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AL-QANÍARA
XXIX 1, enero-junio de 2008
pp. 9-44
ISSN 0211-3589
THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½
VIDA Y OBRAS DE ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SI»IST¨N½
CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
University of Oxford
AbùD×wùd al-Sijist×nê(d. Basra, 275/889)
was a prominent collector of prophetic
hadith. He seems to have collected in Iraq,
Mecca, and Syria A.H. 220-35, then
Khurasan till the early 240s, then Iraq, Syria,
and Egypt till around 250. He claimed to
have collected 500,000 in all. He spent most
of the years 250-70 in Tarsus, composing his
famous Sunan, then the last five years of his
life teaching near Basra. This article reviews
AbùD×wùd's known works, especially
al-Sunan, which became one of the Six
Books. The Sunan was transmitted from him
in slightly different versions by nine named
traditionists. A little under 90 percent of it
goes back to the Prophet. It is distinguished
from other collections by its concentration on
hadith that classify actions (açk×m). Abù
D×wùd's express comments within the Sunan
concern alternative versions, legal applica-
tions, and rij×lcriticism. Because it seldom
repeats hadith under multiple topics, it is
probably the largest of the Six Books. It must
be admitted that AbùD×wùd was unusually
careless at identifying men in as×nêd. In his
personal piety, AbùD×wùd stood above all
for modesty. His separate collection of hadith
on renunciation, al-Zuhd, comprises mainly
the sayings of Companions. In law, Abù
D×wùd was close to Açmad b. ·anbal (d.
241/855). In theology, he adhered to the
ninth-century ahl al-sunnah wa-l-jamבah.
He is also said to have admired and been ad-
mired by the proto-Sufi Sahl al-Tustarê(d.
283/896?).
Key words: AbùD×wùd; Sijist×nê; Hadith;
Six Books; Islamic Asceticism.
AbùD×wùd al-Siist×nê(m. en Basora,
275/889) fue un eminente recopilador de hadi-
ces proféticos. Parece que esa labor de compi-
lación la hizo en Iraq, La Meca y Siria entre los
años 220-35 H.; en Jorasán hasta principios de
la siguiente década y, ya nuevamente en Iraq y
Siria, además de Egipto, hasta el año 250 H.
Afirmó haber recopilado 500.000 hadices en
total. Entre 250 y 270 H. permaneció funda-
mentalmente en Tarso, componiendo su famosa
al-Sunan y dedicó los cinco últimos años de su
vida a enseñar cerca de Basora. Este artículo re-
visa los trabajos conocidos del autor, especial-
mente al-Sunan, que llegará a ser uno de los
“Seis libros” (compilaciones canónicas de ha-
diz). Esta obra fue transmitida, con pequeñas
variaciones, por nueve tradicionistas que la to-
maron de él. Casi el 90% de las tradiciones se
remontan al Profeta. Esta obra se diferencia de
otras colecciones porque se centra en hadices
que clasifican acciones (açk×m). Los comenta-
rios expresos de AbùD×wùd dentro de la obra
se refieren a versiones alternativas, aplicacio-
nes legales y la ciencia del ri×l. Dado que po-
cas veces repite un mismo hadiz bajo diferentes
epígrafes, se trata probablemente de la más lar-
ga de las seis colecciones canónicas de hadices.
Debe reconocerse que AbùD×wùd era bastante
descuidado a la hora de identificar individuos
en las cadenas de transmisión. Su colección in-
dependiente de hadices relativos a la renuncia
ascética, al-Zuhd, comprende fundamentalmen-
te dichos de los Compañeros del Profeta. Por lo
que se refiere al derecho, AbùD×wùd estaba
cerca de Açmad b. ·anbal (m. 241/855). En
teología se adhirió al movimiento de los ahl
al-sunna wa-l-amבa del siglo IX. Se dice que
admiraba y era admirado por el proto-sufi Sahl
al-Tustarê(m. 283/896?).
Palabras clave: AbùD×wùd; Siist×nê;
hadiz; seis colecciones canónicas de hadiz;
ascetismo islámico.
AbùD×wùd Sulaym×n b. al-Ash‘ath b. Isç×q b. Bashêr (or Bishr) b.
Shadd×d b. ‘Amr b. ¨mir (or ‘Imr×n) al-Azdêal-Sijist×nê(d. Basra,
275/889) is mainly important as a collector of prophetic hadith, whose
Sunan early won third place among the Six Books most highly regarded
by Sunni Muslims. 1He was also an important collector of the legal
opinions and rij×lcriticism of Açmad b. ·anbal (d. Baghdad, 241/855).
The following account of his life and works (of which an extract will ap-
pear in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, third edition) offers a fuller account
of his travels and a longer list of his works than have appeared hitherto.
It also offers some new characterizations of the Sunan and Zuhd.
Life
According to Ibn Khallik×n, some interpreted AbùD×wùd’s
nisbah as referring to a village of Sijistan or Sijistanah in the environs
of Basra. 2However, most biographers suppose him to have come
from the region of Sijistan south of Khurasan. 3From his name and
tribal nisbah, he appears to have been ancestrally Arab. His ancestor
‘Imr×n is said to have perished at Éiffên, fighting with ‘Alê.4No biog-
raphy inspected by me indicates that he was not ancestrally Arab, un-
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
10 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
1On AbùD×wùd, v. Sezgin, F., Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums, Leiden,
1967-2000, (hereafter GAS) 1:149-52, with further references. The only significant study
in English has been Robson, J., “The Transmission of AbùD×wùd’s Sunan”, BSOAS, 14
(1952), 579-88. I have read two short monographs in Arabic: Al-Maû×hirê,Taqêal-Dên
al-Nadwê,AbùD×wùd al-im×m al-ç×fiûal-faqêh, Damascus, 1990, of which the Urdu
original was published in India in 1967 (ibid., 11), and ‘UwayÝah, K×mil Muçammad
Muçammad, AbùD×wùd Sulaym×n b. al-Ash‘ath al-Sijist×nêçakam al-fuqah×’
wa-l-muçaddithên, Beirut, 1996. Maû×hirê’s study seems superior to ‘UwayÝah’s, but
several editorial introductions are more useful. V. esp. al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×tAbê‘Ubayd
al-¨jurrêAb×D×wùd Sulaym×n b. al-Ash‘ath al-Sijist×nê(202-275 H.) fêma‘rifat al-rij×l
wa-jarçihim wa-ta‘dêlihim, ‘Abd al-‘Alêm ‘Abd al-‘Aûêm al-Bastawê(ed.), Beirut and
Mecca, 1997, and AbùD×wùd, Su’×l×tAbêD×wùd[...] li-l-im×mAçmad b. ·anbal [...] fê
jarçal-rij×l wa-ta‘dêlihim, Ziy×dMuçammad Manóùr (ed.), Medina, Maktabat al-‘Ulùm
wa-l-·ikam, 1994. Supplants the edition of Muçammad ‘AlêQ×sim al-‘Umarê, Medina,
al-J×mi‘ah al-Isl×mêyah, al-Majlis al-‘Ilmê, 1983. ‘Umarê’s edition comprises the third
part alone, corresponding to n.º 353-959 of Bastawê’s.
2Ibn Khallik×n, Wafay×t al-a‘y×n wa-anb×’ abn×’ al-zam×n, Içs×n ‘Abb×s (ed.),
Beirut, 1968-73, 2:405.
3Note al-Sam‘×nê,Kit×b al-Ans×b, Muçammad Açmad ·all×q (ed.), Beirut, 1999
(based on three MSS. unlike earlier editions), 3:21, s.n. Sijist×nê.
4Ibn ‘As×kir, Ta’rêkh madênat Dimashq, Muçibb al-DênAbùSa‘êd ‘Umar b.
Ghar×mah al-‘Amrawê(ed.), Beirut, 1995, 22:191, s.n. Sulaym×n b. al-Ash‘ath.
like al-Bukh×rê, whose great-grandfather was named Bardizbah, and
Muslim, whose ancestry is never traced further back than his grandfa-
ther. Writing somewhat more than a century after his death, al-·×kim
al-Nays×bùrê(d. Nishapur, 405/1014) states that AbùD×wùd and his
descendants had properties in Sijistan until his own time. 5Al-·×kim
also describes him as hearing hadith in Khurasan, particularly in his
own locality and Herat, before travelling to Iraq. 6
We have a few biographical data attributed to AbùD×wùd directly.
Abù‘Ubayd al-¨jurrêquotes him as saying he was born in 202/817-18. 7
He entered Baghdad when he was around 18, in time to pray at the fu-
neral of ‘Aff×n (d. Rabê‘ II 220/February-March 835). 8He may have
been accompanied by an older brother, Muçammad, also a traditionist. 9
He entered Basra three months later, just after the death of ‘Uthm×nb.
al-Haytham (d. Rajab 220/July 835). 10 Abù‘½sà al-Azraq quotes him as
saying he entered Kufa for the first time in 221/835-6. 11 He must have
made his first trip to Syria not long thereafter, for he is quoted as saying
that he saw Abùl-NaÝrIsç×qb.Ibr×hêm (d. 227/841-2) in Damascus
and wrote hadith at his dictation in 222/836-7. 12 He was back in Basra in
223/837-8, when he attended the funeral there of Muçammad b. Kathêr
al-‘Abdê.13 He was probably in Syria again in 227/841-2, when he took
dictation from ‘Abb×s b. al-Walêd b. Mazyad (d. 270/883?) of Beirut, al-
though AbùD×wùd does not expressly say where this took place. 14
Al-Dhahabêbelieves that he must have made the pilgrimage to
Mecca at the end of 220/November-December 835, hearing hadith
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½11
5Al-Dhahabê,Siyar a‘l×m al-nubal×’, Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ù÷ et al. (eds.), Beirut,
1981-8, 13:217, presumably quoting Ta’rêkh Nays×bùr.
6Idem, Ta’rêkh al-Isl×m, ‘Umar ‘Abd al-Sal×m Tadmurê(ed.), Beirut, 1987-2000, 20
(A.H. 261-80): 361, presumably quoting Ta’rêkh Nays×bùr.
7Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 2:294. The same from the ·anbalêIbn al-Mun×dêapud al-Silafê,
AbùÍ×hir, Muqaddimah to al-Kha÷÷×bê,Ma‘×lim al-sunan, annexed to the Íabb×kh edi-
tion (Aleppo, 1932-4), 4:355-82, to the D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah edition, 4:326-45, 374
(ed. Muçammad, 340).
8Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh Baghd×dawmadênat al-sal×m, Cairo, Maktabat
al-Kh×njê, 1931, 9:56, l. 14 10:77. (Repr. Cairo, Maktabat al-Kh×njêand Beirut, D×r
al-Fikr, n.d.). Citations in italics are to Ta’rêkh Madênat al-sal×m, Bashsh×r‘Aww×d
Ma‘rùf (ed.), Beirut, D×r al-Gharb al-Isl×mê, 2001.
9Al-Dhahabê,Siyar, 13:221.
10 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:56, l. 15 10:77.
11 Ibidem, 9:56, ll. 8-9 10:77.
12 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 1:22, 2:225.
13 Ibidem, 1:25, 442.
14 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 1:23, 254-5.
there from al-Qa‘nabê(d. Mecca? 221/835?) and Sulaym×nb.·arb
(d. Basra, 224/839), among others. The list of shaykhs from whom
AbùD×wùd heard hadith is the principal evidence for AbùD×wùd’s
travels. 15 Interpretation is not always straightforward. Usually, one
infers from a traditionist’s being identified as, say, a Basran or a Dam-
ascene that AbùD×wùd heard hadith from him in Basra or Damascus,
respectively. Sometimes, however, we are told expressly that he heard
hadith from someone in a different place. For example, Sulaym×nb.
·arb has just been mentioned as someone from whom AbùD×wùd
heard hadith in Mecca, although he was by all accounts a Basran who
died in Basra. 16 Moreover, a fair proportion of AbùD×wùd’s shaykhs
are unidentified in the biographical sources as to either place or date
of death. (Indeed, a date of death or even an approximation is at-
tached to only about 40 percent of all transmitters in the Six Books, to
judge by Ibn ·ajar, Taqrêb al-Tahdhêb).
