The virtue of the Merciful, the Loving. Compilation of Sunan Abu Dawood 1/10

Authored by Yasser Mohammed Fathi Al Eid Introduction In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allah guides, there is none to misguide him; and whomever He misguides, there is none to guide him. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims. [Al-Imran: 102] O mankind, fear your Lord who created you from one soul and created from it its mate, and dispersed from both many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed, Allah is ever over you an Observer. [An-Nisa: 1] O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will then amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment. [Al-Ahzab: 70-71] Afterward: Al-Nawawi said in the introduction to his summary: "It is necessary for everyone to adopt the manners of the Messenger of Allah -peace be upon him- and to follow his sayings, actions, and approvals in judgments, manners, and all signs of Islam. One should rely on what is authentic and avoid what is weak, and not be deceived by those who oppose the correct Sunnah, nor imitate those who rely on weak hadiths; for Allah -Glory be to Him- said: {So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and leave what he forbids you} [Al-Hashr: 7], and He said: {Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example} [Al-Ahzab: 21], and: {Say, If you love Allah, then follow me, so Allah will love you and forgive you your sins} [Al-Imran: 31]. These verses and their meanings urge following him -peace be upon him-, and prohibit innovation and invention. Allah commands us, when disputing, to return to Allah and His Messenger—meaning the Book and the Sunnah. All of this is based on authentic Sunnah. As for what is not authentic, how can it be considered Sunnah? How can it be judged that the Messenger of Allah -peace be upon him- said or did something without valid reason? Do not be deceived by the laxity of some in practice and their reliance on weak hadiths in judgments, even if they are authors and imams in jurisprudence and other sciences, and they have written extensively on this in their books. If asked about this, they would answer that weak hadiths are not relied upon, except in stories and virtues of deeds that do not conflict with the principles of Sharia, such as the virtue of glorification, other remembrances, encouragement of noble morals, asceticism in the world, and other matters based on established principles." Abu al-Muzaffer Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Hamid bin Ibrahim bin al-Fadl al-Bukhari said: When Abu al-Abbas al-Walid bin Ibrahim bin Zaid al-Humaydi was dismissed from judging Rayy and Bukhara in the year 318 AH, he came to us in our refuge. He said: My teacher Abu Ibrahim Ishaq bin Ibrahim al-Khuttali carried me to him and said: I ask you to have this boy narrate to him what you heard from your teachers, may Allah have mercy on them. He said: I have no hearing. He said: How can you be a jurist, then? He said: Because when I reached adulthood, my soul yearned to seek hadith, learn about men, understand news, and listen to them. So I aimed at Muhammad bin Ismail al-Bukhari, the author of "Al-Tarikh" and known for his knowledge of hadith. I informed him of my goal and asked for his attention. He said to me: O son, do not enter into matters until you know their limits and understand their proportions. I asked: Define for me the limits of what I intend and the measures of what I asked about. He said: Know that a person does not become a complete hadith narrator until he writes four with four, like four in four at four with four from four to four, and all these quadruples are only complete with four with four. When he completes them all, four become easy for him, and he is tested with four. If he endures this, Allah will honor him in this world with four, and reward him in the Hereafter with four. I asked: Explain to me, may Allah have mercy on you, what you mentioned about the states of these quadruples with a pure heart, with a sufficient explanation and a clear statement, seeking full reward. He said: Yes, the four that require your writing are: the news of the Messenger -peace be upon him- and his legislation, the companions and their measures, the followers and their states, and all scholars and their histories, with the names of their men, their nicknames, their places, and their times. Praise with speech, and prayer with supplication, and basmala with surahs, and takbir with prayers. Like the mutun (texts), the mursalat (sent), the mawquf (stopped), and the maqtu (cut off). In his childhood, in