IMAM ABU-DAWOOD

Abu Da'ud or Abu Dawod, full name Abu Da'ud Sulayman ibn Ash`ath al-Azadi al-Sijistani, was a noted collector of Hadith (sayings/traditions of Muhammad), and wrote the third of the six canonical hadith collections recognized Sunni Muslims, Sunan Abu Da'ud. He was born in Sijistan(Sistan or Sagestan, Afganistan) in 817, and died in 888. Widely travelled among scholars of ahadith, he went to Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Khurasan, Nishapu, and Marv among other places in order to collect ahadith. He was primarily interested in law, and as a result the collection by him focuses largely on legal ahadith. From about 50,000 ahadith, he chose 4,800 for inclusion in his work based on their superior authenticity. Sunan Abi , containing some 4800 Hadith, is his principal work, but he wrote some 21 books in total. Some of his hadith are not sahih(authentic), but he claimed that all hadith listed were sahih unless specifically indicated otherwise; this has been controversial among Islamic scholars, since some (e.g. Ibn Hajar al - Asqalani) believe some of the unmarked ones to be weak as well. In another work, Kitab al-Marasil, he lists 600 mursal Hadith (that is, hadith lacking a complete chain of narrators, or isnad) which, after extensive background investigation, he concludes are nonetheless sahih

One of the blessings of Allah upon this Ummah is that He appointed for it people who would undertake to preserve the Sunnah of their Prophet (S). They were the scholars who devoted their entire lives to this monumental task, foregoing physical pleasures and taking delight, instead, in spending the nights recording hadeeths and in undergoing hardships in order to convey even one hadeeth from the Prophet (S). One of those eminent scholars is the subject of this biography:


Abu Dawood Sijistaanee.
Many Muslims are completely unaware of the lives of these scholars, so it's no surprise thatnon-Muslims would also be ignorant of them. As a result, the torch that might light the wayforward for the bewildered and confused has gone out, leaving them waiting for someone to relight it to illuminate the path. People have grown tired of hearing about lovely ideals. They want to see concrete examples of Islam in practice as it was manifested in the lives ofthose great scholars and the Muslims who followed them. For them it was a reality which penetrated their hearts and minds and became part of their flesh and sinews. Their every breath, movement and moment of stillness was for Allah. If they spoke, their speech was for Allah, and if they kept silent, their silence was for Allah.
They illuminated the world with their practice of deen, their knowledge, their worship and their deeds in general. If you had looked at their conduct and character you would have seen the etiquette and character of the prophets. If you had looked at their buying, their selling and their transactions with people, you would have seen the practical embodiment of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (S).
Remembrance of such people softens the hearts. That, in turn, revitalizes limbs which had fallen into disuse to start moving again to draw closer to Allah. They become inspired to catch up again with the caravan from which they had fallen behind. Look and consider, that you might benefit from the words of Mukhallad ibn Husayn. When he thought about the qualities of the pious he would say: "Don't mention us in the same breath with them. An able-bodied person doesn't walk like a cripple."
However much is written or spoken about them is not enough to adequately describe them, and one never grows tired of hearing about them.