Working with what we have, though, we may infer the outlines of
AbùD×wùd’s travels as follows. Except for Ibr×hêmb.Mùsà al-Éaghêr
of Rayy (d. 220s/835-45), AbùD×wùd’s shaykhs to the East, mainly
the Jibal, Khurasan, and Transoxania, all died 238/852-3 and later;
therefore, although he may have made a trip to Rayy in the 220s, the
more likely alternative is that he caught Ibr×hêmb.Mùsà when they
were both in Baghdad or Mecca and that AbùD×wùd made his major
trip to the East in the later 230s. 17 Death dates for AbùD×wùd’s Iraqi
shaykhs run from the early 220s to the early 270s/mid-830s to the
mid-880s, so he presumably frequented the area more or less through-
out this period. His Egyptian shaykhs died in 248/862-3 and later, so he
presumably travelled to Egypt only then or a little before. This is con-
firmed by a report that he shared his Egyptian shaykhs with his son,
with whom he cannot have travelled to Egypt before 241/856. 18 Only
two hadith reports in the Sunan come from Medinese shaykhs, and one
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
12 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
15 The obvious starting point is al-Jayy×nê,Tasmiyat shuyùkh AbêD×wùd, AbùH×jir
Muçammad al-Sa‘êd b. BasyùnêZaghlùl (ed.), Beirut, D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah, 1998;
also edited by J×sim b. Muçammad b. ·ammùd al-Fajjê, Beirut, D×r Ibn ·azm, 1999.
Unfortunately, Jayy×nê’s list is incomplete (v. list of omissions at ed. Zaghlùl, 145-51),
and neither edition is so copiously annotated as one would wish.
16 Ibn ·ajar, Kit×b Tahdhêb al-Tahdhêb, Hyderabad, Majlis D×’irat al-Ma‘×rif
al-Niû×mêyah, 1325-7, 4:178. (Repr. Beirut, D×rÉ×dir, n.d.).
17 On Ibr×hêmb.Mùsà al-Éaghêr, v. Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 1:170.
18 Al-Khalêlê,al-Irsh×dfêma‘rifat ‘ulam×’ al-çadêth, ‘¨mir Açmad ·aydar (ed.),
Mecca, 1414, 192. There is also a story that he deliberately disguised his son in order for
of these shaykhs turns out to have lived most of the year in Rabadhah,
on the road between Kufa and Mecca, spending mainly the two festi-
vals in Medina. 19 Therefore, it seems doubtful whether AbùD×wùd
ever actually travelled to Medina. 20 It is striking that he apparently
quotes nothing in his major books of shaykhs whom he heard in
Khurasan in his youth, before travelling to Iraq in 220/835. It was not
an absurd suggestion that he was named for a village near Basra rather
than a district near Khurasan.
AbùD×wùd relates a considerable volume of material from Açmad
b. ·anbal, on which more below. Of interest now is what it means for the
chronology of AbùD×wùd’s collecting hadith. Açmad was arrested near
the beginning of the Inquisition in 218/833, then flogged and released by
al-Mu‘taóim in (probably) 220/835, while AbùD×wùd was collecting
hadith in Basra for the first time. 21 Açmad then kept to his house until
the accession of al-W×thiq on 18 Rabê‘ I 227/5 January 842. At that
point, he returned to the mosque and resumed relating hadith. Reports
vary as to just when Açmad swore not to relate hadith any longer, but
one that sounds especially plausible places this at 26 Sha‘b×n 227/10
June 842, after a q×Ýê had denounced him to the caliph but before the ca-
liph had actually commanded him to stop relating hadith. 22 AbùD×wùd
must have been in Baghdad during these five months writing down
hadith from Açmad and probably his legal opinions and evaluations of
traditionists as well. Açmad spent the rest of W×thiq’s caliphate out of
sight. However, AbùD×wùd met with him at least once not long thereaf-
ter, for he recalls being the first to tell Açmad of the death of his Basran
teacher Musaddad b. Musarhad (d. 228/842-3). 23
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½13
him to take dictation from Açmad b. É×liç(d. 248/862-3) of Old Cairo, who normally re-
fused to have adolescents in his circle, although Dhahabêadmittedly prefers an alterna-
tive story not involving AbùD×wùd (al-Dhahabê,Siyar, 13:227, 231).
19 Ibr×hêmb.·amzah al-Zubayrê(d. 230/844-5), on whom v. Ibn Sa‘d, Biographien,
Eduard Sachau et al. (eds.), Leiden, 1904-40, 5:324; repr. as al-Íabaq×t al-kubr×,Beirut,
1957-68, 5:441-2. The other Medinese is AbùMuó‘ab al-Zuhrê(d. 242/857), on whom v.
GAS, 1:471-2.
20 Cf. doubts whether Açmad b. ·anbal ever travelled to Medina: Melchert, C., “The
Musnad of Açmad b. ·anbal”, Der Islam, 82 (2005), 32-51, 44.
21 On the Inquisition, v. EI 2, s.n. “Miçna”, by M. Hinds.
22 Ibn al-Jawzê,Man×qib al-im×mAçmad b. ·anbal, Muçammad Amên al-Kh×njê
al-Kutubê(ed.), Cairo, Ma÷ba‘at al-Sa‘×dah, 1349, 348. Also edited by ‘Abd All×hb.
‘Abd al-Muçsin al-Turkêand ‘AlêMuçammad ‘Umar, Cairo, Maktabat al-Kh×njê, 1979,
471. Repr. Cairo, Hajr, 1988.
23 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 1:21, 2:54.
Other data come from the life of AbùD×wùd’s son AbùBakr ‘Abd
All×h (d. Baghdad, 316/929), a traditionist of vast knowledge in his own
right although somewhat disreputable. 24 An estimate of AbùBakr’s age
at his death indicates that he was born about the first half of Jum×d×II
230/second half of February 845. 25 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dêassumes that
this was in Sijistan. 26 By contrast, though, al-·×kim al-Nays×bùrêsug-
gests that AbùD×wùd first took his son to hear from Isç×qb.R×hawayh
(d. Nishapur, 238/853?), then went to Sijistan to look after his affairs
there. 27 (By the way, this also tells us how AbùD×wùd was supported
all those years of collecting hadith, mainly by remittances from home,
probably agricultural rents. Compare al-Íabarê[d. 310/923], supported
by remittances from Tabaristan. 28)¨jurrêquotes AbùD×wùd as saying
he heard from al-Haytham b. Kh×lid al-Juhanê(d. 239/854), a Kufan, in
235/849-50. 29 It seems likely, then, that AbùBakr was actually born in
Basra, and that AbùD×wùd repaired to the East with him in 235/849-50
or shortly thereafter, then spent the later 230s/earlier 850s collecting
hadith in Khurasan. AbùBakr himself is quoted as saying that he was in
the kutt×b(elementary school) with the son of Isç×q, whose funeral he
attended A.H. 238. Three years later, he travelled to Tus for his first jour-
ney from home in search of hadith. 30
It is possible that AbùD×wùd also travelled to the adjacent re-
gions of Tabaristan, Quhistan, and Transoxania at this time; however,
since there is over ten times more material in the Sunan from shaykhs
of Khurasan than from shaykhs of these other three regions com-
bined, it seems more likely that he caught shaykhs from there when
they were visiting Khurasan. If we except the hadith he related from
Ibr×hêmb.Mùsà al-Éaghêr, we may add Rayy as well to this list of
places he probably never visited, since he otherwise related so little
from Razi shaykhs. For Rayy, we have additional negative evidence
in Ibn Abê·×tim al-R×zê’s personal recollection of AbùD×wùd: “I
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
14 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
24 For AbùBakr ‘Abd All×hb.D×wùd, v. GAS, 1:174-5 and al-Dhahabê,Siyar,
13:221-37, with further references.
25 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:468, ll. 17-19 11:140.
26 Ibidem, 9:464, ll. 15-16 11:136.
27 Al-Dhahabê,Siyar, 13:218, presumably quoting Ta’rêkh Nays×bùr.
28 Y×qùt, Irsh×d al-arêb, D.S. Margoliouth (ed.), Leiden, 1907-27, 6:458. Also ed-
ited by Içs×n ‘Abb×s, Beirut, 1993, 6:2466.
29 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 1:19, 185.
30 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:465, ll. 10-14 11:137.
saw him in Baghdad. He came to salute my father.” 31 Had Abù
D×wùd passed through Rayy, Ibn Abê·×tim ought to have mentioned
his father’s meeting him there. 32 AbùD×wùd presumably returned to
Syria in the early 240s. A direct quotation places him in Tarsus by
242/857, for there and then he missed the funeral of ·×mid b. Yaçyà
al-Balkhêon account of rain. 33 He is quoted as saying that he col-
lected 500,000 hadith reports altogether. 34
AbùD×wùd is also quoted as saying, “I lived in Tarsus for twenty
years writing al-Musnad (properly attested hadith). I wrote four thou-
sand hadith reports. Then I observed that the four thousand turned on
just four of them.” 35 The point of the statement is the comprehensive-
ness of just four hadith reports (on which more below), so “twenty
years” need not to be taken precisely. However, it does suggest that
after his early travels in search of hadith, he retired for about that
length of time to Tarsus, which probably means approximately the
years 250-70/864-83. He must also have made periodic trips back to
Iraq during this time, for a substantial number of his shaykhs in the
Sunan are Iraqis who died only in these two decades. Moreover, Ibn
D×sah went to hear him relate hadith for four years in al-Ubullah,
about 20 kilometres outside Basra. 36 It is possible that these were the
last four years of his life, on which more below. However, Ibn D×sah
is also said to have heard the mas×’il of Açmad b. ·anbal from Abù
D×wùd several years earlier, in 266/879, so it is possible that the stay
in al-Ubullah took place around then. 37
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½15
31 Ibn Abê·×tim, Kit×b al-Jarçwa-l-ta‘dêl, Hyderabad. Jam‘êyat D×’irat al-Ma‘×rif
al-‘Uthm×nêyah, 1360-71, 4:102. Repr. Beirut, D×rIçy×’ al-Tur×th al-‘Arabê, n.d.
32 Abù·×tim lived at home in Rayy from 221/835-6 to 242/856-7 (Ibn Abê·×tim,
Kit×b al-Jarç,1:360), so AbùD×wùd would have been able to find him had he visited
Rayy in the later 230s. Ibn Abê·×tim was born in 240/254-5 or 241/855-6. He travelled
to the West with his father 255-6/869-70 (al-Dhahabê,Siyar, 13:266), which is when they
must have met AbùD×wùd in Baghdad.
33 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 1:23, 2:255. AbùD×wùd names the year 242, but Ibn Yùnus,
Ta’rêkh al-ghurab×’, is quoted as specifying that ·×mid died in RamaÝ×n (January 857):
Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 2:170.
34 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:57, ll. 1-4 10:78; al-Silafê,Muqaddimah, 365-6
(ed. Muçammad, 333-4).
35 Al-Silafê,Muqaddimah, 366; ed. Muçammad, 334, and al-Nawawê,Tahdhêb al-asm×’
wa-l-lugh×t, Cairo, Id×rat al-Íibבah al-Munêrêyah, 1927, 2:226; (repr. Beirut, D×r al-Kutub
al-‘Ilmêyah, n.d.) both citing a Muçammad b. É×liçal-H×shimê, untraced by me.
36 Al-Silafê,Muqaddimah, 369-70 (ed. Muçammad, 336-7).
37 AbùD×wùd, Kit×b Mas×’il al-im×mAçmad, Muçammad Bahjah al-Bay÷×r (ed.),
Al-Kha÷÷×bê, the first commentator on AbùD×wùd’s Sunan, re-
lates a conversation between AbùD×wùd and al-Muwaffaq, the effec-
tive ruler behind the nominal caliph al-Mu‘tamid, his half-brother.