his awareness, in his youth, and in his old age. When he is busy, and when he is free, and when he is poor, and when he is rich. Over mountains, seas, towns, and wilderness. On stones, shells, skins, and shoulders, until he can transfer them to papers. About those above him, those like him, and those below him, and about his father’s book, being certain it is in his father’s handwriting and not anyone else’s. For the sake of Allah, seeking His pleasure, working with what agrees with the Book of Allah, spreading it among those seeking it and lovers, and composing to revive his remembrance after him. And these things are only achieved by four skills of the servant: knowing writing, language, morphology, and grammar. Along with four gifts from Allah -Glory be to Him-: health, ability, zeal, and memory. When these are complete, four become easy: family, children, wealth, and homeland. And four afflict him: the glee of enemies, reproach of friends, the stabbing of the ignorant, and envy of scholars. If he endures these trials, Allah will honor him in this world with four: pride in contentment, dignity of self, the pleasure of knowledge, and the vitality of eternity. And He will reward him in the Hereafter with four: intercession for his brothers, shade under the Throne where there is no shade but His, watering those whom he wishes from the pond of His Prophet Muhammad -peace be upon him-, and companionship with the prophets in the highest Paradise in Heaven. I have thus summarized for you, my son, all that I heard from my teachers, scattered in this field. Now, either focus on what I have aimed at or leave it. He was struck by his words, and I remained silent, pondering, and regretting. When he saw that from me, he said: If you cannot bear all these hardships, then learn jurisprudence that you can acquire while sitting in your home, still and quiet, without needing travel or leaving your land, and it is also the fruit of hadith. The reward of the scholar is no less than that of the narrator in the Hereafter, nor is his dignity less than that of the narrator. When I heard this, my resolve to seek hadith diminished, and I turned to learn what I could with Allah’s help and grace. Therefore, I did not have what I could impose on this boy, O Abu Ibrahim. Abu Ibrahim said: This hadith, which no one else has except you, is better than a thousand hadith with others. End of his speech. He narrated this story with its chain of transmission: Al-Qadi Iyad in "Al-Ilma" (29-34), Al-Mizzi in "Al-Tahdhib" (24/461-464), and Al-Suyuti in "Tadrib al-Rawi" (2/156-158). This story has meanings and implications. What I intend in mentioning it is to highlight these imams, the imams of hadith and tradition, and their care for the hadith of the Messenger of Allah -peace be upon him-, and their dedication of their lives and their most precious possessions to uncover its methods and chains, whether in the mutun, mursalat, mawquf, or maqtu, so that the defect in the hadith becomes clear and its authentic from the weak is distinguished. They exerted effort to gather as much as possible from its transmitters in their time, even traveling days and nights for a single hadith [see: "Al-Jami’ li-Akhlaq ar-Rawi" (2/225)]. After collecting the hadiths and their chains, they endeavored to scrutinize them, distinguishing the authentic from the weak, the preserved from the odd, and the known from the rejected. They recognized individuals, rare narrations, and strange or questionable reports, even classifying them to distinguish authentic from the famous and the sound. Their reliance was on memory, understanding, and knowledge [see: "Ma’rifat ‘Ulum al-Hadith" (151)]. They were aided by their knowledge of the companions, the followers, and their successors, as well as all scholars and narrators, their names, nicknames, titles, classes, lineages, tribes, countries, and times, to distinguish narrators from one another. They paid attention to criticizing the chain (isnad) and the text (matn), not only examining the chain and its defects but also analyzing the texts, even if they are narrated with a sound chain like the sun. The truth that many engaged in hadith studies overlook is that the judgments of these imams regarding men—whether criticism or praise—are based on the narrations of these narrators. If they trust a narrator or weaken him, that judgment is based on their review and consideration of his narrations, comparing them with the narrations of trustworthy preservers. If they agree, that indicates his preservation and accuracy; he is the reliable, precise, and authoritative. If they differ, they