The Letter of Abu Dawud to the People of Makkah Describing His Sunan
By Abu Dawood(d. 463 AH) Compiled by: Abu Khaliyl Released by: www.sunnipress.com Reviewed by: Sunni Press Staff Date: 1 Ramadan 1428 | 25 September 2007 [1st Edition]
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بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

مِ

The Letter of Abu Dawud to the People of Makkah Describing His Sunan
By al-Imam Abu Dawud as-Sijistani, Translated by Abu Bakr Salmaan ibn Nasir on October 09, 2004 11:43:10

رِسَالة الإمَامِ أبي دَاوُدَ السِجِسْتَاني إلى أَهْلِ مَكَّةَ في وَصْفِ سُنَنِهِ

رواية أبي الحسين بن جُمَيْع عن محمد بن عبد العزيز الهاشمي عنه

Narrated by Abul-Husayn ibn Jumay' from Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-‘Aziz al-Hashimi from him

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَلاَ حَولَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللهِ العَلِيِّ العَظِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim

And there is no might or power except by Allah

أَخْبَرَنَا الشَّيخُ أَبُو الفَتح ِمُحَمّدُ بنُ عَبدِ البَاقِي بنِ أَحمَدَ بنِ سُلَيمَانَ المَعْرُوفُ بِابنِ البَطِيِّ إِجَازَةً إِنْ لَمْ أَكُنْ سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْهُ ، قَالَ : أَنْبَأَنَا الشَّيخ أَبُو الفَضلِ أَحمَدُ بنُ الحَسَنِ بنِ خَيرُون المُعَدَّلُ قِرَاءَةً عَلَيهِ وَأَنَا حَاضِرٌ أَسْمَعُ ، قِيلَ لَهُ : أَقْرَأْتَ عَلَى أَبيِ عَبدِ اللهِ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ عَلِي بنِ عَبدِ اللهِ الصورِي الحَافِظِ ، قَالَ : سَمِعتُ أَبَا الحُسَينِ مُحَمَّدَ بنَ أَحَمَدَ بنِ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ أَحمَدَ بنِ جُمَيْعٍ الغَسَّانِي بِصيدا ، فَأَقَرَّ بِهِ ، قَالَ : سَمِعْتُ أَبَا بَكرٍ مُحَمَّدَ بنِ عَبدِ العَزِيزِ بنِ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ الفَضْلِ بنِ يَحْيَى بنِ القَاسِمِ بنِ عَونِ بنِ عَبدِ اللهِ بنِ الحَارِثِ بنِ نَوْفَلِ بنِ الحَارِثِ بنِ عَبدِ المُطَّلِبِ الهَاشِمِي بِمَكَّةَ يَقُولُ :

Shaykh Abul-Fath Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-Baqi ibn Ahmad ibn Sulayman, known as ibnul-Bati, informed us by way of ijazah , if I did not in fact hear it from him, saying: Shaykh Abul-Fadhl Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn Khayrun al-Mu'addal reported to us, by way of someone reading to him while I was present listening, it was said to him: You had it read upon Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abdillah as-Suri al-Hafidh, saying: I heard Abul-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Jumay' al-Ghassani at Sayda, and he confirmed it, saying: I heard Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ‘Abdil-‘Aziz ibn Muhammad ibn al-Fadhl ibn Yahya ibn al-Qasim ibn ‘Awn ibn ‘Abdillah ibn al-Harith ibn Nawfal ibn al-Harith ibn ‘Abdil-Muttalib al-Hashimi at Makkah saying:

سَمِعْتُ أَبَا دَاوُدَ سُلَيمَانَ بنَ الأَشْعَتِ بنِ إِسْحَاقَ بنِ بَشِيرِ بنِ شَدَّادٍ السِّجِستَانِي بِالبَصرَةِ ، وَسُئِلَ عَن رِسَالَتِهِ الَّتِي كَتَبَهَا إِلىَ أَهْلِ مَكَّةَ وَغَيرِهَا ، جَوَاباً لَهُم فَأَمْلَى عَلَينَا :

I heard Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath ibn Ishaq ibn Bashir ibn Shaddad as-Sijistani at al-Basrah, and he was asked about his letter which he wrote to the people of Makkah and other than it, in response to them, so he dictated to us:

سَلاَمٌ عَلَيكُم ، فَإِنِّي أَحمَدُ إِلَيكُمُ اللهَ الَّذِي لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ وَأَسْأَلُهُ أَنْ يُصَلِّيَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ عَبدِهِ وَرَسُولِهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَسَلَّمَ كُلَمَّا ذُكِرَ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ :

Peace be upon you. Indeed, I extol and praise Allah to you, the one whom there is no deity worthy of worship except for Him, and I ask Him to send salah upon Muhammad, His Slave and His Messenger, may Allah send Salah and peace upon him whenever he is mentioned.

