Sunan Abī Dāwūd
سنن أبي داودThe hadith of fiqh — the law, as the Prophet ﷺ lived it.
- Compiler
- Imam Abū Dāwūd Sulaymān al-Sijistānī
- Dates
- 817–889 CE / 202–275 AH
- Hadith
- 5,274
About this collection
The third of the Six Books, and the first of the four Sunan collections. Abū Dāwūd gathered the hadith that jurists actually used to derive law — covering purity, prayer, zakāt, fasting, and the social fabric. He noted the strength of each narration honestly, which made his Sunan the practical reference every mufti kept at hand.
Methodology
Abū Dāwūd focused on hadith relevant to Islamic legal rulings, drawing both the strong and the weak — with transparent grading.
2 hadith from Sunan Abī Dāwūd
-
The seeker of knowledge walks with the angels.
Knowledge"Whoever treads a path in search of knowledge, Allah makes easy for him a path to Paradise. The angels lower their wings out of pleasure for the seeker of knowledge."
Narrated by Abū al-Dardāʾ
-
The only inheritance of the prophets — passed on by anyone who studies.
Knowledge"The prophets did not leave dīnār nor dirham as inheritance. They left only knowledge. Whoever takes it has taken an abundant share."
Narrated by Abū al-Dardāʾ