consider the extent of the discrepancy, which, if minor and understandable as common human forgetfulness or error, they generally accept and trust him. If the errors increase or his mistakes become predominant, they weaken him and note his hadith for consideration. If he is found to have deliberately lied or fabricated, they tear his hadith apart, accuse him, and warn against him. It is not a condition of trustworthiness that one must not make mistakes; even the original hadith is accepted unless there is evidence of his error. Imam Muslim said in "Al-Tamyeez" (170): "No transmitter of news or bearer of trace from the past nations to our time, even if he is the most memorizing and cautious of what he preserves and transmits, is free from error and forgetfulness in his preservation and transmission. How about those I have described to you, whose way is negligence and forgetfulness?" Tirmidhi said in "Al-‘Ilal al-Saghir" (5/702, al-Jami): "People of knowledge are distinguished by their memorization, precision, and carefulness when listening; even the great imams are not immune from error and mistakes, despite their memorization." Today, we see some who judge hadiths, texts, and chains based on the sayings of the men, twisting the matter; because the imams judged men based on their hadiths, but today, hadiths are judged by their men, regardless of what these imams said about these hadiths specifically. Many hadiths they criticized, and they have opinions on their men’s trustworthiness. Some of those who care about hadith today dismiss the judgments of these imams about the hadiths, hiding behind their sayings about men, claiming that the trustworthy are not misunderstood, even if that leads to misunderstanding the companions or accepting falsehoods contrary to authentic hadith and tradition, or turning what is not religion into religion, and what is not a Sunnah into Sunnah. How much the early scholars left for others, they say. Imams may declare a hadith invalid due to a hidden defect that we do not perceive, or they may point to a concealed defect in the hadith that is difficult to grasp. In such cases, we must follow their consensus, for the consensus of the scholars is a proof [Al-Marasel by Ibn Abi Hatim (703)]. No one should oppose it, whatever he may be. If they differ, then we weigh their opinions according to their rules and methods of correction and disapproval, based on the apparent reasons for preference. We should not invent a new statement that precedes them; just as the companions—may Allah be pleased with them—who witnessed the revelation and are the most pious, most knowledgeable, least pretentious, most upright in guidance, and best in manners, when they differ on a matter, we should not issue a new opinion. Likewise, these critic imams, who lived during the period of writing and knew the conditions of narrators and narrations, should not be ignored or replaced with new sayings. Instead, we follow their words if they agree, and prefer among their opinions if they differ. Ibn Hajar has a valuable statement on this, which I will quote for benefit: When he transferred the words of the imams regarding the invalidation of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah about atonement for the sitting (Makhraj fi adh-Dhikr wa ad-Du‘a, no. 300), a hadith narrated with a chain seemingly authentic, he said: "With this, it becomes clear the great status of the words of the early imams, their meticulous scrutiny, strong research, correct judgment, and their precedence, which warrants following and submitting to them. Whoever rules the hadith as authentic based on this, is simply following the apparent chain." [Al-Nukat ‘ala Ibn al-Salah (2/726)]. What makes us accept their judgments and not dispute with them: A. Their knowledge of the states of men, in a way that we cannot today, especially given the differences in environment, customs, and daily life. B. They did not accept all the hadiths of trustworthy narrators but rejected what they suspected was weak, and did not reject all the weak narrations of those with less precise memory. In principle, they include them under the name of truthfulness and pursuit of knowledge. They accepted what they preserved. So how can some then be lax in accepting trustworthy narrations altogether, even if there are indications of error in their narration, and not accept the narration of those whose mistakes are frequent, even if the evidence indicates they preserved? C. Their knowledge of the different copies, manuscripts, or special books of a particular narrator, so that if they do not find the narrator’s hadith