The speaker is an AbùBakr b. J×bir, servant to AbùD×wùd: 38
I was with him in Baghdad. We prayed the sunset prayer. Then there was a
knock on the door, so I opened it, and lo, there was a servant saying “This is the
amêrAbùAçmad al-Muwaffaq, asking permission to enter.” I went in to Abù
D×wùd and informed him where he was. He gave him permission so he came in
and sat down. Then AbùD×wùd went to him, asking, “What has brought the prince
at this time?” He said, “Three needs.” He said, “What are they?” He said, “That
you move to Basra and take it up as your residence so that students of hadith may
go to you from the corners of the Earth. This way, you will be the means of its be-
ing inhabited, for it has been ruined and its populace driven away by what has hap-
pened through the tribulation of the Zanj.” He said, “This is one.” He said, “That
you relate Kit×b al-Sunan to my sons.” He said, “Yes. Tell me the third.” He said,
“That you arrange a session exclusively for them, for caliphs’ sons do not sit with
the general.” He said, “There is no way to do this. When it comes to religious
knowledge, people are equal, the noble and the base.” So they came and sat... with
a screen between them and the people, hearing along with the general.
Muwaffaq finally suppressed the Zanj revolt in 270/883, which
provides a terminus post quem for the story. It ends with a point about
AbùD×wùd’s piety, sounding suspiciously similar to stories about
other traditionists. For example, Bukh×rêis said to have got in trouble
near the end of his life for refusing to offer private lessons to another
amêr’s children. 39 We may be dealing with a topos, likely inspired by
the story of Açmad b. ·anbal and the caliph al-Mutawakkil, who
asked him to teach one of his sons, the future caliph al-Mu‘tazz. 40
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16 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
introduction and notes by Muçammad RashêdRiÝ×, Cairo, D×r al-Man×r, 1934, 326.
(Repr. Beirut, Muçammad Amên Damj, n.d.).
38 Al-Kha÷÷×bê,Ma‘×lim al-sunan, ‘Abd al-Sal×m ‘Abd al-Sh×fêMuçammad (ed.),
Beirut, D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah, 1996. This is a resetting of an earlier edition, probably
that edited and published by Muçammad R×ghib al-Íabb×kh, Aleppo, 1932-4. (Repr.
Beirut, al-Maktabah al-‘Ilmêyah, 1981. Alternatively: Homs, D×r al-·adêth, 1969-74).
About the conversation between AbùD×wùd and al-Muwaffaq: ed. Íabb×kh, 1:7-8; ed.
Muçammad, 1:7.
39 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 2:33-4 2:355-6.
40 É×liçb. Açmad, Sêrat al-im×mAçmad b. ·anbal, Fu’×d ‘Abd al-Mun‘im Açmad
(ed.), Alexandria, 1981, 100-6, also mentioning a courtier and his son, 105; ·anbal b.
Isç×q, Dhikr miçnat al-im×mAçmad b. ·anbal, Muçammad Naghsh (ed.), Cairo, 1977,
106-9. On stories patterned on a historical incident, v. Cooperson, M., Classical Arabic
biography: the heirs of the prophets in the age of al-Ma’mùn, Cambridge, 2000, 44-5,
50-1, 60, et passim.
However, neither the fact of a transfer to Basra nor even the sponsor-
ship of Muwaffaq need be dismissed as a fiction. 41
AbùD×wùd is said to have left Baghdad for the last time at the be-
ginning of 271/June-July 884. 42 AbùD×wùd died in Basra, 15 or 16
Shaww×l 275/20 or 21 February 889. 43 He requested that his corpse be
washed by Muçammad b. al-Muthann×(d. 294/907). This was an aged
Basran traditionist (born two years before AbùD×wùd) who would not
relate hadith until told to do so in a dream, evidently after Abù
D×wùd’s death; however, the main issue was presumably that Abù
D×wùd trusted him to perform the rite correctly, for he also named pre-
cisely the book containing the hadith to guide them if Muçammad b.
al-Muthann×should decline. 44 He was prayed over by an ‘Abb×sb.
‘Abd al-W×çid al-H×shimêand buried next to the famous traditionist
and jurisprudent Sufy×n al-Thawrê(d. Basra, 161/777?) 45
Works
I have come across twenty-one works altogether attributed to Abù
D×wùd.
1. Al-Sunan. 46 A collection of sound hadith from the Prophet,
on which more below.
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½17
41 For Muwaffaq’s sponsorship of moderate traditionalism, v. Melchert, C., “Reli-
gious policies of the caliphs from al-Mutawakkil to al-Muqtadir”, ILS, 3 (1996), 316-42,
339-40.
42 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:58-9 10:81.
43 The later date, quoted in a number of subsequent biographies, goes back to
al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 2:296. The earlier date, quoted in even more subsequent biographies,
goes back to al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:59, ll. 2-4 10:81, likewise quoting
al-¨jurrê.
44 Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 4:173; al-Dhahabê,Ta’rêkh, 22 (A.H. 291-300): 131.
45 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 2:296; Ibn Kathêr, al-Bid×yah wa-l-nih×yah fêl-ta’rêkh, Cairo,
Ma÷ba‘at al-Sa‘×dah, 1932-9, 11:55. (Repr. Beirut, Maktabat al-Ma‘×rif, 1977).
46 AbùD×wùd, al-Sunan, many editions: Muçammad Muçyêl-Dên ‘Abd al-·amêd
(ed.), Cairo, Ma÷ba‘at Muó÷afà Muçammad, 1935. Repr. Beirut, al-Maktabah al-‘Aórêyah,
n.d.; Beirut, D×rIçy×’ al-Tur×th al-‘Arabê, n.d.; Beirut, D×r al-Fikr, n.d.; Cairo, D×rIçy×’
al-Sunnah, n.d., ‘Izzat ‘Ubayd al-Da‘×s and ‘¨dil al-Sayyid (eds.); Homs, Muçammad ‘Alê
al-Sayyid, 1969-74; Repr. Beirut, D×r Ibn ·azm, 1997. This edition includes most of
al-Kha÷÷×bê,Ma‘×lim al-sunan in the notes; regrettably, however, its division into sections
is not compatible with Wensinck, Concordance. Useful introduction and addenda also to be
found in the edition of Muçammad ‘Abd al-‘Azêz al-Kh×lidê, Beirut, D×r al-Kutub
al-‘Ilmêyah, 1996. Three one-volume editions currently available are that edited by
Muçammad ‘Abd al-‘Azêz al-Kh×lidê(Beirut, D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah, 2001), that edited
2. Al-Mar×sêl. 47 A collection of 544 hadith reports related by some
Follower (t×bi‘) directly from the Prophet, without any named Compan-
ion in between. Arranged by topic. The published text evidently com-
bines recensions from Ibn ‘Abd? and Ibn D×sah, further identified below
among transmitters of the Sunan. 48 Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlêknew the
recension of al-Lu’lu’ê, likewise further identified below, which he says
Lu’lu’êrelated in Basra in 325/936-7. 49 It is said to survive in manu-
script. 50 Ibn ·ajar knew the recension of Ibn D×sah. 51 The Ris×lah ilà
ahl Makkah implies that it is an integral part of the Sunan. 52
3. Al-Ris×lah ilà ahl Makkah. 53 An introduction to al-Sunan, on
which more below.
4. Kit×b al-Ba‘th. 54 Eighty hadith reports (90 percent going
back to the Prophet) about death and resurrection, often with dubious
as×nêd.
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18 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
by Haytham b. Niz×rTamêm (Beirut, D×r al-Arqam, 1999), and that with no named editor
(Beirut, D×r Ibn ·azm, 1998), the last not recommended.
47 AbùD×wùd, Mar×sêl ma‘a al-as×nêd, ‘Abd al-‘Azêz al-Sayraw×n (ed.), Beirut,
D×r al-Qalam, 1986 and ibidem, Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ù÷ (ed.), Beirut, Mu’assasat al-Ris×lah,
1988. The first edition, from ‘Alêal-Sunnêal-Maghribêal-Íar×bulusê(Cairo, Ma÷ba‘at
al-Taqaddum, 1310), omitted as×nêd.
48 E.g. v. AbùD×wùd, Mar×sêl, Kit×b al-Éal×h6 (ed. Sayraw×n, 79).
49 Al-Ishbêlê, Ibn Khayr, Fahrasah, Beirut, 1998, 91, n.º 155. A resetting of Index
librorum de diversis scientiarum ordinibus quos a magistris didicit Abu Bequer Ben
Khair, edited by F. Codera and J. Ribera in Bibliotheca arabico-hispana, 9-10,
Caesaraugustae, 1894-5.
50 Khalaf, Najm ‘Abd al-Raçm×n, Istidr×k×t ‘al×ta’rêkh al-tur×th al-‘arabêli-Fu’×d
Sizkênfê‘ilm al-çadêth, Beirut, 2000, n.º 695.
51 Ibn ·ajar, al-Mu‘jam al-mufahras, Muçammad ShakkùrMaçmùd al-·×jjê
Umrayr al-May×dênê(ed.), Beirut, 1998, 51, n.º 47.
52 AbùD×wùd, “Ris×lat al-im×mAbêD×wùd al-Sijist×nêil×ahl Makkah fêwaóf
Sunanih”, in Thal×th ras×’il fê‘ilm muó÷alaçal-çadêth, ‘Abd al-Fatt×ç AbùGhuddah
(ed.), Beirut, D×r al-Bash×’ir al-Isl×mêyah, 1997, 29-54, 51. Confirmed by al-Ishbêlê,
Fahrasah, 91, n.º 155, which states that al-Mar×sêlwas sometimes annexed to
al-Muóannaf. He does say the same of al-Zuhd (al-Ishbêlê,Fahrasah, 92, n.º 156),
whereas AbùD×wùd’s Ris×lah states expressly that the Sunan does not include al-Zuhd,
among other topics (AbùD×wùd, Ris×lah, ed. AbùGhuddah, 54). However, there is also
some manuscript evidence for al-Mar×sêlannexed to al-Sunan: v. GAS, 1:152, VII
(Reisülküttap and Köprülü MSS.) and Khalaf, Istidr×k×t, n.º 695. A parallel is Kit×b
al-‘ilal normally annexed to al-Tirmidhê,al-J×mi‘ al-óaçêç (al-Sunan).
53 First published as AbùD×wùd, Ris×lat AbêD×wùd al-Sijist×nêfêwaóf ta’lêfihi
li-Kit×b al-Sunan, Muçammad Z×hid al-Kawtharê(ed.), Cairo, Ma÷ba‘at al-Anw×r, 1369.
There have been many subsequent editions, of which I happen to use Ris×lah, ed. Abù
Ghuddah. The Ris×lah is short enough that all quotations should be easy to trace.
54 AbùD×wùd, Kit×b al-Ba‘th, AbùIsç×q al-·uwaynêal-Atharê(ed.), Beirut, 1988.
This is the only edition I have examined, but others have appeared.
5. Al-Zuhd. 55 A collection of hadith (perhaps two collections)
on renunciation of the world, on which more below.
6. Mas×’il al-im×mAçmad. 56 Juridical opinions from Açmad b.
·anbal, with a very few additional comments from others, mainly on
orthodox belief, on which more below.
7. Su’×l×t li-Açmad b. ·anbal. 57 Identifications and evaluations of
traditionists, 98 percent from Açmad b. ·anbal, on which more below.
Mostly arranged by city. The sole known manuscript is missing the be-
ginning and a section in the middle, so there is no history there of its
transmission from AbùD×wùd; however, its editor has found 71 appar-
ent quotations in Ta’rêkh Baghd×d, each with an isn×d, which suggest that
we have the recension of al-·usayn b. Idrês b. Khurram (d. 301/913- 14). 58
8. Su’×l×tAbê‘Ubayd al-¨jurrê.59 Identifications and evaluations
of traditionists, mostly from AbùD×wùd, as collected by Abù‘Ubayd
Muçammad b. ‘Alêal-¨jurrê(d. early fourth/tenth century?). Arranged
by city. The sole known manuscript is missing the beginning.
9. Tasmiyat al-ikhwah alladhêna ruwiya ‘anhum al-çadêth. 60 On
brother traditionists.
10. N×sikh al-Qur’×n wa-mansùkhuh. 61 On abrogation within the
Qur’×n. Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlêand Ibn ·ajar knew the recension of Abù
Bakr Açmad b. Sulaym×n (Salm×n?) al-Najj×d (d. 348/960). Not extant.