As to what proceeds:

عَافَانَا اللهُ وَإِيَّاكُم عَافِيَةً لاَ مَكْرُوهَ مَعَهَا وَلاَ عِقَابَ بَعْدَهَا ، فَإِنَّكُم سَأَلْتُم أَنْ أَذْكُرَ لَكُم الأَحَادِيثَ الَّتِي فِي كِتَابِ السُّنَنِ أَهِيَ أَصَحُّ مَا عَرَفْتُ فِي البَابِ وَوَقَفْتُ عَلَى جَمِيعِ مَا ذَكَرْتُم

May Allah grant us a pardon which is not accompanied by anything displeasing and after which there shall be no punishment. Indeed, you asked me to discuss the hadiths in Kitab as-Sunan , whether they are the most sahih of what I know concerning each topic, and I came upon all of that which you mentioned.

فَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّهُ كَذَلِكَ كُلُّهُ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ قَد رُوِيَ مِن وَجْهَينِ صَحِيحَينِ فَأَحَدُهُمَا أَقْدَمُ اِسنَاداً وَالآخَرُ صَاحِبُهُ أَقْوَمُ فيِ الحِفْظِ فَرُبَّمَا كَتَبْتُ ذَلِكَ وَلاَ أَرَى فيِ كِتَابِي مِن هَذَا عَشَرَةَ أَحَادِيثَ

So know that that is the case except if it should have been related from two sahih routes, one of them having a higher chain while the narrator of the other is stronger in hifdh , so I occasionally would write that, and I do not see in my book even ten hadiths that are like this.

وَلَمْ أَكتُبْ فِي البَابِ إِلاَّ حَدِيثاً أَو حَدِيثَينِ وَإِن كَانَ فِي البَابِ أَحَادِيثَ صِحَاحَ فَإِنَّهُ يُكْثِرُ وَإِنَّمَا أَرَدْتُ قُرْبَ مَنْفَعَتِهِ

وَإِذَا أَعَدْتُ الحَدِيثَ فِي البَابِ مِن وَجْهَينِ أَو ثَلاثَةٍ فَإِنَّمَا هُوَ مِن زِيَادَةِ كَلاَمٍ فِيهِ وَرُبَّمَا فِيهِ كَلِمَةٌ زَائِدَةٌ عَلَى الأَحَادِيث

وَرُبَّمَا اختَصَرْتُ الحَدِيثَ الطَّوِيلَ لأَنِّي لَو كَتَبْتُهُ بِطُولِهِ لَمْ يَعلَمْ بَعْضُ مَنْ سَمِعَهُ المُرَادَ مِنهُ وَلاَ يَفْهَمُ مَوضِعَ الفِقهِ مِنهُ فَاخْتَصَرْتُ لِذَلِكَ

And I only wrote one or two hadiths concerning each bab , [1] even if there were a number of sahih hadiths concerning that bab , for there would be too many and my intent was to make it (the book) easy to benefit from.

And when I repeated a hadith in any bab from two or three routes, then it is only due to additional speech contained, and perhaps it contains one additional word not in the other hadiths.

And occasionally, I summarized a long hadith for if I were to write it completely, some of those who heard it would not understand the place of fiqh in it, so I summarized it for that reason.

وَأَمَّا المَرَاسِيلُ فَقَد كَانَ يحتَجُّ بِهَا العُلَمَاءُ فِيمَا مَضَى مِثلُ سُفيَانَ الثَّورِي وَمَالِكِ بنِ أَنَسٍ وَالأَوزَاعِي حَتَّى جَاءَ الشَّافِعِي فَتَكَلَّمَ فِيهَا وَتَابَعَهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ أَحمَدُ بنُ حَنبَلٍ وَغَيرُهُ

فَإِذَا لم يَكُن مُسنَدٌ ضِدُّ المَرَاسِيلَ وَلم يُوجَد المُسنَدُ فَالمُرسَلُ يُحتَجُّ بِهِ وَلَيسَ هُوَ مِثلُ المُتَّصِلِ فيِ القُوَّةِ

And as for mursal [2] hadiths, then the scholars of the past such as Sufyan ath-Thawri, Malik ibn Anas, and al-Awza'i used to use them as a proof until ash-Shafi'i came and criticized them and Ahmad ibn Hanbal and others followed him in that.