in his book or manuscript, that indicates it is not from his hadith, and that someone less than him may have made a mistake or introduced it, or it was taught to him, which is difficult to verify today. D. The loss of many or most of the hadith copies and major and minor collections, which contain many chains that help clarify the correct view. Whoever has studied Daraqutni’s defects, for example, knows this certainly. E. The more time passes and extends, the more we have a huge amount of falsehoods and distortions arising from the negligence of narrators, their lack of accuracy, or their failure to preserve their books from inclusion of what is not from them, or their sight slipping during narration, inserting a hadith into another, or mixing and confusing due to old age or other reasons, or teaching, or collecting multiple chains narrating the same text with different wordings, or following the easy, popular path, or being tempted to narrate from others without hearing, or stealing narrations, or the skill of fabricators in subtle ways. Whatever of this occurred during the time of the imams of hadith or before, they clarified it thoroughly and distinguished the authentic from all of it. But a large part of what happened after their time they did not perceive, and certainly much of what we suffer from today in these modern methods was not present in their days but occurred after their era [see, for example: Hadith no. 134 from the Sunan, the hadith of Ibn Abbas as a witness, the fifth route]. Then, some who are deceived by the apparent chain and its suitability for proof or support, while in reality it is just an illusion! I have also relied on the authentication of Sunan Abi Dawood, due to its well-known status among the books of Sunan, so that some considered it the book of rulings containing most of the hadiths of rulings, with only a few missing. Al-Khatib said in "Al-Mi’raj" (1/6-8): "Know, may Allah have mercy on you, that the book of Sunan by Abi Dawood is a noble book, not compiled in the science of religion like it. It has gained acceptance from all people, becoming a judgment among the groups of scholars and the classes of jurists, differing in their schools. Everyone has a share in it and a drink." He praised it extensively, explained its virtue over other books, and clarified that Abi Dawood gathered in this book what no previous compiler had combined: collecting the hadiths of rulings and sunan, summarizing, arranging, and abridging the important parts from their original lengthy texts. He quoted Ibrahim al-Harbi as saying: "Abi Dawood’s hadiths are softer than iron for Dawood," and his teacher Ibn al-Arafi said: "If a man had only the Qur'an and Sunan Abi Dawood, that would suffice him." He concluded: "Abi Dawood gathered in this book from the hadiths of the fundamentals of knowledge, the main sunan, and jurisprudence what no one before him had done, nor after him." [See: "The Comprehensiveness of Sunan Abi Dawood for the Hadith of Rulings" (26), "Rawdhat al-Talibin" (11/95), "The Sea that is Full" (3/1138)]. Al-Hafiz Zakariya al-Saji said: "The Book of Allah is the foundation of Islam, and the Book of Abi Dawood is the covenant of Islam." [Tārīkh Dimashq (22/197), Tadhkira al-Huffaz (2/593), As-Sira (13/215), Tārīkh al-Islam (20/360), concluding Sunan Abi Dawood by ‘Abdullah bin Salim al-Basri (72)]. Al-Khatib said: "It is said that he compiled it [the Sunan] long ago, and presented it to Ahmad ibn Hanbal who accepted and liked it." Abu Tahir al-Salfi said: "That alone is an honor." [Tārīkh Baghdad (9/56), Tārīkh Dimashq (22/194), As-Sira (13/209), Tārīkh al-Islam (20/359), "Bidayat al-Hidaya" (11/55), "Muqaddima al-Salfi" on "Al-Mi’raj" (4/328)]. Al-Dhahabi said in "As-Sira" (13/215): "Abu Dawood, with his mastery in hadith and its sciences, was among the great jurists. His book indicates that, and he was among the eminent companions of Imam Ahmad. He attended his council for a long time, asked him about subtle issues in jurisprudence and fundamentals, and adhered to the way of the Salaf in following the Sunnah, submitting to it, and avoiding intricate speech." He narrated from Asamm from Ibrahim from ‘Alqama, who said: ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud was likened to the Prophet -peace be upon him- in his conduct and guidance, and ‘Alqama resembled ‘Abdullah in that. Jareer bin Abdul-Hamid said: ‘Ibrahim al-Nakhai resembled ‘Alqama in that, and Mansur resembled Ibrahim, and Sufyan ath-Thawri resembled Mansur, and Waki’ resembled Sufyan, and Ahmad resembled Waki’, and Abu Dawood resembled Ahmad." [See: Tārīkh Baghdad (9/56-58)]. Abu Dawood paid great attention to compiling the Sunan, selecting from five hundred thousand hadiths, which he studied with one hundred thousand of them. He said: "I wrote from the Messenger of Allah -peace be upon him- five hundred thousand hadiths. I selected from them what I included in this book—the Sunan—, totaling four thousand eight hundred hadiths, mentioning the authentic and similar ones, and those close." [Tārīkh Baghdad (9/57), Tabaqat al-Hanabilah (1/431), Tārīkh Dimashq (22/196), Shurut al-A’immah al-Sittah (68), As-Sira (13/203), Al-Badr al-Muneer (1/299), concluding Sunan Abi Dawood by ‘Abdullah bin Salim al-Basri (65)]. He endeavored to produce the most authentic in his field [Letter of Abi Dawood to the people of Mecca (22 and 26), "Al-Badr al-Muneer" (1/300)]. Abu Dawood said: "Anything in my book that contains a very strong weakness, I have clarified it. And whatever I did not mention, then it is sound, and some are more authentic than others." [Letter of Abi Dawood to the people of Mecca (27), "Al-Badr al-Muneer" (1/300), "Al-Nafh ash-Shadhi" (1/24), "At-Taqyid wa al-Izāh" (52), "Tadreeb ar-Rawi" (1/167), and see: Letter of Abi Dawood to the people of Mecca (25)]. Al-Dhahabi said in "As-Sira" (13/214): "I say: He -may Allah have mercy on him- fulfilled that according to his effort, clarifying what he considered weak and what was invalid, and what he considered weak was very weak and unacceptable, and what he considered slight was acceptable. So, his silence about a hadith does not necessarily mean he considers it good, especially if we judge the good by our newly invented standards, which in the understanding of the Salaf refer to some of the authentic that must be acted upon, or what Abu ‘Abdullah al-Bukhari disliked and Muslim accepted, and vice versa. It falls into the lowest ranks of authenticity, for if it were to fall below that, it would be non-acceptable and would remain caught between weakness and good. The highest part of what is in Abi Dawood’s book is what is narrated by the two Shaykhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim), which is about half the book. Then comes what either of the two Shaykhs narrated and the other disliked, then what they disliked but had a good chain free from defect and oddity. After that, what had a valid chain, and the scholars accepted it because it came from two directions, each supporting the other. Then what weakened his chain due to lack of memorization, which Abi Dawood often accepted and remained silent about. Then what was clearly weak from his narrator’s side, so he would often weaken it, depending on its fame or obscurity. Allah knows best." [See: "Tārīkh al-Islām" (20/360)]. And Ibn Hajar, in explaining Abu Dawood’s phrase "and what was in it a very strong weakness, I clarified it," says: "What is meant is that what contains a weakness that is not severe, he does not clarify it. From this, it becomes clear that all that Abi Dawood remained silent about is not from the category of the technical 'hasan' (good), but falls into categories: 1—what is in the two Sahihs or on the condition of authenticity. 2—what is inherently good. 3—what is good if supported, and these two categories are very common in his book. 4—what is weak; but from narrators whom most of the time are not agreed upon to be abandoned. All these categories are valid for proof, as Ibn Mandah reported: he issues weak hadiths if he finds no other in the chapter, and he considers it stronger than the opinion of men. Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said: "Whatever Abi Dawood remained silent about is authentic for him, especially if he did not mention anything else in the chapter." Similarly, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, as narrated by Ibn al-Mundhir, used to rely on ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather if there was no other in the chapter. More explicitly, as narrated by Abu al-‘Aziz ibn Kadsh: he told his son: "If I wanted to restrict myself to what I consider authentic, I would not narrate from this Musnad except one thing after another. But you, my son, know my method in hadith: I do not contradict what weakens unless there is something in the chapter that prevents it." And from what we narrated from the route of ‘Abdullah ibn al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, with a sound chain to him, he said: I heard my father say: "You hardly see anyone examining opinion except that there is doubt in his heart, and I prefer weak hadith over opinion." He said: I asked him about a man in a town where he finds only a hadith