Benefits from the Life and the Sunnan of Imaam Aboo Dawood [Part 2]

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Manhaj in as-Sunnan

-There is no doubt that the Manhaj of Aboo Dawood was strong and strict and as a result, the scholars of Islaam have taken this book with great acceptance.

-From the Manhaj he used in his book was that he gave great care and attention to make sure that the Isnaad he may have used was correct and authentic.

-Aboo Dawood himself stated that, “The narrations I have used are all pertaining to rulings and they are from the most authentic narrations from each subject.”

-Also from the Manhaj of Aboo Dawood was not to repeat Ahadeeth in different chapters (unlike al-Bukhaaree and Muslim). Therefore, there are only a few amount of repeated Ahadeeth in his Sunnan.

-Likewise, each chapter had a relatively small amount of Ahadeeth, sometimes only one or two Ahadeeth have been narrated in each chapter.

-Aboo Dawood also paid attention to narrations that had extra wording and through his expertise he was able to choose the Ahadeeth which had the stronger wording. So if two Ahadeeth were similar but one had extra wording, Aboo Dawood included the stronger one from the two.

-It was also from his Manhaj to abridge Ahadeeth when necessary, so if he only needed to quote part of a Hadeeth which highlighted a particular point he was making, then he would only quote part of the Hadeeth. There is difference of opinion on the permissibility of this from the Muhaditheen, however al-Bukhaaree and others adopted this practice and saw it as permissible. Ibn Salaah also discussed this in his Usool al-Hadeeth and its permissibility. However, there are others like our Shaykh Badee ad-Deen ar-Raashidee who was stricter and stated that quoting an excerpt of a Hadeeth should only be done if this was done by others, not yourself.

-It was also from the Manhaj of Aboo Dawood to accept Mursal reports (i.e. Ahadeeth that have the Companion missing, so the Taabi’ee says he heard from the Prophet). Others from the Salaf also accepted them such as Sufyaan ath-Thawree, Awzaa’ee and others until Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee came and spoke about it at length. In principle, these narrations are not accepted as there is a gap in the chain, however they have placed a series of conditions in order for it to be accepted. Aboo Dawood used Mursal in his book if there was no Musnad Hadeeth (i.e. connected) available however the Mursal would not be used on the basis and the same strength as the Musnad Hadeeth and we won’t say that the disconnected narration is Saheeh, however they can be used, with conditions, to base rulings on. 

-Also from the Manhaj of Aboo Dawood is that he has never taken a narration from a narrator who has been classed as Matrook (i.e. abandoned). The scholars have differed on accepting a narrator who is Matrook, some accepted him and only rejected those who had a heavy classification of Jarh (i.e. discredit) against them or those who are completely unknown (i.e. Mubham).

-If Aboo Dawood said a narrator is Saaleh then this means that he is authentic and his narrations are accepted. However, many from the scholars of Hadeeth have stated that this is not taken unrestrictedly, as someone may be classed as being Saaleh with Aboo Dawood but be classed as weak with others.

-Likewise, if Aboo Dawood remained silent about a Hadeeth then this is usually an indication that the Hadeeth it authentic and Saheeh, however this also needs to be investigated before we act upon it.

-Aboo Dawood also stated that he didn’t accept Ahadeeth unless they were Mashoor (i.e. well-known). The meaning here can have different interpretations, meaning multiple in narration (three chains of narrations or more) or it could mean that they were not weak, it could also mean that they were well known within the topic, however what is intended by Mashoor is that they were not Shaadh (i.e. odd, by contradicting other narrations).

-We also know that Aboo Dawood accepted narrations that were Khabr Waahid (a narration that has three or less chains of narration) as he said, “We accept them even if it comes through Maalik, Yahya bin Sa’eed or any others who are accepted and Saheeh from the scholars of Hadeeth.”

-It was also from the Manhaj of Aboo Dawood in not taking narrations from those who practiced Tadless (i.e. deception) because these narrations are not Saheeh.

-Ibn Salaah said Aboo Dawood’s methodology was that if he was silent about a narrator then it is meant that he viewed him to be Saheeh or Hasan Dhaat or Ghayr or Saalih Ihtijaajj. As-Sana’aanee said something similar as did as-Sakhaawee, and Ibn Abdul-Barr in at-Tamheed. For example, the narration that states that it is Sunnah and was practice of the Prophet to pray Surah Qaf and Surah Qamar for ‘Eid Salah; an-Nawawi in Sharh Muslim, Muntaaree in at-Targeeb at-Tahtheeb, Ibn Taymiyyah in al-Majmoo and as-Shawkaanee all acted upon this narration as Aboo Dawood was quiet with the narrators, thus meaning they were Saheeh.

-Saalih means Saheeh, Saalih Ihtijaaj. Ibn hajar and Nawawi, some said Saheeh or Hasan, Ibn  Hajar said that if he was quiet then it means his opinion on the narrators is that he is Hasan but sometimes being quiet was an indication that he is Da’eef also, Imaam an-Nawawi made this mistake in his Majoo when authenticating some narrations.

And Allaah Knows Best.