So when there is no musnad [3] hadith in opposition to the mursal hadiths and there is no musnad hadith to be found, then the mursal is used as a proof, and it is not like the muttasil [4] in strength.

وَلَيسَ فيِ كِتَابِ السُّنَنِ الَّذِي صَنَّفتُهُ عَن رَجُلٍ مَتْرُوكِ الحَدِيثِ . وَإِذَا كَانَ فِيهِ حَدِيثٌ مُنكَرٌ بَيَّنتُ أَنَّهُ مُنكَرٌ وَلَيسَ عَلَى نَحْوِهِ فيِ البَابِ غَيرُهُ

وَهَذِهِ الأَحَادِيثُ لَيسَ مِنهَا فيِ كِتَاب ابنِ المُبَارَكِ وَلاَ كِتَابِ وَكِيعٍ إِلاَّ الشَّيءُ اليَسِيرُ وَعَامَّتُهُ فيِ كِتَابِ هَؤُلاَءِ مَرَاسِيلُ . وَفيِ كِتَابِ السُّنَنِ مِن مُوَطَّأِ مَالِكِ بنِ أَنَسٍ شَيءٌ صَالِحٍ وَكَذَلِكَ مِن مُصَنَّفَاتِ حَمَّادِ بنِ سَلَمَةَ وَعَبدِ الرَّزَّاقِ . وَلَيسَ ثُلُثُ هَذِهِ الكُتُبُ فِيمَا أَحسَبُهُ فيِ كُتُبِ جَمِيعِهِم أَعنيِ مُصَنَّفَاتِ مَالِكِ بنِ أَنَسٍ وَحَمَّادِ بنِ سَلَمَة وَعَبدِ الرَّزَاقِ

And Kitab as-Sunan which I have compiled does not contain narrations from a person who is matruk al-hadith . [5] And when there was any munkar [6] hadith in it, I clarified that it was munkar and that there was nothing like it in that bab .

And only a small portion of these are hadiths are to be found in the book of ibn al-Mubarak or the book of Waki', and most of what is in their books is mursal hadiths. And Kitab as-Sunan contains a good bit of hadiths from the Muwatta' of Malik ibn Anas and likewise from the works of Hammad ibn Salamah and ‘Abdur-Razzaq. And a third of these books, in my estimation, are not to be found in all of their books – I mean the work of Malik ibn Anas, Hammad ibn Salamah, and ‘Abdur-Razzaq.

وَقَد أَلَّفتُهُ نَسقاً عَلَى مَا وَقَعَ عِندِي فَإِن ذُكِرَ لَكَ عَنِ النَّبِي صلى الله عليه وسلم سُنَّةٌ لَيسَ مِمَّا خَرَّجُتُهُ فَاعْلَم أَنَّهُ حَدِيثٌ وَاهٍ إِلاَّ أَن يَكُونَ فيِ كِتَابيِ مِن طَرِيقٍ آخَرَ فَإِني لَم أُخَرِّج الطُّرُقَ لأَنَّهُ يَكثُرُعَلَى المُتَعَلِّم ِ

وَلاَ أَعْرِفُ أَحَداً جَمَعَ عَلَى الاِستِقصَاءِ غَيرِي وَكَانَ الحَسَنُ بنُ عَلِيٍّ الخَلاَّلُ قَد جَمَعَ مِنهُ قَدرَ تِسعِمِائَةِ حَدِيثٍ وَذَكَرَ أَنَّ ابنَ المُبَارَكِ قَالَ السُّنَنُ عَنِ النَِّبي صلى الله عليه وسلم نَحْوَ تِسْعِمِائَةِ حَدِيثٍ فَقِيلَ لَهُ إِنَّ أَبَا يُوسُفَ قَالَ هِيَ أَلفٌ وَمِائَةٌ قَالَ ابنُ المُبَارَكِ أَبُو يُوسُفَ يَأْخُذُ بِتِلكَ الهَنَاتِ مِن هُنَا وَهُنَا نَحْوَ الأَحَادِيثِ الضَّعِيفَةِ

And I have authored it depending upon what I have gathered, so if some sunnah is mentioned to you from the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) which I did not report, then know it is a waahi [7] hadith, except if it should be in my book from another route, for I did not seek to report all the routes for that becomes too much for the student.