scholar, who cannot distinguish his authentic from his weak, and a man of opinion. Who should he ask? He said: "He asks the hadith scholar, and not the opinion man." This is similar to what is narrated about Abi Dawood, and it is not strange, for he was among the students of Imam Ahmad. It is not surprising that he would say his opinion. Al-Najm al-Tufi also quoted Taqi ad-Din ibn Taymiyah as saying: "I considered the Musnad of Ahmad and found it in accordance with Abi Dawood’s condition." Our sheikh also pointed out in the twenty-third chapter something of this, and from here appears the weakness of the method of those who rely on everything Abi Dawood remained silent about, for they issue hadiths of many weak narrators as proof and remain silent about them, such as: Ibn Lahi’ah, Salih al-Mawla at-Taw’amah, ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Aqil, Musa ibn Wardan, Salama ibn al-Fadl, Dhalham ibn Salih, and others. It is not appropriate for the critic to follow them in silence about their hadiths or to support them in their reliance on them. Rather, his way is to see whether that hadith has a supporting chain or is rare, so he hesitates. Especially if it contradicts the narration of someone more trustworthy; then it falls into the category of the rejected. He may also issue rulings on much weaker narrators: like al-Harith ibn Wajih, Sadaqa al-Duqayq, ‘Uthman ibn Waqid al-‘Amri, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-Bilmani, Abu Janab al-Kalbi, Sulayman ibn Arqam, Ishaq ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Furoo, and others who are considered abandoned narrators. Likewise, the disconnected chains, the narrations of mudallis (concealed narrators) with ‘an‘anah (explicit mention of the narrator’s name), and chains where the names are ambiguous, do not justify judging these hadiths as good just because Abi Dawood remained silent. His silence sometimes is just an indication that he relied on previous comments about that narrator in his book, or he was unaware, or that the weakness of that narrator was obvious and all imams agreed to discard his narration, like Abu al-Huwayrith, Yahya ibn al-‘Ala, and others. Sometimes, it is due to differing narrations from him, which is more common; for example, in the narration of Abu al-Hasan ibn al-‘Abd from him, there are many criticisms of some narrators and chains that are not in the narration of Al-Lu’lu’i, even though his narration is more famous. For example: what he narrated via: al-Harith ibn Wajih, from Malik ibn Dinar, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the hadith "Indeed, under every hair there is a ritual impurity..." This hadith was criticized in some narrations, with the statement: "This is a weak hadith, and al-Harith’s hadith is rejected." In some narrations, he limited himself to part of this criticism, and in others, he did not speak about it. He may also criticize a hadith with extreme weakening outside the Sunan, and remain silent in the Sunan. For example: what he narrated in the Sunan via: Muhammad ibn Thabit al-‘Abdi, from Nafi’, who said: I went with Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) on a need to Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), and he mentioned the hadith about: "If one of you wants to urinate, let him perform tayammum for his urine." He did not speak about it in the Sunan, but in the "Tafrid" book, he said: "No one followed Muhammad ibn Thabit on this." Then he mentioned that Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: "It is a strange hadith." As for the hadiths with disconnected or ambiguous chains: the book contains many such hadiths, including: the third hadith in his book: from the route of Abu Tiyaha, who said: A sheikh told me: When Ibn ‘Abbas came to Basra, he used to narrate from Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him). He mentioned the hadith: "When one of you intends to urinate, let him perform tayammum for his urine." He did not speak about it in all the narrations, and this is the ambiguous sheikh. Many other hadiths are also prevented from being used as proof because of their defects. The correct approach is not to rely solely on his silence, because we have described that he relies on weak hadiths and prefers them over analogy if that is proven from him. The one who relies solely on his silence does not see that as proof, so how can he follow him in that? All this, if we interpret his saying: "and what I did not say anything about is valid," as meaning: it is valid for proof—that is apparent. If we interpret it more broadly, as valid for proof, or