11. Al-Tafarrud. 62 On hadith found among the traditionists of
only one city. Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlêand Ibn ·ajar knew the recension
of Ibn D×sah. Not extant.
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½19
55 AbùD×wùd, Kit×b al-Zuhd, ed. ·usayn. This is the only edition I have examined
(published with al-Marrùdhê,Kit×b al-Wara‘, Muó÷afà Maçmùd·usayn (ed.), Tanta,
Maktabat D×r al-®iy×’ li-Taçqêq al-Tur×th, 2003), but others have appeared: edited by
®iy×’ al-·asan al-Salafê, Bombay, al-D×r al-Salafêyah, 1413; edited by AbùTamêm
Y×sir b. Ibr×hêmb.Muçammad and AbùBil×l Ghunaym b. ‘Abb×s b. Ghunaym, Hilwan,
D×r al-Mishk×h, 1993.
56 AbùD×wùd, Kit×b Mas×’il, ed. Bay÷×r.
57 Idem, Su’×l×t. This is the Kit×bfêl-rij×lnoted in GAS, 1:152, n.º VIII.
58 Introduction to AbùD×wùd, Su’×l×t, 123-7, 134. Ten interpolations into the text
from someone named al-·usayn (listed ibid., 129) constitute further evidence.
59 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t.
60 AbùD×wùd, Tasmiyat al-ikhwah alladhêna ruwiya ‘anhum al-çadêth, B×sim
Fayóal al-Jaw×birah (ed.), Riyadh, 1988.
61 Mentioned by Ibn al-Nadêm, Kit×b al-Fihrist, Gustav Flügel, Johannes Roedigger
and August Mueller (eds.), Leipzig, 1872, 37, fann 3, maq×lah 1, also by al-Ishbêlê,
Fahrasah, 43, n.º 81, and Ibn ·ajar, al-Mu‘jam, 109, n.º 373; likewise idem, Tahdhêb,
4:170, ll. 10-11.
62 Mentioned by al-Ishbêlê,Fahrasah, 92, n.º 158, and Ibn ·ajar, al-Mu‘jam, 51, n.º 47.
12. Dal×’il al-nubùwah. 63 Presumably a collection of hadith
showing that Muçammad was a genuine prophet, probably also com-
paring him with earlier prophets. Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlêand Ibn ·ajar
knew the recension of Ibn D×sah. Not extant.
13. Al-Radd ‘al×ahl al-qadar. 64 Presumably a collection of
predestinarian hadith. Transmitted from AbùD×wùdbyAbù‘Abd
All×hMuçammad b. Açmad b. Ya‘qùb al-Mattùthê, otherwise
untraced by me. Not extant.
14. Al-Du‘×’. 65 Presumably a collection of prayers. Not extant.
15. FaÝ×’il al-anó×r. 66 Presumably a collection of hadith extol-
ling the Medinese who adhered to the Prophet’s cause on his transfer-
ring there from Mecca. Not extant.
16. Musnad M×lik. 67 Presumably a collection of hadith trans-
mitted by M×lik b. Anas (d. Medina, 179/795). Musnad in the title is
ambiguous. It may indicate that the collection was arranged by Com-
panion as opposed to topic, like Açmad’s Musnad. It may indicate
that it comprised only hadith with complete as×nêd, similar to the
Musnad M×lik b. Anas of al-Q×Ýê Ismבêlb.Isç×q (d. 282/895). 68 In
this case, it would be opposed to the Kit×b al-Sunan min Muwa÷÷a’
M×lik b. Anas to which AbùD×wùd refers in the Ris×lah il×ahl
Makkah, which expressly included a good share of mar×sêl. 69 Finally,
and most likely, it may indicate exactly the book referred to in the
Ris×lah, with musnad meaning simply that every hadith report in it
came with some form of isn×d, unlike some of the hadith in the
Muwa÷÷a’. Transmitted from AbùD×wùdbyIsmבêlb.Muçammad
al-Éaff×r (d. 341/952). Not extant.
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20 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
63 Mentioned by ibidem, 93, n.º 159, and Ibn ·ajar, al-Mu‘jam, 76-7, n.º 198, under
the title A‘l×m al-nubùwah, although it is Dal×’il al-nubùwah in Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 1:6,
l. 12.
64 Mentioned by al-Mizzê,Tahdhêb al-Kam×lfêasm×’ al-rij×l, Bashsh×r ‘Aww×d
Ma‘rùf (ed.), Beirut, 1980-92, 1:149, and Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 4:170, ll. 9-10. Ibn ·ajar
notes shaykhs who appear here but not in AbùD×wùd’s Sunan; however, his information
must have come to him indirectly, for he does not mention the FaÝ×’il in the Mu‘jam,
among books he had personally learnt. The same goes for n.º 14-18 to follow.
65 Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 1:6, l. 12.
66 Mentioned by al-Mizzê,Tahdhêb, 1:150, and Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 1:6, l. 5.
67 Mentioned by ibidem, 1:150, and Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 1:6, l. 6, 4:170, l. 12.
68 On which v. Muranyi, M., “Das Kit×b Musnad çadêø M×lik b. Anas von Ismבêlb.
Isç×q al-Q×Ýê (199/815-282/895)”, ZDMG, 138 (1988), 128-47.
69 AbùD×wùd, Ris×lah, ed. AbùGhuddah, 34.
17. Ibtid×’ al-waçy. 70 Presumably a collection of hadith on the
Prophet’s earliest reception of inspiration. Not extant.
18. Akhb×r al-khaw×rij. 71 Most likely a history of the move-
ment, but also possibly a collection of hadith from Khaw×rij, for Abù
D×wùd is quoted as saying that no heretics had sounder hadith than
they. 72 Not extant.
19. Aóç×b al-Sha‘bê.73 On traditionists who related hadith from
the famous Basran ‘¨mir b. Shar×çêl (d. after 100/718-19). Not extant.
20. Ma‘rifat al-awq×t. 74 Presumably a collection of hadith on
the times of the required ritual prayers. Not extant.
21. Kit×b al-kun×.75 Presumably a list of past traditionists by
kunyah (“teknonymic” seems to be the leading English equivalent.) 76
Not extant.
A book called al-¨d×b al-shar‘êyah, presumably treating personal
conduct as suggested by revelation, appears on one list of AbùD×wùd’s
works, but this seems to be a mistake. 77 The later ·anbali writer Ibn
Mufliçal-Q×qùnê(d. Damascus, 763/1362), in the introduction to his
own book on personal conduct, refers to AbùD×wùd as the earliest of
seven others who had written on the topic. 78 But when Ibn Mufliç
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½21
70 Mentioned by Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 1:6, l. 12.
71 Mentioned by ibidem, 1:6, l. 13.
72 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 1:68, 2:117.
73 Ibidem, 1:36, 320.
74 Al-Suyù÷ê,Tadrêb al-r×wêfêsharçTaqrêb al-Naw×wê,Abù‘Abd al-Raçm×nÉal×ç
b. Muçammad b. ‘UwayÝah (ed.), Beirut, 1996, naw‘ 60 (D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah ed.
2:206); K×tib Çelebê,Kit×b Kashf al-ûunùn ‘an as×mêl-kutub wa-l-funùn, Æerefettin
Yaltkaya and Rifat Bilge (ed.), Istanbul, 1941-3, 2:1739.
75 Introduction to al-Jayy×nê,Tasmiyah, ed. Fajjê, 22, citing Ibn ·ajar, al-Ió×bah fê
tamyêz al-óaç×bah, 3:437. Unfortunately, Fajjêmust be using some edition of al-Ió×bah
other than the three I have been able to check, so I have not been able to confirm his cita-
tion.
76 To judge by some searching on Google, 8 August 2006. The alternatives
“teknonym”, “tecnonym”, and “tecnonymic” were not to be found. Franz Rosenthal pro-
posed that the correct English word, if one existed, would be “hyionymic” or
“paidonymic”: A History of Muslim historiography, Leiden, 1968, 169 fn. Google shows
that the alternative spellings “paedonym” and “paedonymic” have some currency among
word fanciers, while “paidonymic” has at least been taken up by someone in our field: v.
Ibn al-Éal×ç,An Introduction to the science of the çadêth, Eerik Dickinson and Muneer
Fareed (transl.), Reading, 2005, 249-57.
77 Introduction to AbùD×wùd, Kit×b al-Zuhd, ed. ·usayn, 19.
78 Ibn Mufliçal-Q×qùnê,al-¨d×b al-shar‘êyah, Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ù÷ and ‘Umar
al-Qayy×m (eds.), Beirut, 1996, 1:27. ·usayn cites another edition, probably 3 vols.
(Cairo: Ma÷ba‘at al-Man×r, 1348-9).
quotes AbùD×wùd in the body of his work, it is a matter of hadith found
in the Sunan, so we need not suppose a separate work on adab. 79
The Sunan
AbùD×wùd’s most famous work was the Sunan. It has usually
been counted the next soundest of the Six Books after those of
Bukh×rêand Muslim, followed in descending order by the collections
of al-Tirmidhê, al-Nas×’ê, and Ibn M×jah. 80 A few later critics did say
Nas×’ê’s collection was the more thoroughly reliable. 81 The Sunan
comes with no preface parallel to Muslim’s for his collection of sound
hadith; however, there is extant the letter to the people of Mecca that
describes it (n.º 3 on the above list of works). Our text of that letter
evidently comes not from the Meccan to whom the letter was origi-
nally addressed but from someone who took it down from Abù
D×wùd’s dictation in Basra, repeating what he had earlier written “to
the people of Mecca and elsewhere”. 82 It is an early witness to Abù
D×wùd’s having assembled a book called al-Sunan, which is ex-
pressly how he refers to it. 83 Its remarks about the Sunan fit the book
we know, such as AbùD×wùd’s declaration that he has often abridged
hadith reports for the sake of emphasizing their juridical applica-
tions. 84
AbùD×wùd’s letter stresses hadith with legal applications. 85 “I have
collected in Kit×b al-Sunan only açk×m(ordinances). I have not col-
lected the books of renunciation, the virtues of works, and so on. These
4,800 all concern ordinances. As for the many sound hadith concerning
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22 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
79 E.g. ibidem, 1:58, 59, 60.
80 E.g. al-Mizzê,Tahdhêb, 1:147, and al-·usaynê,al-Tadhkirah bi-ma‘rifat rij×l
al-kutub al-‘asharah, Rif‘at Fawzê‘Abd al-Mu÷÷alib (ed.), Cairo, 1997, 1:5. Cf. Ibn
Mandah (d. Isfahan, 395/1005), said to have named as the soundest collections those of
Bukh×rêand Muslim, then AbùD×wùd and Nas×’ê: al-Silafê,Muqaddimah, 367-8 (ed.
Muçammad, 335).
81 E.g. Ibn ·ajar, al-Nukat ‘al×kit×b Ibn al-Éal×ç,Rabê‘b.H×dê‘Umayr (ed.), Me-
dina, al-J×mi‘ah al-Isl×mêyah, 1984, 1:484; same text also ‘Ajm×n, Maktabat al-Furq×n,
2003, 1:314. For other rankings: al-Maû×hirê,AbùD×wùd, 61-3.
82 AbùD×wùd, Ris×lah, ed. AbùGhuddah, 30.
83 Ibidem, 33. Cf. what is commonly known as the Sunan of al-Tirmidhê, more prop-
erly entitled al-J×mi‘ al-óaçêç,and the Sunan of al-Nas×’ê, more properly al-Mujtab×.
84 Ibidem, 32.
85 Ibid., 54.
renunciation, the virtues of works, and so on, I have not brought them
out”. My own content analysis generally confirms the stress.
In discussions of uóùl al-fiqh, açk×mhas been properly translated as
“assessments” or “categorizations.” 87 Hadith reports of açk×mare
characteristically those that indicate in which category a given act be-
longs. Since “recommended” and “discouraged” are important catego-
ries in Islamic law, it must sometimes be difficult to distinguish be-
tween hadith of açk×mand of al-targhêb wa-l-tarhêb, “making to aspire
and making to fear” (i.e. encouraging piety and discouraging impiety).