And I do not know of anyone who has gathered in a comprehensive manner other than myself. And al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali al-Khallal had gathered of them some nine hundred hadiths and he mentioned that ibn al-Mubarak said that the sunan from the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) are about nine hundred hadiths so it was said to him, “Abu Yusuf said that they are one thousand and one hundred.” Ibn al-Mubarak said, “Abu Yusuf accepts these defective ones from here and there from the weak hadiths.”

وَمَا كَانَ فيِ كِتَابيِ مِن حَدِيثٍ فِيهِ وَهْنٌ شَدِيدٌ فَقَد بَيَّنتُهُ وَمِنهُ مَالاَ يَصِحُّ سَنَدُهُ . مَا لَم أَذْكُر فِيهِ شَيئاً فَهُوَ صَالِحٌ وَبَعْضُهَا أَصَحُّ مِن بَعْضٍ . وَهَذَا لَو وَضَعَهُ غَيرِي لَقُلْتُ أَنَا فِيهِ أَكثَر

And any hadith in my book that contains a severe weakness, then I have explained it, and from it is that which does not have an authentic isnad . And whatever I did not mention anything about, then it is salih , [8] and some of them (the hadiths) are more sahih than others. And if other than myself had compiled this, I would have said more about it.

وَهُوَ كِتَابُ لاَ يَرِدُ عَلَيكَ سُنَّةٌ عَنِ النَّبِي صلى الله عليه وسلم بِإِسنَادٍ صَالِحٍ إِلاَّ وَهِيَ فِيهِ إِلاَّ أَن يَكُونَ كَلاَمٌ استُخرِجَ مِنَ الحَدِيثِ وَلاَ يَكَادُ يَكُونُ هَذَا

And you will not find any sunnah from the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) with a salih isnad except that it is in this book, except if it should be some point that is extracted from the hadith, and this hardly ever occurs.

وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ شَيئًا بَعدَ القُرآنِ أَلزَمَ لِلنَّاسِ أَن يَتَعَلَّمُوهُ مِن هَذَا الكِتَابِ وَلاَ يَضُرُّ رَجُلاً أَن لاَ يَكتُبَ مِنَ العِلْمِ بَعْدَ مَا يَكْتُبُ هَذِهِ الكُتُبَ شَيئاً وَإِذَا نَظَرَ فِيهِ وَتَدَبَّرَهُ وَتَفَهَّمَهُ حِينَئِذٍ يَعْلَمُ مِقْدَارَهُ . وَأَمَّا هَذِهِ المَسَائِلُ مَسَائِلُ الثََّورِي وَمَالِكٍ وَالشَّافِعِي فَهَذِهِ الأَحَادِيثُ أُصُولُهَا . وَيُعْجِبُنِي أَن يَكتُبَ الرَّجُلُ مَعَ هَذِهِ الكُتُبَ مِنْ رَأْيِ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِي صلى الله عليه وسلم

وَيَكَتُبُ أَيْضاً مِثْلَ جَامِعِ سُفْيَانَ الثَّورِي فَإِنَّهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا وَضَعَ النَّاسُ مِنَ الجَوَامِعِ

And I do not know of anything after the Qur'an that it is more necessary for the people to learn than this book, and it would not harm a person if he does not write anything of knowledge after writing these books. And when he looks into it and contemplates it and seeks to understand it, he will then know its value. And as for these fiqh issues, the issues of ath-Thawri, Malik, and ash-Shafi'i, then these hadiths are their basis. And I like that a man should write the opinions of the Companions of the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam) along with these books.

And he should also write the likes of the Jami' of Sufyan ath-Thawri, for it is the best of what the people have compiled of Jawami' . [9]

وَالأَحَادِيثُ الَّتِي وَضَعْتُهَا فيِ كِتَابِ السُّنَنِ أَكْثَرُهَا مَشَاهِيرُ وَهِيَ عِنْدَ كُلِّ مَنْ كَتَبَ شَيئاً مِنَ الحَدِيثِ إِلاَّ أَنَّ تَمْيِيزَهَا لاَ يَقْدِرُ عَلَيهِ كُلُّ النَّاسِ وَالفَخْرُ بِهَا أَنَّهَا مَشَاهِيرُ فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يُحْتَجُّ بِحَدِيثٍ غَرِيبٍ وَلَو كَانَ مِن رِوَايَةِ مَالِكٍ وَيَحْيَى بنِ سَعِيدٍ وَالثِّقَاتِ مِن أَئِمَّةِ العِلمِ

