Benefits from the Life and the Sunnan of Imaam Aboo Dawood [Part 1]

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Notes Taken from the Lecture, ‘Imaam Aboo Dawood and His book al-Sunnan’
Shaykh Wasiullah bin Muhammad Abbaas Ahmad al-Abbaas [May Allaah Preserve him]
Teacher in Umm al-Quraa University and Masjid al-Haraam in Makkah [for the last 15 years]
Jaami’ Imaam ad-Da’wah, ar-Riyadh, 10/8/1426

Aboo Dawood; His Birth and Lineage

-He was from one of the Muhaditheen who compiled the six books of Hadeeth, orginally from India and was from the People of Hadeeth.

-His name: Sulayman bin Ash-ad bin Ishaaq bin Bishr bin Shahdaad bin Amr bin Imran al-Azdee al-Sijastani

-He was Azdee but he orginiated from Sijistaan, between Khurasaan, today Afghanistan near Kabul, Ibn Khaldoon said his lineage is Arab but his Usl is from Sijistaan

-A servant to the Sunnah, an expert in it and in ‘Uloom at-Tafseer, Lugha as it was mentioned by Ibn Khaldoon.

-Born 3^rd century AH a generation of Ansar as-Sunnah with its ‘Ulema.

-202AH, Tareekh with an Isnaad that is Saheeh by Aaj-joree and Khateeb in his Tareekh

-Born in Sijistaan in a very small area, close to Sindh and Karmaan, this was narrated by adh-Dhahabee. Adh-Dhahabee narrated this to point out that Aboo Dawood was from Sijistaan in Khurasaan and not another city, also called Sijistaan, in Basra, ‘Iraaq.

-He was attributed to Sijistaan with the name Sijistaani and others from his students, such as Aboo ‘Awaana, called him Sijsi which is also valid.

His Seeking of Knowledge

-Travelling to seek knowledge is one of the symbols of Islaam. Yes, those from the nations before us did it, like Moosaa [Peace be Upon him] travelling to study with Khidr, but it is a noticeable symbol of this Ummah. It was the habit of the Salaf and those after to travel to seek knowledge in order to preserve Islaam and the Sunnah, even if this meant travelling a great distance.

-Travelling at the time of the Salaf had great virtue and benefit, despite there being great distance needed to cover which would take a lot of time, unlike today. However, they were able to traverse and benefit from the lands they travelled to and capture the treasures that existed with them.

-He was known to be a Muhaddith and a Faqeeh, he loved knowledge, seeking it and always revising and enhancing it.  

-Some people differentiate between Muhaddith and a Faqeeh but in origin, a Muhaddith is a Faqeeh. Some people believe that a Muhaddith can’t be a Faqeeh but this is wrong, in order for him to understand the Hadeeth that he narrates he must have understanding of it.

-Adh-Dhahabee said he was an Imaam of Hadeeth and his book ‘as-Sunan’  is a proof of this.

-He lived in a generation of narrations and narrators, and his family were also involved in Hadeeth and narrations.

-His father, Ash-ad bin Ishaaq, was also a narrator, from the students of Hammaad bin Zayd.

-His brother was Muhammad bin Ash-ad who was also a narrator and often used to accompany Aboo Dawood in their journeys and he narrated from the companions of Shu’bah, this was mentioned by adh-Dhahabee in Siyaar

-From the first journey of Aboo Dawood was to leave Sijistaan to the land of the Haram, and this is where he began to write Hadeeth and then later he moved to ‘Iraaq, then Shaam and then Egypt. He moved around a lot in order to benefit from the scholars of the Sunnah.

-By the age of 18, he was settled in ‘Iraaq in Baghdad, which was known to be the capital for Islamic knowledge at that time. Here he studied under the likes of ‘Alee bin Madeenee, Sa’eed bin Sulaymaan and Ahmad bin Hanbal.