Very likely, another analyst would classify these samples somewhat
differently. However, the starting point for the enumeration of the
above categories is a statement by Muslim in the introduction to his
Éaçêç that it comprises “sunan al-dên, açk×m, reward and punishment,
al-targhêb wa-l-tarhêb, and so forth”, so I am not imposing an alien dis-
tinction here. I take it any analyst would classify something like this
saying of the Prophet as al-targhêb wa-l-tarhêb: “There are three
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½23
86 Figures for Muslim’s Éaçêç and Açmad b. ·anbal’s Musnad from Melchert, “The
Musnad of Açmad b. ·anbal”, 45. Based on randomly collected samples of 104 hadith
reports from AbùD×wùd’s Sunan, 89 from Muslim’s Éaçêç,273 from Açmad’s Musnad,
so “none” means “very few” and percentages should be taken mainly as showing orders
of magnitude.
87 Reinhart, A.K., Before revelation: the boundaries of Muslim moral thought, Al-
bany, 1995, 3 and Weiss, B.G., The Search for God’s law: Islamic jurisprudence in the
writings of Sayf al-Dên al-¨midê,Salt Lake City, 1992, 1.
TABLA 1.—Contents of three major hadith collections 86
AbùD×wùd Muslim Açmad b.
·anbal
Açk×m77% 43% 52%
Al-targhêb wa-l-tarhêb16% 17% 11%
History, including prophetic bio-
graphy none 11% 17%
Sunan al-dên2% 4% 13%
Devotions (e.g. sample prayers) 1% 7% 6%
Reward and punishment none 6% 5%
Eschatology 1% 2% 3%
Qur’×nic glosses 2% 2% 1%
prayers that will doubtless be answered: that of a parent, that of a trav-
eller, and that of someone wronged.” 88 And the Sunan undoubtedly in-
cludes whole books without legal application; e.g. Kit×b al-mal×çim on
the Last Days to come. Still, it apparently does include much more on
açk×mthan the collections of Muslim and Açmad, for example, and
significantly less on the early history of the community.
Earlier jurisprudents and collectors whom AbùD×wùd mentions
in the letter (the categories still overlap somewhat) are Ibr×hêm
al-Nakha‘ê(d. Kufa, 96/714-15?), Yazêdb.Abê·abêb (Egyptian, d.
128/745-6), al-Awzבê(d. Beirut, 157/773-4?), Sufy×n al-Thawrê,
·amm×d b. Salamah (d. Basra, 167/784), M×lik b. Anas, Ibn
al-Mub×rak (d. Hit, 181/797), AbùYùsuf (d. Baghdad, 182/798?),
Wakê’ b. al-Jarr×ç (d. Fayd, 197/812?), al-Sh×fi‘ê(d. Old Cairo,
204/820), ‘Abd al-Razz×q (Yemeni, d. 211/827), Açmad b. ·anbal,
and al-·asan b. ‘Alêal-Khall×l (Meccan, d. 242/856-7). The list is not
surprising for a Baghdadi traditionalist of his generation. AbùD×wùd
expresses no systematic preference for the jurisprudents of any partic-
ular city, as his contemporary Ibn Qutaybah (not so thorough a tradi-
tionalist) does for those of Medina. 89
More surprising is AbùD×wùd‘s declaration, “I know of no one
else who has collected to the extent that I have.” Al-·asan b. ‘Alê
al-Khall×l had collected about 900 hadith reports, he goes on, while
Ibn al-Mub×rak had asserted that there were altogether about 900
sunan from the Prophet. By contrast, he had selected 4,800. 90 This
seems an odd history of collecting hadith. If we exclude repeats (sub-
stantially the same hadith reports with alternative as×nêd), then Abù
D×wùd’s Sunan is indeed the most comprehensive of the Six Books,
followed by Muslim, then Ibn M×jah, then Tirmidhê; still, not by a
margin of thousands. 91 Probably, AbùD×wùd was unaware of rival
collections from Khurasan, where he had not travelled since before
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24 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
88 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 1536, al-witr 29, b×b al-du‘×’ bi-ûahr al-ghayb.
89 Melchert, C., “How ·anafism came to originate in Kufa and traditionalism in Me-
dina”, ILS, 6 (1999), 318-47, 345-6; idem, “Traditionist-jurisprudents and the framing of
Islamic law”, ILS, 8 (2001), 383-406, 404-5.
90 AbùD×wùd, Ris×lah, ed. AbùGhuddah, 35.
91 Muslim’s Éaçêç has been estimated as including 12,000 hadith reports including
all variant as×nêd, 4,000 without variants: Ibn ·ajar, al-Nukat, ed. Medina, 1:296, ed.
‘Ajm×n, 1:151. Cf. ·amd×n, N., Muwa÷÷a’×t al-im×mM×lik, Damascus, 1992, 319, re-
porting 11,000 altogether, 3,033 without repeats.
242/856-7. Açmad b. ·anbal’s Musnad, which includes some 5,200
hadith reports without repeats, was redacted only by Açmad’s son
‘Abd All×h (d. Baghdad, 290/903), hence unavailable in Abù
D×wùd’s lifetime. 92 But the Muóannaf of ‘Abd al-Razz×q includes al-
most 5,000 items from the Prophet, that of Ibn AbêShaybah (d. Kufa,
235/849) over 7,000. Perhaps AbùD×wùd overlooked them because
they did not collect exclusively either sound hadith or prophetic; al-
ternatively, he overlooked them because both Muóannafs were actu-
ally redacted posthumously. 93 Certainly, alongside al-·asan b. ‘Alê
al-Khall×l’s present obscurity, it is further evidence that reputations
normally took some time to establish, so that scholars and books that
look like giants from our perspective may have been all but unknown
to their contemporaries, while others that looked like giants in their
time have since shrunk out of sight.
AbùD×wùd is emphatic that he has included all the sound hadith
available, at least concerning açk×m. “This is a book such that you
will never come across a sunnah from the Prophet... with a sound
isn×dbut that it is included.” 94 He also declares that he has provided
a warning wherever he has had to include something less than certain.
“When it contains a questionable (munkar) hadith report, I have
pointed out that it is questionable, there being nothing else on its
topic.” 95 “Whatever is in my book by way of hadith with some severe
weakness, I have made it clear.” 96 This description of his method of
selection has puzzled commentators for a long time, for AbùD×wùd
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½25
92 Melchert, “The Musnad of Açmad b. ·anbal”, 39, 47-9.
93 For studies of the redaction of ‘Abd al-Razz×q’s Muóannaf, v. Motzki, H., The Or-
igins of Islamic jurisprudence: Meccan fiqh before the classical schools, Marion H. Katz
(transl.), Leiden, 2002, chap. 2, and idem, “The Author and his work in the Islamic litera-
ture of the first centuries: the case of ‘Abd al-Razz×q’s Muóannaf”, JSAI, 28 (2003),
171-201. Neither study has convinced me that ‘Abd al-Razz×q himself must have re-
dacted the collection we know. However, I do not see that there is a strong case against
Motzki, either, and their stress on post-prophetic hadith (over 75 percent of ‘Abd
al-Razz×q’s Muóannaf, 80 percent of Ibn AbêShaybah’s) seems an additional reason to
suppose that the two Muóannafs did predate the Six Books.
94 AbùD×wùd, Ris×lah, ed. AbùGhuddah, 45.
95 Ibidem, 33. The definition of munkar changed over time, apparently from outright
“rejected” in the generation before AbùD×wùd to designating a hadith report known by
only one chain of transmitters (something like sh×dhdh) among systematizers of the elev-
enth century and after. AbùD×wùd’s usage seems already intermediate. V. Eerik
Dickinson’s discussion in Ibn al-Éal×ç,Introduction, 59fn.
96 AbùD×wùd, Ris×lah, ed. AbùGhuddah, 37-8.
seems to have included much questionable material. For example,
Dhahabêsays, “He makes clear what is plainly weak but is silent
when it comes to what is probably weak. It cannot be that whenever
he is silent, it is fairly sound (çasan) in his view, rather there may be a
certain weakness to it.” 97 Ibn ·ajar treats the problem sensibly. There
are many discontinuous (munqa÷i‘)as×nêdin the Sunan, so Abù
D×wùd’s silence is not to be taken as an indication that something is
perfectly sound as hadith; rather, if he is silent about something, it
means he thinks it good enough to be adduced as a legal proof
(li-l-çujjah). One must bear in mind that AbùD×wùd preferred weak
hadith to qiy×s. 98
It is not easy to measure the Sunan’s renown. It evidently reached
Mecca in AbùD×wùd’s lifetime, hence the Ris×lah. Nine men (listed
below) are remembered as transmitting it from AbùD×wùd, which is
more than are remembered as transmitting most of the other Six Books.
Our earliest extant biography of AbùD×wùd, from Ibn Abê·×tim
al-R×zê(d. Rayy, 327/938), has been quoted already. It lists a few of his
shaykhs, recalls how he came to salute his father in Baghdad, and con-
cludes, “He was trustworthy.” 99 There is no hint that AbùD×wùd was
responsible for a massive collection of sound hadith. However, Ibn Abê
·×tim likewise fails to mention that Bukh×rêand Muslim had major
collections of sound hadith. 100 Also, the Sunan may have been noted in
other biographies now lost to us. AbùBakr al-Khall×l (d. Baghdad,
311/923), author of the earliest ·anbali biographical dictionary, de-
scribed him as having “unprecedented knowledge of bringing out (use-
ful things in) the sciences, for which he knew where to look”, which
might well be an allusion to the Sunan. 101 A Cordovan, Muçammad b.
‘Abd al-Malik b. Ayman (d. 330/942), compiled a Sunan after the pat-
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26 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
97 Al-Dhahabê,Ta’rêkh, 20 (A.H. 261-80): 360.
98 Ibn ·ajar, Nukat, ed. ‘Ajm×n, 1:279.
99 Ibn Abê·×tim, Kit×b al-Jarç,4:102.
100 Ibidem, Kit×b al-Jarç,7:191, 8:182-3.
101 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,T×rêkh, 9:57 10:79. It is hard to say whether this is a quo-
tation from Khall×l’s Íabaq×t, of which only an abridgement survives apart from quota-
tions, for which v. GAS, 1:512, n.º 2. Ibn AbêYa‘là, who includes AbùD×wùd in his bio-
graphical dictionary of the ·anbali school, does not quote Khall×l concerning Abù
D×wùd but does include him among those whom AbùD×wùd taught (Íabaq×t
al-çan×bilah, Muçammad ·×mid al-Fiqê(ed.), Cairo, 1952, 1:59-62). Al-‘Umarêis
non-committal as to whether al-Kha÷êb quotes Khall×l from his Íabaq×t: al-‘Umarê,
Akram ®iy×’, Maw×rid al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dêfêTa’rêkh Baghd×d, n.p., Ma÷ba‘at
tern of AbùD×wùd’s, which shows that it reached al-Andalus in the
lifetime of its transmitters from AbùD×wùd himself. 102 Al-Kha÷÷×bê
(d. Bust, 388/998?), its earliest commentator, states that it is the most
popular collection of hadith among the people of Iraq, Egypt and the
Maghrib, among other places, although the people of Khurasan are de-
voted above all to the óaçêç collections of Bukh×rêand Muslim. 103
Kha÷÷×bêwas also author of the first extant commentary on Bukh×rê’s
óaçêç collection. 104 Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlê(d. Cordova, 575/1179) calls
AbùD×wùd’s collection al-Muóannaf, referring to its arrangement by
topic. 105 He relates that an Abùl-Q×sim Khalaf b. al-Q×sim (d.
393/1002-3) preferred Bukh×rêto Nas×’êbut AbùD×wùd to Bukh×rê.
This was going too far, according to Ishbêlê, but AbùD×wùd’s collec-
tion had reached the Cordovans long before Bukh×rê’s, hence their ex-
cessive regard for it. 106
Four recensions were available to Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlê.107
1. AbùBakr Muçammad b. Bakr b. Muçammad b. D×sah
(d. 346/957-8), on whom v. Dhahabê,Siyar 15:538-9, with further ref-
erences. V. Mizzê,Tuçfah, 108 n.º 1587, 4842.