وَلَو احتَجَّ رَجُلٌ بِحَدِيثٍ غَرِيبٍ وَجَدْتَ مَن يَطْعَنُ فِيهِ وَلاَ يَحْتَجُّ بِالحَدِيثِ الَّذِي قَدِ احْتَجَّ بِهِ إِذَا كَانَ الحَدِيثُ غَرِيباً شَاذّاً

And the hadiths that I have placed in Kitab as-Sunan , most of them are mashahir, [10] and they are with everyone who has written any hadiths, except that not all the people are able to distinguish between them. And the thing to be boasted about with these hadiths is that they are mashahir , for a gharib hadith is not used as a proof, even if it is from the narration of Malik, Yahya ibn Sa'id, and the thiqat from the Imams of knowledge.

And if a person were to use a gharib hadith as a proof, you would find those who criticize him and do not rely upon the hadith he used as a proof when the hadith is gharib, shadh. [11]

فَأَمَّا الحَدِيثُ المَشْهُورُ المُتَّصِلُ الصَّحِيحُ فَلَيسَ يَقدِرُ أَن يَرُدَّهُ عَلَيكَ أَحَدٌ . وَقَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ النَّخَعِي كَانُوا يَكْرَهُونَ الغَرِيبَ مِنَ الحَدِيثِ .وَقَالَ يَزِيدُ بنُ أَبيِ حَبِيبٍ إِذَا سَمِعْتُ الحَدِيثَ فَأَنْشَدَهُ كَمَا تُنْشِدُ الضَّالَّةَ فَإِنْ عُرِفَ وَإِلاَّ فَدَعْهُ

As for the mash-hur, muttasil, sahih hadith, then none is able to reject it from you. And Ibrahim an-Nakha'i said, “They used to detest the gharib hadiths.” And Yazid ibn Abi Habib said, “When you hear a hadith, then announce it loudly like you would a lost animal, so either it is recognized, otherwise, leave it.”

وَإِنَّ مِنَ الأَحَادِيثِ فيِ كِتَابِي السُّنَنِ مَا لَيسَ بِمُتَّصِلِ وَهُوَ مُرْسَلٌ وَمُدَلَّسٌ وَهُوَ إِذَا لَم تُوجَد الصِّحَاحُ عِندَ عَامَّةِ أَهْلِ الحَدِيثِ عَلَى مَعْنَى أَنَّهُ مُتَّصِلٌ وَهُوَ مِثْلُ الحَسَن عَن جَابِر وَالحَسَن عَن أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ وَالحَكَم عَن مِقسَم عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ وَسَمَاعُ الحَكَمِ مِن مِقْسَمٍ أَرْبَعَةُ أَحَادِيث

وَأَمَّا أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ عَنِ الحَارِثِ عَن عَلِيٍّ فَلَم يَسْمَعْ أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ مِنَ الحَارِثِ إِلاَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَحَادِيث لَيسَ فِيهَا مُسْنَدٌ وَاحِدٌ وَأَمَا مَا فِي كِتَابِ السُّنَنِ مِن هَذَا النَّحْوِ فَقَلِيلٌ وَلَعَلَّ لَيسَ لِلْحَارِثِ الأَعْوَرِ فيِ كِتَابِ السُّنَنِ إَلاَ حَدِيثٌ وَاحِدٌ فَإِنَّمَا كَتَبْتُهُ بِأَخِرَة

And there are some hadiths in my book, as-Sunan , which are not muttasil but are mursal or mudallas, [12] and that is when sahih hadiths are not to be found with most of the People of Hadith that are regarded as muttasil . And this is such as the narrations of al-Hasan from Jabir or al-Hasan from Abu Hurayrah, and the narrations of al-Hakam from Miqsam from ibn ‘Abbas while al-Hakam only heard four hadiths from Miqsam.

As for the narrations of Abu Ishaq from al-Harith from ‘Ali, then Abu Ishaq only heard four hadiths from al-Harith, amongst which there is not a single musnad hadith. As for Kitab as-Sunan , then the hadiths in it that are like this are few. And perhaps al-Harith does not have but a single hadith in Kitab as-Sunan , for I only wrote it belatedly.