-He then went to Basra and then to Dimishq, and here he studied under Ahmad bin Ishaaq al-Faraadisee, who he said about, “I have never seen anyone like him, he used to cry a lot.” And this was in 222AH.

-He then went to Egypt and narrated from the like of Ahmad bin Saalim al-Misr, Amr bin Ahmad as-Sarh and others.

-Ibn Hajar said, “His teachers reached the amount of 300 or more.”

-He was contemporary to both Imaam Bukhaaree and Imaam Muslim and he had the same scholars as them, thus narrating from the same people they narrated from, such as Ishaaq bin Raahooyah, Yahya bin Ma’een, ‘Alee bin Madeenee and Ahmad bin Hambal. These are some of his scholars. In fact, some of his scholars were also the scholars of Imaam Ahmad bin Hambal, such as Sulaymaan bin Harb and Abee ‘Umar ad-Dareer.

-Therefore, his teachers and contemporaries where great Imaams of Hadeeth and from the blessed golden age of al-Islaam.

-It is narrated that Aboo Dawood would sit and ask Imaam Ahmad various questions on Usool and rulings and record them, this was narrated by adh-Dhahabee. He also said that Ibn Mas’ood [May Allaah be Pleased with him] was known to copy the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be Upon him] in the way he walked and behaved and Aboo Dawood was the same with Aboo ‘Abdullah (i.e. Imaam Ahmad).

-Aboo Ya’la, who was from the senior students of Imaam Ahmad, praised Aboo Dawood and said that many have benefitted from him and have taken Fiqh from him, and this includes Aboo Dawood, who is from the major scholars of this generation. 

-On this point, he was mentioned in the Tabaqaat of the Hanaabilah as Qaadee Aboo Ya’la has mentioned, however it is also important to note that he was also mentioned in the Tabaqaat of the Shaafiyyah, as was mentioned by as-Subkee. We must pay attention to the fact that if a scholar hears or took knowledge from more than one scholar then he will be counted as from the students of the Shaykh, therefore this doesn’t mean that Aboo Dawood was a Hanbalee, for example, as some people who try to defend their Madhab and ascribe certain scholars to their Madhab have taken mistakenly. So I say: just because he has been mentioned in these Tabaqaat, this doesn’t mean he was a blind follower of their Madhab, rather he was a Mujtahid and was from those who forbade Taqleed.

-Aboo Dawood became well known for his knowledge during his time and received praise from various scholars and students and lived to be seventy something years old.

-He died with his Sunan taken as one of the major books of the Sunnah, as a matter of agreement from the Ummah, and was narrated on by his students, who themselves were scholars. 

-Adh-Dhahabee mentioned there are nine narrators of his Sunnan from nine different students, this would mean there are nine variations of his Sunnan. Ibn Hajar narrated eleven students thus eleven variations, in Tahtheeb at-Tahtheeb. Al-Mizzee mentioned that were some forty-three copies of the Sunnan. The large number here was partly due to the fact that after he died, some of Aboo Dawood’s teachers also narrated the book, so this added to the students narrating it, not only does this explain it but also adds proof to the status of Aboo Dawood and the status of his collection.

-Added to this are certain quotes from scholars about Aboo Dawood. It was narrated that Aboo Bakr al-Kallaal said, “He was a knowledgeable and pious man, from the forefront of his generation, a man who no one preceded in knowledge of Hadeeth during his time. Imaam Ahmad heard a Hadeeth and narrated it from him this fact clearly shows the status of Aboo Dawood.”

Praise of Scholars for Aboo Dawood

-If a scholar praises someone then there is no doubt that this is a good reference for that person. As many of the major scholars of his time praised Aboo Dawood, this shows that he has position and status with them. So the fact that Imaam Ahmad and Imaam an-Nasaee’ee and others from the scholars narrated from him and praised him shows his expertise and praise.

-Aboo al-Khallaal said, “No one preceded him during his time.”

-Ibraaheem Asbahaanee also would praise him like they didn’t praise anyone else from his era.

-Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Yaaseen said, “Aboo Dawood from the Hufaadth al-Hadeeth, his knowledge in it is from those who have the highest expertise in it, whilst being pious and mannered.”

-Aboo Haatim Ibn Hibban used to consider the book of Aboo Dawood as a book of Saheeh (i.e. on the same level as Bukhaaree and Muslim).

- Aboo Haatim Ibn Hibban also said, “Aboo Dawood is one of the scholars who was given understanding, knowledge, Hifdh, piety and Taqwaa and he was the one who collected the Sunnan.”

The Humility and Thirst for Knowledge of Aboo Dawood

-Despite the praise he received, he was very well mannered, wasn’t proud and lived a simple life. He freed himself from needs of the Dunya (Zuhd).

-Ibn Abee Haatim narrated that Aboo Dawood once bought a fish to eat and then he met someone who took him to someone to narrate Hadeeth, so Aboo Dawood wrote and got engrossed in knowledge until the fish went bad. This was the state of those scholars, hunger and thirst was secondary to seeking knowledge.

-It is also narrated in Silsilah al-Hufaadh that Aboo Dawood went to Koofah and agreed with a grocer to buy a large amount of produce. The grocer needed time to gather the food together and by the time it had gathered, Aboo Dawood had written over 30,000 Ahadeeth.

His ‘Aqeedah and Manhaj

-There is no doubt that from the early generations deviances began to occur and spread amongst the Muslims. The further we get away from this generation, the worse it becomes as the understanding of the Salaf about the texts becomes abandoned. So it is no surprise that differing and splitting has arisen. However, the Ulema from the Salaf and those who followed them in goodness have stuck firm to the correct methodology, the path of truth, the path of Salafiyyah. 

-As for Aboo Dawood then he was the student and on the Madhab of Imaam Ahmad, meaning he had the same ‘Aqeedah and Manhaj as him.

-Adh-Dhahabee said about him, “He was on the Manhaj of the Salaf and he opposed all that opposed it.”

His Books

-He had authored many books such as as-Sunan, which is well-known. In this collection he collected Ahadeeth which pertain to rulings only, so it doesn’t contain things connected to manners, virtues, chapter headings with ‘Aqeedah and Fiqh, for example.  

-Aboo Dawood called his book as-Sunnan and then explained why, “The books that exist are collection of Hadeeth or books that talk about Zuhd and the likes, however as-Sunnan only focuses on rulings.”

-Al-Khattaabee (who was the student of the student of Aboo Dawood and also explained the Sunan of Aboo Dawood) said, “Before Aboo Dawood, the Muhaidtheen would author books called Jaami’ which would include narrations from various different sciences and topics, however a pure Sunan that narrates the Sunnah of the Prophet then there is nothing like the Sunan of Abee Dawood.”

-Also from the lessons we can learn from Aboo Dawood and others from the Salaf is that if one wants to write a book or a piece of research then it is the Sunnah of the Salaf to present it to someone more knowledgeable in order for them to review it.  There are many reasons and benefits from this, but from the most important, it shows their sincerity to benefit people and not to attribute falsehood to the religion. Imaam Muslim gave his book to Aboo Zur’ah to check and likewise, Aboo Dawood gave his Sunan to Imaam Ahmad to review it, until it got approved from him.

-Ibn al-Qayyim said, “This book, as-Sunnan, has a place in the books of Islaam and has been accepted by the Muslims. Its Ahadeeth have been used to base rulings on and a source for us to return to in times of disagreement.”

-As-Sakhaawee said in Khatm Sunaan Abee Dawood, “This book is similar to Saheeh Muslim.” This means the strength of the book and the organisation, by putting things into chapters etc. is very similar to the methodology adopted by Imaam Muslim.

-Some of the scholars, like what appears to be the case of the statement of as-Sakhaawee above, raised the status of Aboo Dawood and believed that all the Ahadeeth within it are Saheeh.