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½27
Muçammad H×shim al-Kutubê, 1975, 180. “Bringing out” is of course a literal transla-
tion of takhrêj. One of the referees for this article has objected that this means precisely to
“cite a tradition with a full isn×d”, adducing Roy Mottahedeh, review of Bulliet: The Pa-
tricians of Nishapur, in JAOS, 95 (1975), 491-5. Although regretting to disagree, I am
certain it does not always refer to quoting hadith with full isn×d(most importantly, v.
Hallaq, W.B., Authority, continuity and change in Islamic law, Cambridge, 2001, 43-56,
for its meaning in a juridical context) and I doubt whether it means here no more than
quoting hadith, to the exclusion of pointing out legal implications.
102 Presumably a series of hadith reports with the same content (matn) as hadith in
AbùD×wùd’s collection but with different chains of transmitters (isn×d), mentioned by
Dhahabê(Siyar, 15:242).
103 Al-Kha÷÷×bê,Ma‘×lim, 1:6 (both eds.). Kha÷÷×bê’s estimate of the Sunan’s popu-
larity in Iraq is confirmed by its prominence in al-Jaóó×ó al-R×zê(d. Baghdad, 370/981),
Açk×m al-Qur’×n, which I thank Michael Cook for pointing out to me; however, it is per-
haps contradicted by the Sunan’s absence from Ibn al-Nadêm (d. 380/990), Kit×b
al-Fihrist, 232-3, fann 6, maq×lah 6.
104 Al-Kha÷÷×bê,A‘l×m al-çadêth fêsharçÉaçêç al-Bukh×rê,Muçammad b. Sa‘d b.
‘Abd al-Raçm×n¨l Sa‘ùd (ed.), Mecca, J×mi‘at Umm al-Qur×, Ma‘had al-Buçùth
al-‘Ilmêyah wa-Ihy×’ al-Tur×th al-Isl×mê, Markaz Içy×’ al-Tur×th al-Isl×mê, 1988. Also as
A‘l×m al-sunan fêsharçÉaçêç al-Bukh×rê,Yùsuf al-Katt×nê(ed.), Rabat, ‘Uk×û, n.d.
105 Al-Ishbêlê,Fahrasah, 88, n.º 154.
106 Ibidem, 90-1, n.º 81; Robson, “AbùD×wùd’s”, 580.
107 Al-Ishbêlê,Fahrasah, 88-9, n.º 81.
108 Tuçfat al-ashr×f bi-ma‘rifat al-a÷r×f, ‘Abd al-Éamad Sharaf al-Dên (ed.), Bom-
bay, D×r al-Qêmah, 1965-76. (Repr. Beirut, D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah, 1999). Also edited
2. AbùSa‘êdAçmad b. Muçammad b. al-A‘r×bê(d. Mecca,
340/952?), on whom v. GAS 1:660-1 and Dhahabê,Siyar 15:407-11,
with further references. V. Mizzê,Tuçfah, n.º 4555, 13793.
3. Abù‘½sà Isç×qb.Mùsà b. Sa‘êd al-Ramlê, on whom v.
al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh 6:395 7:433. V. Mizzê,Tuçfah, n.º
7269, 10581. Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlêstates that al-Ramlê,AbùD×wùd’s
warr×q(copyist, publisher), transmitted the Muóannaf in Baghdad in
317/929-30. 109
4. Abù‘AlêMuçammad b. Açmad b. ‘Amr al-Lu’lu’ê(d.
333/944-5), on whom v. Dhahabê,Siyar 15:307, with further refer-
ences. V. Mizzê,Tuçfah, n.º 8874, 16619. Lu’lu’êis said to have re-
cited the Sunan for twenty years. 110
These and four additional recensions of the Sunan were available
to al-Mizzê(d. Damascus, 742/1341). 111
5. Abùl-·asan ‘Alêb. al-·asan b. (al-)‘Abd (d. 328/940), on
whom v. al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh 11:382 13:313. V. Mizzê,
Tuçfah, n.º 4555, 13793.
6. Abù‘Amr Açmad b. ‘Alêal-Baórê.V. Mizzê,Tuçfah, n.º 9914,
17957.
7. Abùl-Íayyib Açmad b. Ibr×hêmal-Ushn×nê.V.Mizzê,
Tuçfah, n.º 54, 6014.
8. Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê(d. Baghdad, 463/1071), on whom v.
EI2, s.n., by R. Sellheim. V. Mizzê,Tuçfah, n.º 17910. This recension
must go back to Lu’lu’ê’s but was evidently different enough from
others to stand by itself.
One more is named by Ibn ·ajar alone:
9. AbùUs×mah Muçammad b. ‘Abd al-Malik b. Yazêd
al-Raww×s, otherwise untraced by me, unless he is the traditionist de-
scribed by al-Sulamêas sometime disciple to the Sufi Abù·amzah
al-Baghd×dê(d. Baghdad, 269/882-3?). 112
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
28 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
by Bashsh×r‘Aww×d Ma‘rùf, Beirut, D×r al-Gharb al-Isl×mê, 1999. Each has different
pagination but the same item numbers. Ma‘rùf’s edition appears to be more faithful to
Mizzê’s text.
109 Al-Ishbêlê,Fahrasah, 89, n.º 154.
110 Al-Dhahabê,Siyar, 15:407.
111 The following list based mainly on Íaw×libah, Muçammad ‘Abd al-Raçm×n,
al-·×fiûal-Mizzêwa-l-takhrêjfêkit×bihi, Amman, 1998, 152-3.
112 Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 4:170, ll. 8-9; al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 2:348 3:604,
s.n. Muçammad b. ‘Abd al-Malik b. Yazêd, quoting from Sulamê,Ta’rêkh al-óùfêyah.
Ibn ·ajar personally received the Sunan in four recensions, n.º 1,
2, 4, and 8 above. 113
As with AbùD×wùd’s Sunan, so with the rest of the Six Books: liter-
ary sources mention a higher number of transmitters than whose
recensions can actually be traced; that is, than those whose handing down
to later scholars can be traced and from which readings can be identified.
Inasmuch as Nas×’ê’s larger collection, al-Sunan al-kubr×,has tra-
ditionally not been included among the Six Books (and until recently
was thought lost), it appears that the Sunan of AbùD×wùd is textually
the most securely attested of the lot.
According to Muçammad Muçyêl-Dên ‘Abd al-·amêd, who ed-
ited the Sunan in the 1930s, the recension of al-Lu’lu’ê, n.º 5 above,
was the most popular in the Mashriq, whereas that of Ibn D×sah, n.º 1,
was the most popular in the Maghrib. 115 ‘Abd al-·amêd also alleges
that there is no difference between them except as to the order of
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½29
113 Ibn ·ajar, al-Mu‘jam, 29-31, n.º 3.
114 Based on articles by J. Fück (“Beiträge zur Überlieferungsgeschichte von Bukh×rê’s
Traditionssammlung”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 92
(n.F. 17, 1938), 60-87) and J. Robson (“The Transmission of Ibn M×jah’s ‘Sunan’”, Jour-
nal of Semitic Studies, 3 (1958), 129-41; “The Transmission of Muslim’s Éaçêç”, Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1949, 49-60; “The Transmission of Nas×’ê’s ‘Sunan’”, Journal
of Semitic Studies, 1 (1956), 38-59 and “The Transmission of Tirmidhê’s J×mi‘”, BSOAS,
16 (1954), 258-70). Also GAS, 1:116-17, which adds one name to Fück’s list of those who
transmitted Bukh×rê’s Éaçêç,and the present study, which adds two names to Robson’s list
of those who transmitted the Sunan from AbùD×wùd and four to his list of those whose
recensions can be traced to later scholars. Robson’s article confuses the two works of
al-Nas×’ê, for a superior treatment of which v. AbùBakr, ‘Umar ½m×n, al-Im×m al-Nas×’ê
wa-kit×buhu al-Mujtab×,Riyadh, 2003.
115 Introduction to AbùD×wùd, al-Sunan, ed. ‘Abd al-·amêd, 1:9. The same opinion
attributed to Sh×h ‘Abd al-‘Azêz al-Dihl×wê(d. 1823 C.E.) by al-Futùçê,Abùl-Íayyib
Éadêq·asan, al-·i÷÷ah fêdhikr al-kutub al-sittah, Beirut, 1985, 216.
TABLE 2.—Transmitters of the Six Books 114
Bukh×rê5 mentioned, 3 traceable
Muslim 2 mentioned, 2 traceable
AbùD×wùd 9 mentioned, 8 traceable
Tirmidhê4 mentioned, 2 traceable
Nas×’ê,al-Sunan al-kubr×10 mentioned, 4 traceable
Nas×’ê,al-Mujtab×1 mentioned, 1 traceable
Ibn M×jah 10 mentioned, 1 traceable
hadith reports, by contrast with the recension of Ibn al-A‘r×bê, n.º 3
above, which was missing some parts. Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlêquotes an
Abù‘Alêal-Ghass×nêas naming those missing parts. 116
To the contrary, however, Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlêof the Maghrib had, as
we have seen, both of these recensions and two more besides. Moreover,
Kha÷÷×bêof the Mashriq seems to have heard the Sunan from Ibn D×sah,
n.º 1, and Ibn al-A‘r×bê, n.º 2. He never mentions Lu’lu’ê. As for order,
Kha÷÷×bê’s commentary presents books in a different order from what we
are accustomed to, presumably reflecting his use of Ibn D×sah’s
recension rather than Lu’lu’ê’s. Within each book, he reviews hadith re-
ports in very near the familiar order. 117 As for missing hadith, Dhahabê
describes Ibn al-A‘r×bê’s recension as having “additions as to both mutùn
and as×nêd”. He does not mention missing parts. 118 Mizzê,Tuçfat
al-ashr×fmentions three hadith reports found in the recension of Ibn
D×sah (among others) but not, implicitly, in that of al-Lu’lu’ê. (Dhahabê
states that the additional hadith reports in Ibn D×sah’s recension were
ones that AbùD×wùd himself struck out at the very last, doubting their
as×nêd. 119) Mizzêalso mentions ten hadith reports found in the recension
of Ibn ‘Abd, n.º 2 above, but not elsewhere, three in the recension of Ibn
al-Ushn×nê, n.º 7 above, but not elsewhere, as well as one in the
recension of Ibn al-A‘r×bêbut not elsewhere. 120 Therefore, it seems
likely that (1) Ghass×nê’s copy of Ibn al-A‘r×bê’s recension was defec-
tive, (2) different recensions differed substantially as to the order of
books but not of topics within books, and (3) the different recensions
were very similar but not, contra ‘Abd al-·amêd, identical.
According to ‘Abd al-·amêd, again, the version of the Sunan avail-
able today is composite, not corresponding to any one of the recensions
listed above. He had presumably observed how the present text of the
Sunan expressly names four redactors (all of n.º 1 to 4) in one place or
another. 121 This seems decisive evidence contra Robson, who identi-
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30 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
116 Also Robson, “AbùD×wùd’s”, 581.
117 Al-B×tilê,Açmad b. ‘Abd All×h, al-Im×m al-Kha÷÷×bêwa-×th×ruhu al-çadêthêyah
wa-manhajuhu fêh×,[Riyadh], 2005, 567-71.
118 Al-Dhahabê,Siyar, 15:408.
119 Ibidem, 15:407.
120 My starting point here was AbùD×wùd, al-Sunan, ed. Kh×lidê, 3:571. The num-
bers just named are restricted to what I have been able to trace, which includes most but
not all of Kh×lidê’s references.