وَرُبَّمَا كَانَ فِي الحَدِيثِ مَا تَثْبُتُ صِحَّةُ الحَدِيثِ مِنهُ إِذَا كَانَ يَخْفَى ذَلِكَ عَلَيَّ فَرُبَّمَا تَرَكْتُ الحَدِيثَ إِذَا لَمْ أَفْقَهْهُ وَرُبَّمَا كَتَبْتُهُ وَبَيَّنْتُهُ وَرُبَّمَا لَمْ أَقِفْ عَلَيهِ وَرُبَّمَا أَتَوَقَّفُ عَن مِثْلِ هَذِهِ لأَنَّهُ ضَرَرٌ عَلَى العَامَّةِ أَن يُكْشَفَ لَهُم كُلُّ مَا كَانَ مِن هَذَا البَابِ فِيمَا مَضَى مِن عُيُوبِ الحَدِيثِ لأَنَّ عِلمَ العَامَّةِ يَقصُرُ عَن مِثْلِ هَذَا

وَعَدَدُ كُتُبِ هَذِهِ السُّنَنِ ثَمَانِيَةُ عَشَرَ جُزءاً مَعَ المَرَاسِيلِ مِنهَا جُزءٌ وَاحِدٌ مَرَاسِيلُ . وَمَا رُوِيَ عَن النَّبِي صلى الله عليه وسلم مِن المَرَاسِيلِ مِنهَا مَا لاَيَصِحُّ وَمِنهَا مَا هُوَ مُسنَدٌ عَن غَيرِهِ وَهُوَ مُتَّصِلٌ صَحِيحٌ . وَلَعَلَّ عَدَدُ الَّذِي فِي كُتُبِي مِنَ الأَحَادِيثِ قَدْرُ أَرْبَعَةِ آلافٍ وَثَمَانِمِائَةِ حَدِيثٍ وَنَحْوِ سِتِّمِائَةِ حَدِيثٍ مِنَ المَرَاسِي

And occasionally there was something that established the authenticity of a hadith, so when that was hidden to me, then occasionally I left the hadith off when I did not understand it, and occasionally I wrote it and clarified that. And perhaps I did not come across it, and occasionally I refrain from these types of matters for it is harmful for the common people for all of the deficiencies that were present in hadiths to be revealed to them because the knowledge of the common people falls short of this.

And the number of the books of the sunan is eighteen juz' , one juz' of which is marasil. [13] And of the marasil that have been narrated from the Prophet (sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam), there are those that are not authentic, and there is that which is musnad from other than it, and it it muttasil sahih . And perhaps the number of hadiths in my books are four thousand and eight hundred hadiths, and about six hundred hadiths from marasil .

فَمَن أَحَبَّ أَن يُمَيِّزَ هَذِهِ الأَحَادِيثَ مَعَ الأَلفَاظِ فَرُبَّمَا يَجِيءُ حَدِيثٌ مِن طَرِيقٍ وَهُوَ عِنْدَ العَامَّةِ مِن طَرِيقِ الأَئِمَّةِ الَّذِينَ هُم مَشْهُورُونَ غَيرُ أَنَّهُ رُبَّمَا طَلَبَ اللَفْظَةِ الَّتِي تَكُونُ لَهَا مَعَانٍ كَثِيرَةٍ وَمِمَّن عَرَفْتَ مَنْ نَقَلَ مِن جَمِيعِ هَذِهِ الكُتُبِ

And whoever would like to distinguish between these hadiths along with their wordings, then occasionally a hadith comes from a particular route while the common people have it from the route of the Imams who are well known, except that occasionally he may have sought after a particular wording which has many meanings and from those you know are those who have narrated from all these books.

فَرُبَّمَا يَجِيءُ الاِسنَادُ فَيُعْلَمُ مِنْ حَدِيثِ غَيرِهِ أَنَّهُ غَيرُ مُتَّصِلٍ وَلاَ يَتَبَيَّنُهُ السَّامِعُ إِلاَّ بِأَنْ يَعْلَمَ الأَحَادِيثَ وَتَكُونَ لَهُ فِيهِ مَعْرِفَةٌ فَيَقِفُ عَلَيهَ مِثْلُ مَا يُروَى عَن ابنِ جُرَيجٍ قَالَ أُخْبِرْتُ عَن الزُّهْرِي وَيَرْوِيهِ البَرْسَانِي عَن ابنِ جُرَيجٍ عَن الزُّهْرِي

