Sunan Abu-Dawud

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Partial Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud

Translator: Prof. Ahmad Hasan

Sunan Abu-Dawud is a collection of sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (also known as the sunnah). The reports of the Prophet’s sayings and deeds are called ahadeeth. Abu-Dawud lived a couple of centuries after the Prophet’s death and worked extremely hard to collect his ahadeeth. Each report in his collection was checked for compatibility with the Qur’an, and the veracity of the chain of reporters had to be painstakingly established. Abu-Dawud’s collection is recognized by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world to be one of the most authentic collections of the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh), however it is also known to contain some weak ahadeeth (some of which he pointed out, others which he did not).

Abu-Dawud (full name Abu-Dawud Sulaiman bin Al-Aash’ath Al-Azdi as-Sijistani) was born in 202 A.H. and died in 275 A.H. He was one of the most widely travelled of the scholars of ahadeeth, going to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Khurasahn, Egypt, Syria, Nishapur, Marv, and other places for the sole purpose of collecting ahadeeth. His primary interest was in law, hence his collection focuses purely on legal ahadeeth. From about 50,000 ahadeeth, he chose 4,800 for inclusion in his work based on their superior authenticity.

It is important to realize, however, that Abu-Dawud’s collection is not complete: there are other scholars who worked as Abu-Dawud did and collected other reports.

The translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud found here is not complete! Roughly half of the collection is missing; please take this into account if you cannot find a specific hadeeth.

Sunan Abu-Dawud is divided into 41 books on different subjects, each book containing many ahadeeth. The numbering system used by Abu-Dawud is consecutive and uninterrupted for the entire collection.

Listed below by book number:

1. Purification (Kitab Al-Taharah)
2. Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat)
3. Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat): Details of Commencing Prayer
4. Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat): Detailed Rules of Law about the Prayer during Journey
5. Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat): Prayer at Night
6. Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat): Detailed Injunctions about Ramadan
7. Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat): Prostration while reciting the Qur’an
8. Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat): Detailed Injunctions about Witr
9. Zakat (Kitab Al-Zakat)
10. The Rites of Hajj (Kitab Al-Manasik Wa’l-Hajj)
11. Marriage (Kitab Al-Nikah)
12. Divorce (Kitab Al-Talaq)
13. Fasting (Kitab Al-Siyam)
14. Jihad (Kitab Al-Jihad)
15. Sacrifice (Kitab Al-Dahaya)
16. Game (Kitab Al-Said)
17. Wills (Kitab Al-Wasaya)
18. Shares of Inheritance (Kitab Al-Fara’id)
19. Tribute, Spoils, and Rulership (Kitab Al-Kharaj, Wal-Fai’ Wal-Imarah)
20. Funerals (Kitab Al-Jana’iz)
21. Oaths and Vows (Kitab Al-Aiman Wa Al-Nudhur)
22. Commercial Transactions (Kitab Al-Buyu)
23. Wages (Kitab Al-Ijarah)
24. The Office of the Judge (Kitab Al-Aqdiyah)
25. Knowledge (Kitab Al-Ilm)
26. Drinks (Kitab Al-Ashribah)
27. Foods (Kitab Al-At’imah)
28. Medicine (Kitab Al-Tibb)
29. Divination and Omens (Kitab Al-Kahanah Wa Al-Tatayyur)
30. Dialects and Readings of the Qur’an (Kitab Al-Huruf Wa Al-Qira’at)
31. Hot Baths (Kitab Al-Hammam)
32. Clothing (Kitab Al-Libas)
33. Combing the Hair (Kitab Al-Tarajjul)
34. Signet-Rings (Kitab Al-Khatam)
35. Trials and Fierce Battles (Kitab Al-Fitan Wa Al-Malahim)
36. The Promised Deliverer (Kitab Al-Mahdi)
37. Battles (Kitab Al-Malahim)
38. Prescribed Punishments (Kitab Al-Hudud)
39. Types of Blood-Wit (Kitab Al-Diyat)
40. Model Behavior of the Prophet (Kitab Al-Sunnah)
41. General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)