʿAynī. It is published by Maktabat ar-Rushd in four volumes with the taḥqīq of Abū ’l-Mundhir Khālid ibn Ibrāhīm al-Misrī.
  5. Fatḥ al-Wadūd bi Sharḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Imām Abū ’l-Ḥasan Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī as-Sindī. It is published by Jāʾizah Dubai ad-Dawliyyah li ’l-Qurʾān al-Karīm in eight volumes with the taḥqīq of Aḥmad Jāsim al-Muḥammad.
  6. Mirqāt as-Ṣuʿūd ilā Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Imām Jalāl ad-Dīn as-Suyūṭī. It is published by Dār Ibn-Ḥazm in three volumes.
  7. Badhl Al-Majhud Fi Hall Abi Dawud by Khalil Ahmad Saharanpuri. It is published by Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah in fourteen volumes, with the annotations of Mawlānā Zakariyyā Kandhlawī and the taḥqīq of Dr. Taqi ad-Dīn an-Nadwī.

Urdu commentaries & annotations

Source:
  1. Inʿām al-Maʿbūd li Ṭālibāt Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Mawlānā Maḥbūb Aḥmad. It is published by Maktabat al-ʿIlm and is available online.
  2. Khayr al-Maʿbūd Sharḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Mawlānā Ṣūfī Muhammad Sarwar. It is published by Idārah Taʾlifāt Ashrafiyyah and is available online.
  3. Ad-Durr al-Manḍūd ʿalā Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Mawlānā Muḥammad ʿĀqil. It is published by Maktabat ash-Shaykh in six volumes and is available online.
  4. As-Samḥ al-Maḥmūd fī Ḥal Sunan Abī Dāwūd, by Muftī Muḥammad ʿAbd ar-Razzāq Qāsmī. It is published by Zakariyyā Book Depot and is available online.
  5. Falāḥ wa Behbūd Sharḥ Abū Dāwūd, by Mawlānā Muḥammad Ḥanīf Gangohī. It is published by Maktabah Imdādiyyah, Multan, in two volumes and is available online.