فَالَّذِي يَسْمَعُ يَظُنُّ أَنَّهُ مُتَّصِلٌ وَلاَ يَصِحُّ بَتَّة فَإِنَّمَا تَرَكْنَاهُ لِذَلِكَ لأَنَّ أَصْلَ الحَدِيثِ غَيرُ مُتَّصِلٍ وَلاَ يَصِحُّ وَهُوَ حَدِيثٌ مَعْلُولٌ وَمِثْلُ هَذَا كَثِيرٌ

وَالَّذِي لاَ يَعْلَمُ يَقُولُ قَدْ تَرَكَ حَدِيثاً صَحِيحاً مِن هَذَا وَجَاءَ بِحَدِيثٍ مَعْلُولٍ

So occasionally there will come an isnad while it is known from another narration that it is not muttasil , and it will not be clear to the listener except if he knows the hadiths and he has knowledge concerning them so that he would come across the like of that which has been narrated from ibn Jurayj, he said, “I was informed from az-Zuhri,” while al-Barsani narrates it from ibn Jurayj: from az-Zuhri.

So the one who hears would think it is muttasil , and it is not sahih at all, so we only left it off because the asl of the hadith is not muttasil and is not sahih . And it is a ma'lul [14] hadith, and there are many cases like this.

And the one who does not know will say, “He has left a sahih hadith concerning this and brought a ma'lul hadith.”

وَلَمْ أُصَنِّف فِي كِتَابِ السُّنَنِ إِلاَّ الأَحْكَامِ وَلَمْ أُصَنِّف كُتُبَ الزُّهْدِ وَفَضَائِلِ الأَعْمَالِ وَغَيرِهَا ، فَهَذِهِ الأَرْبَعَةُ آلاَفٍ وَالثَّمَانُمِائَةٍ كُلُّهَا فِي الأَحْكَامِ فَأَمَّا أَحَادِيثُ كَثِيرَةٌ صِحَاحٌ فِي الزُّهْدِ وَالفَضَائِلِ وَغَيرِ هَذَا لَم أُخَرِّجْهَا

And I did not gather anything except the ahkam in Kitab as-Sunan , and I did not gather the books of Zuhd , [15] Fadha'il al-A'mal , [16] and other than them. So these four thousand and eight hundred are all concerning ahkam . So as for the many sahih hadiths concerning Zuhd , Fadha'il , and other than this, I did not report them.

وَالسَّلامُ عَلَيكُم وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ ، وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ النَّبِيِّ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيماً ، وَحَسْبُنَا اللهُ وَنِعْمَ الوَكِيلُ

And peace be upon you, and the Mercy of Allah, and His Blessings, and may Allah send salah upon our master Muhammad, the Prophet, and upon his family, and may He grant them complete peace. And Allah is Sufficient for us, and the Best Disposer of Affairs.

Footnotes
[1] The term bab is used for chapter as well as for a topic.

[2] A hadith narrated by a Tabi'i from the Prophet ( sall Allahu `alaihi wa sallam ) directly without mention of a Sahabi .

[3] With a connected isnad , chain of narration.

[4] Muttasil means connected.

[5] Abandoned in hadith. This is said concerning a narrator whose narrations are not used even to strenghten other narrations or as witnesses for other narrations.

[6] Literally, munkar means rejected or objectionable. Here, Imam Abu Dawud means by it one which is clearly a mistake.

[7] Extremely weak.

[8] Some scholars have understood this statement to mean that anything he does not comment on is to be regarded as being at least hasan . More likely, however, he means that there is not some severe weakness in the hadith rendering it unusable. So a hadith that he did not comment on could still be weak.

[9] Plural of Jami' .

[10] Plural of mash-hur , meaning famous.

[11] Both words mean strange. They are used for very particular meanings in Mustalah al-Hadith by later scholars. However, it is clear that Abu Dawud did not use them with those meanings.

[12] Containing Tadlis .The most common form of Tadlis is to say ( ‘An ) “From” or ( Qala ) “He said” or something similar to that giving the impression that one heard it directly from that person while not having done so. For this reason, the scholars do not except the report of the Mudallis , one who commits tadlis , except when he is explicit in indicating that he heard the hadith directly from the one he is narrating from.

[13] Plural of mursal.

[14] Deficient

[15] Asceticism

[16] The Virtues of Deeds