Sunan Abu Dawud (Abu Dawud's Hadith Collection)
One of the six canonical hadith collections in Sunni Islam with a special focus on legal narrations.
Sunan Abu Dawud is one of the six canonical hadith collections (al-Kutub al-Sittah) in Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Imam Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath al-Sijistani (817-889 CE) and contains approximately 5,274 hadith selected from 500,000 narrations.
The work has a particular focus on legal narrations (ahadith al-ahkam) and is therefore an invaluable source for Islamic jurisprudence. Abu Dawud organized his collection into 43 books, of which "Kitab al-Salah" (The Book of Prayer) is the most comprehensive.
Imam Abu Dawud was a student of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and traveled to Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Khorasan to collect narrations. He wrote to the people of Mecca: "I have not included in my book any hadith that there is consensus to reject." His collection is particularly important for detailed descriptions of the Prophet's (peace be upon him) manner of prayer.
Related terms
Salaf (The Pious Predecessors)
The first three generations of Muslims: sahabah, tabi'in, and tabi' al-tabi'in.
Zakat (Alms)
The obligatory alms that the Quran mentions alongside prayer.
Raf' al-Yadayn (Raising the Hands)
The practice of raising the hands to the shoulders or ears at specific points in the prayer.
Khums (One-Fifth)
The obligatory payment of one-fifth of the year's surplus in Shia Islam.
Masjid al-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque)
The Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Medina, the second holiest mosque in Islam.
Sahabi (Companion of the Prophet)
A person who met the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a believer and died as a Muslim.