121 E.g. AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 330, ÷ah×rah 124, b×b al-tayammum fêl-çaÝar, Ibn
D×sah; n.º 24, ÷ah×rah 13, fêl-rajul yabùlu bi-l-layl, Ibn al-A‘r×bê; n.º 3991, al-çùrùf
fies the version of the Sunan available today as Lu’lu’ê’s. 122 However,
when Mizzê,Tuçfat al-ashr×fobserves that Ibn ‘As×kir overlooked this
or that hadith report, it suggests that Ibn ‘As×kir, at least, was working
with Lu’lu’ê’s recension, which thus may have been the medieval stan-
dard. ‘Abd al-·amêd’s edition introduced numbers for individual
hadith reports in the Sunan. These make it easy to trace citations of in-
dividual hadith reports. Their disadvantage is that they inhibit the rein-
troduction of missing hadith from Mizzê. The more helpful editions
also indicate kit×band b×bafter Mizzê,Tuçfah and Wensinck, Concor-
dance (commonly referred to in Arabic as al-Mu‘jam). 123
A little under 90 percent of the hadith in the Sunan go back to the
Prophet. Some of the rest cite Companions and Followers as them-
selves authoritative expounders or examples of the law; for example,
of ·amnah bint Jaçsh, AbùD×wùd reports with isn×d“that when she
was mustaç×Ýah [had an issue of blood distinct from menstruation],
her husband had sexual intercourse with her.” 124 Others cite some-
one’s legal application of a given hadith report from the Prophet; e.g.
“Makçùl [al-Sh×mê, d. 116/734-5?] used to say that no one had a right
to do that after the Messenger of God.” 125 AbùD×wùd takes the ex-
amples of Followers very seriously. For example, he offers two hadith
reports by which the Prophet forbade letting the hands hang at the
sides in the course of the ritual prayer, in both of whose as×nêdap-
pears the Meccan Follower ‘A÷×’ (d. 114/732-3?). Then he offers a re-
port by which ‘A÷×’ himself was seen praying with his hands hanging.
AbùD×wùd comments, “This weakens that hadith report.” His rea-
soning is evidently that ‘A÷×’ cannot have believed that the Prophet
had forbidden this posture, hence also that he doubtfully would have
transmitted a hadith report by which the Prophet had. 126
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½31
wa-l-qir×’×t 23, ad Q. 56:89, Abù‘½s×(al-Ramlê); n.º 4924, adab 52, b×b kar×hiyat
al-ghin×’ wa-l-zamr, Abù‘Alêal-Lu’lu’ê.
122 Robson, “AbùD×wùd’s”, 581, 584.
123 E.g., among recent single-volume editions, AbùD×wùd, Sunan, ed. Tamêm and
ibid., ed. Kh×lidê(2001) include references to Mizzêand Wensinck, whereas ibid. (D×r
Ibn ·azm) does not.
124 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 310, ÷ah×rah 119, b×b al-mustaç×Ýah yaghsh×h×zawjuh×.
The unnamed authority in this case is her husband Íalçah, a leading Companion.
125 Ibidem, n.º 2113, nik×ç 30, b×bfêl-tazwêj ‘al×al-‘amal yu‘mal.
126 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 543-4, al-óal×h85, b×b al-sadl. On the point of law, v.
Dutton, Y., “‘Amal v. çadêth in Islamic Law: the case of sadl al-yadayn (holding one’s
hands by one’s sides) when doing the prayer”, Islamic Law and Society, 3 (1996), 13-40.
The proportion of non-prophetic material in the Sunan may ex-
plain a number in AbùD×wùd’s Ris×lah il×ahl Makkah that has puz-
zled some commentators. AbùD×wùd refers there to having collected
4,800 hadith reports, yet the present text of the Sunan comprises
5,274 in the standard numbering. 127 If one counts only items in the
Sunan going back to the Prophet, however, they do come to more like
4,800 (although 4,700 would have been a still closer estimate). Alter-
natively, AbùD×wùd simply did not count exactly, just guessed. After
all, he refers at the same place to “about 600 mar×sêl”, whereas the
extant collection al-Mar×sêlcomprises 544, suggesting an error of
about the same size, 10 percent. 128 (AbùGhuddah offers two expla-
nations, neither of which seems likely to me. First, he proposes that
the discrepancy between 5,274 and 4,800 comes of differing
recensions; however, Mizzêsuggests that the eight different
recensions known to him were much more similar than this. Second,
AbùGhuddah proposes that 4,800 omits repeats with similar as×nêd.
By my estimate, however, alternative as×nêdcomprise somewhere
around 250 items in the Sunan, not four or five hundred. Most of its
alternative as×nêdare not numbered separately). 129
AbùD×wùd offers an express comment on about a fifth of the
hadith reports in the Sunan. Most often, he provides one or more al-
ternative versions of the hadith report just mentioned; e.g. “Al-Layth
b. Sa‘d, al-Awzבê, Manóùr b. al-Mu‘tamir, and ‘Ir×kb.M×lik all re-
lated it with the same gist as Ibn ‘Uyaynah [whose version has just
been given in full]. Al-Awzבêadded, ‘and ask God’s forgive-
ness’.” 130 Also fairly often, he glosses a word; e.g. “Istiçd×dmeans
shaving the pubes.” 131 He also identifies men in as×nêd; e.g. “Abù
l-·awrב was Rabê‘ah b. Shayb×n.” 132 But equally often he ventures
his own express comment on the legal application of a particular
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32 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
127 AbùD×wùd, Ris×lah, ed. AbùGhuddah, 52. The same number, 4,800, is quoted
by Ibn D×sah, apud al-Silafê,Muqaddimah, 365 (ed. Muçammad, 333), and al-Nawawê,
Tahdhêb, 2:226.
128 Admittedly, there are also a few mar×sêlwithin the Sunan; e.g. n.º 381, Kit×b
al-Íah×rah, 136, b×b al-arÝyuóêbuh×al-bawl.
129 E.g. AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 996, Kit×b al-Éal×h184, b×bfêl-sal×m, with nine
variant as×nêd. AbùD×wùd relates about one hadith report in thirteen from more than
one shaykh.
130 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 2391, óawm 38, b×b kaff×rat man atà ahlahu fêRamaÝ×n.
131 Ibidem, n.º 4201, tarajjul 16, b×bfêakhdh al-sh×rib.
132 Ibid., n.º 1425, al-witr 5, b×b al-qunùtfêl-witr.
hadith report; e.g. “This is an argument for the man who takes some-
thing to which he has a right.” 133 A few comments seem clearly spon-
taneous, added at some particular session of dictation; e.g. “Abù
D×wùd was asked, ‘Had al-Qa‘nabêanything from Shu‘bah besides
this hadith report?’ AbùD×wùd said, ‘No.’” 134
AbùD×wùd collected over a third of the hadith in the Sunan in
Basra, about half that much in Baghdad, and somewhat over a tenth in
Kufa. Altogether, two-thirds of it was collected in Iraq. Mecca, Syria,
Egypt, and the East account for roughly a tenth each. This distribution
is most similar to that of Bukh×rê’s collection, among the Six Books.
AbùD×wùd apparently includes an extraordinarily large number of
hadith reports with unidentified persons in the as×nêd: “Ibr×hêmb.Abê
‘Ulbah < a man”, “Ismבêlb.AbêKh×lid < his brother”, and so on.
Al-·usaynê(d. Damascus, 765/1364) appends a list of such ambiguities
(mubham×t) to his list of transmitters in the Ten Books (the Six Books plus
one for each eponym of a surviving Sunni school of law) comprising 443
names. Here are the percentages of the 443 included in each collection.
(Percentages add up to more than 100 because many ambiguous
names appear in more than one collection). It is hardly surprising that
Açmad’s Musnad should lead the way, for it is over twice as large as
any other collection here considered. Similarly, it is unsurprising that
Nas×’ê’s collection should come in second, for the book under consid-
eration is al-Sunan al-kubr×,over twice as large as AbùD×wùd’s
Sunan. What AbùD×wùd’s high percentage probably reflects is not
mainly carelessness but rather his traditionalist desire to answer every
juridical question by means of relevant hadith. That is, in order to
minimize resort to qiy×sand other rational procedures, he cites a
hadith report every time he possibly can, even if the best one avail-
able is formally weak, as by having an ambiguity in the isn×d.
Several lists are available of commentaries on AbùD×wùd’s
Sunan, which I cannot complete. 135 The earliest and most significant
commentary is that of AbùSulaym×n al-Kha÷÷×bê, which offers com-
ments on about a third of the hadith in the Sunan. 136 Kha÷÷×bêis prin-
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½33
133 Ibid., n.º 3752, a÷‘imah 5, b×bm×j×’a fêl-Ýiy×fah.
134 Ibid., n.º 4997, adab 6, b×bfêl-çay×’.
135 Al-·abashê, ‘Abd All×hMuçammad, J×mi‘ al-shurùç wa-l-çaw×shê,Abu Dhabi,
2004, 1052-6, and Khalaf, Istidr×k×t, n.º 679-89, 694.
136 Al-Kha÷÷×bê,Ma‘×lim.
cipally concerned with legal applications (as opposed to, say, isn×d
criticism), and normally argues for the position of al-Sh×fi‘êwhen
there is disagreement among schools. A number of scholars have
identified Kha÷÷×bêas a traditionalist, whereas Daniel Gimaret nor-
mally locates him with the Ashבirah and other semi-rationalist Sunni
theologians in the middle of the theological spectrum. I expect future
research to confirm Gimaret’s identification. 137 Otherwise, the most
remarkable features of the list of commentaries seem to be how many
of the medieval ones were never finished and how many of the rest
have come from the Indian subcontinent.
His Piety
An important part of AbùD×wùd’s authority lay in his personal
piety. 138 Al-Khall×l’s praise has been cited already: “the im×m, ex-
alted in his time, having unprecedented knowledge of bringing out
(useful things in) the sciences, for which he knew where to look,
peerless in his age, a scrupulous man who was exalted.” 139 The word
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34 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
TABLE 3
Abù·anêfah 3%
M×lik 3%
Sh×fi‘ê2%
Açmad b. ·anbal 52%
Bukh×rê1%
Muslim 1%
AbùD×wùd 22%
Tirmidhê8%
Nas×’ê28%
Ibn M×jah 7%
137 Tokatly, V., “The A‘l×m al-çadêth of al-Kha÷÷×bê: a commentary on al-Bukh×rê’s
Éaçêç or a polemical treatise?”, Studia Islamica, 92 (2001), 53-91, and other studies cited
there, esp. by Günther and al-B×tilê. Cf. Gimaret, D., Dieu à l’image de l’homme: les
anthropomorphismes de la sunna et leur interprétation par les théologiens, Paris, 1997,
127-8 et passim.
138 Others before me have connected personal authority with personal piety; e.g.
Carter, M.G., “Another Khalêl, courtier, teacher, and sage”, in Early medieval Arabic:
studies on al-Khalêlb.Açmad, Karin C. Ryding (ed.), Washington, 1998, 16-43, concern-
ing a grammarian, and Hurvitz, N., The Formation of Hanbalism: piety into power, Lon-
don, 2002, concerning a school of law.
139 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,T×rêkh, 9:57 10:79.
translated here as “scrupulous” is wari‘, indicating someone unusu-
ally careful to avoid whatever had the least possibility of being
wrong. Another early biographer, AbùIsç×qb.Y×sên al-·add×d (d.
334/946), described him as “One of those in Islam who preserved the
hadith of the Messenger of God, its weaknesses and chains of trans-
mission (who lived) in the highest degree of austerity, chastity, up-
rightness and scrupulosity; one of the knights of hadith.” 140
As noted above, AbùD×wùd is quoted as saying, “I lived in Tarsus for
twenty years.” The main reason for Tarsus would have been pious, mainly
the opportunity to participate from there in the holy war against the
Byzantines. Alternatively, since he was in his fifties and sixties at that time
and doubtfully useful for actual fighting, he would have dwelt there to
soak up the piety of a frontier outpost, perhaps to support the actual fight-
ers at their staging area and all the Muslims in case of Byzantine attack.
The four hadith reports he named as sufficing for a man’s faith
were these: “Works are (judged) by intentions”; “Among the comely
elements of a man’s Islam is his ignoring what does not concern
him”; “A believer is not a believer until he wishes for his brother
what he wishes for himself”; and “The licit is clear and the forbidden
is clear, between them being ambiguous matters”. 141 Although,
oddly, only two of the four turn up in AbùD×wùd’s Sunan, the same
four are named in a quotation from Ibn D×sah as well as the mysteri-
ous Muçammad b. É×liçal-H×shimê, so it seems reasonable to sup-
pose that they did constitute AbùD×wùd’s guide to righteous liv-
ing. 142 (AbùD×wùd may also have included all four in the lost pro-
phetic version of Kit×b al-Zuhd). The last of the four is a clear injunc-
tion to be scrupulous, sticking to what is clearly permitted and no
more, but the second may also involve this quality.