for evidence or support, then it does not necessarily mean he considers it authentic. It is necessary to reflect on those places where he remained silent and which are weak: whether they contain individual reports or not. If they contain individual reports, then the first interpretation is certain; otherwise, the second. In either case, what he remained silent about is not suitable for proof at all. Al-Muḥyi al-Dīn al-Nawawi pointed this out, saying: "In Sunan Abi Dawood, there are apparent weak hadiths that he did not clarify, even though they are unanimously considered weak. So, an interpretation of his words is necessary." Then he said: "And the truth is that what we find in his Sunan that he did not clarify, and no one has explicitly confirmed its authenticity or good status, is good. And if someone who relies on it considers it weak, or sees in its chain what warrants weakness with no remedy, then he judges it weak and ignores Abi Dawood’s silence." I say: This is the correct understanding, but he contradicted it in some places in the explanation of al-Muhadhdhab and other writings, where he relied on many hadiths because of Abi Dawood’s silence; so do not be deceived by that, and Allah knows best." End of Ibn Hajar’s words as they are in "Al-Nukat." [See: "Al-Bahr al-Mazhar" (3/1075-1108), "Khatm Sunan Abi Dawood" by ‘Abdullah bin Salim al-Basri (78)]. As for my method in extracting and judging the hadiths: 1. I removed from the end of Abi Dawood’s chain, from his teacher to those upon whom the chain depends in the books of the authors I mentioned, to facilitate and abbreviate the mention of those who narrated this hadith through this narrator. For example: (68) ... Simak, from ‘Akrama, from Ibn ‘Abbas, who said: Some of the Prophet’s wives -may Allah be pleased with them- washed in a vessel... The purpose was that all the authors I mentioned in the extraction only narrated it from the route of Simak ibn Wardan, as the chain depends on him. They narrated it from multiple routes from Simak, narrated from him by: Shu’ba, Sufyan ath-Thawri, Abu al-‘Awwam, Hamad ibn Sulaiman, Israel, Sharik, and others. I did this after confirming the multiple routes to this narrator, so that they are generally established from him, not from weak or abandoned narrators who might have falsely narrated from him. I may mention the full chain without omission if I did not find it except through Abi Dawood, or for another reason, saying: Abu Dawood said: "Haddathana Musaddad..." for example, and I quote it fully. 2. The routes I mentioned during the extraction are either multiple routes to a certain narrator, so I start with the one upon whom the chain depends, as I mentioned earlier, or it is narrated with a single chain: then I mention it fully without omission, or I omit from the teacher of the compiler to a certain narrator who is the cause of the chain, or it was narrated with a chain that is valid for proof to the one I mentioned. 3. I gather all the routes of the hadith from the available sources as much as possible, then classify these routes according to the agreement or disagreement of narrators on a certain narrator. 4. I compile the opinions of the imams on the hadith, whether from the sources of extraction, or from the books of men and defects, or others. 5. I follow the sayings of the imams in deriving the defect, trying to interpret their words to reveal their intent if there is ambiguity. 6. When the imams agree on a hadith, it is necessary to follow their opinion, as I have explained above. 7. If they differ, I try to reconcile their opinions; if that is not possible, I prefer one of the opinions, relying on their methods of correction and disapproval based on apparent reasons for preference, and Allah knows best. I named it: "The Virtue of the Merciful, the Loving: Extraction of Sunan Abi Dawood." Before concluding, I take the words of al-Shatibi, may Allah have mercy on him: "Trust in Him, and forgive His weaving... with leniency and good manners, even if it is fragile. Peace be upon one of the two good things: success... and the other is effort to aim straight, so He may forgive. And if it is a breach, then rectify it with patience... and let him correct it with generosity of forbearance... and say honestly, if not for harmony and his spirit... the whole of mankind would be in discord and chaos." And I ask Allah to grant me success. He is the All-Hearing, the Responsive. And our last supplication is praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds. Prepared by: Abu Amr Yaser bin Mohammed Fathi Al Eid Riyadh, 15 Sha‘ban 1428 AH fathy.yaser@gmail.com