AbùD×wùd himself wore a garment with one sleeve wide and one
narrow. Asked the reason for it, he explained, “The wide one is for (car-
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½35
140 Ibidem, 9:58, ll. 1-6 10:80, presumably quoting Ta’rêkh Har×h.
141 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:57 10:78-9; al-Nawawê,Tahdhêb, 2:226.
Doubtfully by coincidence, all four of these (or at least versions thereof) are found
among Nawawê’s famous forty essential hadith, for which v. Pouzet, L., Une
herméneutique de la tradition islamique: le commentaire des Arba‘ùn an-Nawawêya,
Beirut, 1982, n.º 1, 12, 13, and 6, respectively.
142 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:56-7 10:78-9. The ones that do turn up are
innam×al-a‘m×l bi-l-nêy×t, n.º 2201, al-÷al×q10, b×bfêmבuniya bihi, and inna al-çal×l
bayyin wa-inna al-çar×m bayyin, n.º 3329, al-buyù‘3, b×bfêjtin×b al-shubuh×t.
rying) notebooks, whereas the other is not needed.” 143 No one would
have argued that non-utilitarian clothing was forbidden, but AbùD×wùd
would have felt that a useless sleeve was a temptation to pride, and so he
preferred to be on the safe side by doing without it. It seems a good exam-
ple of tension with the world among third/ninth-century traditionalists.
Pride is also the danger against which AbùD×wùd warned in an
original aphorism often quoted in biographies: “The innermost desire
is love of leadership (çubb al-riy×sah).” 144 The main thrust of the
first of his four essential hadith reports is also a warning against pride,
mainly engaging in devotional works for the sake of being seen and
applauded by men. AbùD×wùd would have been aware of the temp-
tation to perform works for worldly renown both in fighting the
Byzantines and in relating hadith.
AbùD×wùd’s chief contribution to the literature of piety was al- Zuhd
(besides al-Du‘×’, no longer extant). 145 What survives of it is a collection
of 521 sayings on the life of renunciation; for example < Ziy×db.Ayyùb<
Ismבêl<É×liçb. Rustam < ‘Abd All×hb.AbêMulaykah: “I travelled
with Ibn ‘Abb×s from Medina to Mecca and from Mecca to Medina, and
he stayed up half the night.” 146 Ibn Khayr al-Ishbêlêdistinguishes between
a recension from Ibn D×sah comprising hadith from the Prophet and an-
other from Ibn al-A‘r×bêcomprising hadith from Companions and Fol-
lowers. 147 Ibn ·ajar seems to have known it in two recensions, one from
Ibn D×sah, the other from an Ismבêlb.Muçammad (b.) al-‘Ayz×r. 148
Some 80 percent of all items in the extant text go back to Companions, so
what we have is presumably the recension of Ibn al-A‘r×bê. (The one ex-
tant manuscript includes no account of its transmission from AbùD×wùd).
Here are some other collections for comparison.
Table: Some early, extant works on zuhd
1. Açmad b. ·anbal, al-Zuhd (actually collected by ‘Abd All×h
b. Açmad, from whom about a third of it comes independently of his
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
36 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
143 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,T×rêkh, 9:58, ll. 13-16 10:80-1.
144 Ibidem, 9:58, ll. 16-18 10:81.
145 AbùD×wùd, Kit×b al-Zuhd, ed. ·usayn. V. al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 34.
146 AbùD×wùd, Kit×b al-Zuhd, ed. ·usayn, 178, n.º 342.
147 Al-Ishbêlê,Fahrasah, 92, n.º 156, 157.
148 Ibn ·ajar, al-Mu‘jam, 89, n.º 259.
father). 149 About 2,400 items, very roughly arranged biographically.
About a fifth each from the Prophet and Followers, a third from Com-
panions. (Unusually, earlier prophets and anonymous Israelites ac-
count for another fifth).
2. Ibn al-Mub×rak, Kit×b al-Zuhd. 150 About 1,600 items (of which
about a fifth come from al-·usayn b. al-·asan al-Marwazê(d.
246/860-1) independently of Ibn al-Mub×rak), 2,050 including additions
from another recension (98% from Ibn al-Mub×rak), roughly arranged
by topic. Prophetic sayings 35%, Companion 23%, Follower 33%.
3. Ibn AbêShaybah (d. Kufa, 235/849), Kit×b al-Zuhd, a section
of al-Muóannaf. 151 About 1,500 items, most roughly arranged bio-
graphically but some by topic. Prophetic sayings 10%, Companion
33%, Follower 43%.
4. Hann×d b. al-Sarê(d. 243/857), Kit×b al-Zuhd. 152 1,443 items,
roughly arranged by topic. Prophetic sayings 45%, Companion 28%,
Follower 24%.
5. Ibn Abêal-Duny×(d. Baghdad, 281/894), Dhamm al-duny×.153
645 items, randomly arranged. Prophetic sayings 14%, Companion
10%, Follower 19%.
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½37
149 Açmad b. ·anbal (attributed), al-Zuhd, ‘Abd al-Raçm×nb.Q×sim (ed.), Mecca,
Ma÷ba‘at Umm al-Qur×, 1357. Several other editions available: Muçammad Jal×l Sharaf
(ed.), Beirut, D×r al-NahÝah al-‘Arabêyah, 1971; Beirut, D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah, 1976;
Beirut, D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah, 1983; Muçammad Muçammad ‘¨mir (ed.), Cairo, D×r
al-Da‘wah al-Isl×mêyah, 2002. N.º 2 here is a photomechanical reprint of the Meccan edi-
tion, while the others present the same text with different pagination. Yùsuf ‘Abd
al-Raçm×n al-Mar‘ashlê,Fihris aç×dêth Kit×b al-Zuhd, (Beirut, D×r al-Nùr al-Isl×mê,
1988), indexes n.º 1 and 3. Muçammad Muçammad Sharêf, Mawsù‘at fah×ris kutub
al-zuhd, (Dammam, D×r Ibn al-Jawzê, 1992) indexes n.º 2.
150 Kit×b al-Zuhd wa-l-raq×’iq, ·abêb al-Raçm×n al-A‘ûamê(ed.), Malegaon, Majlis
Içy×’ al-Ma‘×rif, 1386. (Repr. Beirut, D×r al-Ris×lah, n.d., also Alexandria, D×r Ibn
Khaldùn, n.d., with different pagination but the same paragraph numbers). Indices to the
first edition in Yùsuf ‘Abd al-Raçm×n al-Mar‘ashlê,Fihris aç×dêth Kit×b al-Zuhd, Bei-
rut, D×r al-Nùr al-Isl×mê, 1987. Indexed by number in Sharêf, Mawsù‘ah.
151 Ibn AbêShaybah, Kit×b al-Muóannaf, ‘Abd al-Kh×liq Kh×n al-Afgh×nê(ed.),
Hyderabad, al-Ma÷ba‘ah al-‘Azêzêyah, 1966. The only newer edition actually based on
collation of manuscripts is that by Muçammad b. ‘Abd All×h al-Jum‘ah and Muçammad
b. Ibr×hêm al-Luçayd×n, Riyadh, Maktabat al-Rushd, 2004.
152 Hann×d b. al-Sarê,Kit×b al-Zuhd, ‘Abd al-Raçm×n b. ‘Abd al-Jabb×r
al-Faryaw×’ê(ed.), Kuwayt, 1985. Indexed by number in Sharêf, Mawsù‘ah.
153 Published several times, but I have happened to use Ibn Abêal-Duny×,Kit×b
al-Zuhd, Y×sênMuçammad al-Saww×s (ed,), Damascus, 1999 (so renamed by its editor).
Of course, Ibn Abêal-Duny×compiled many other small books on related topics. V.
Weipert, R. and Weninger, S., “Die erhaltenen Werke des Ibn Abêd-Duny×. Ein
vorläufige Bestandsaufnahme”, ZDMG, 146 (1996), 415-55.
6. Wakê‘, al-Zuhd. 154 539 items, randomly arranged. Prophetic
sayings 42%, Companion 28%, Follower 21%.
7. Al-J×çiû(d. Basra, 255/868-9), Kit×b al-Zuhd, a section of
al-Bay×n wa-l-tabyên. 155 338 items, randomly arranged. Prophetic
sayings 1%, Companion 11%, Follower 30%.
8. Ibn Abꑨóim al-Nabêl (d. Isfahan, 287/900?), Kit×b
al-Zuhd. 156 288 items, randomly arranged. Prophetic sayings 74%,
Companion 9%, Follower 12%.
A history of the genre is difficult inasmuch as n.º 1, 2, 4, and 6 on
this list were redacted a generation or two later than their putative au-
thors. Certainly, AbùD×wùd’s Zuhd is comparatively short and com-
prises comparatively much material from Companions. Its principle
of arrangement seems closest to that of the Zuhd of Açmad and his
son. In the list above, n.º 5 and 7 are part of the adab tradition. J×çiû
is especially attracted to elegant locutions and usually omits as×nêd,
while Ibn Abêl-Duny×is likewise attracted to elegant locutions and
more subtly to the humorous side of his material. 157 AbùD×wùd was
obviously rather in the hadith tradition. He includes many glosses of
the Qur‘×n (about 12 percent of all items) but no poetry. AbùD×wùd
evidently collected the material in al-Zuhd (in descending order) in
Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Syria, and elsewhere. Here also, his collection
seems closest to the Zuhd of Açmad and his son, although that has
relatively more items collected in Baghdad and fewer in Syria.
AbùD×wùd’s relations with other authorities of his time
AbùD×wùd’s association with Açmad b. ·anbal has arisen sev-
eral times hitherto. Two of his works are mainly quotations from
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38 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
154 Wak ê’ b. al-Jarr×ç,al-Zuhd, ‘Abd al-Raçm×n ‘Abd al-Jabb×r al-Faryaw×’ê(ed.),
Medina, Maktabat al-D×r, 1984. (Repr. Riyadh, D×r al-Éumay‘ê, 1994). Indexed in
Sharêf, Mawsù‘ah.
155 Al-J×çiû,al-Bay×n wa-l-tabyên, ‘Abd al-Sal×mMuçammad H×rùn (ed.), Cairo,
1948-50, 3:125-202.
156 Kit×b al-Zuhd, ‘Abd al-‘Alê‘Abd al-·amêd (ed.), Bombay, 1983. A second edi-
tion (1987) offers different pagination and notes but the same paragraph numbers.
157 For the emergence of zuhd as a distinct genre among littérateurs, v. Chabbi, J.,
“Remarques sur le développement historique des mouvements ascétiques et mystiques au
Khurasan”, Studia Islamica, 46 (1977), 5-72, 23-5; also Hamori, A., “Ascetic poetry
(zuhdiyy×t)”, in ‘Abbasid belles-lettres, J. Ashtiany, T.M. Johnstone, J.D. Latham, R.B.
Serjeant and G. Rex Smith (eds.), Cambridge, 1990, 265-74.
Açmad (n.º 6 and 7 on the list of his works above, with over 100 addi-
tional quotations in n.º 8). 158 Açmad b. ·anbal is quoted in the Sunan
323 times. 159 (Additionally, there is a report that AbùD×wùd showed
his Sunan to Açmad, who expressed warm approval. Al-Kha÷êb
al-Baghd×dêindicates mistrust of the report by introducing it with the
words, “It is said”, as well as by mentioning no isn×d). 160
AbùD×wùd has also been mentioned already in connection with
members of the nascent ·anbali school. AbùBakr al-Najj×d, trans-
mitter of N×sikh al-Qur’×n, was a prominent ·anbali, teacher to Ibn
·×mid. 161 AbùD×wùd’s son AbùBakr is sometimes identified as
leader of the ·anbali assault on al-Íabarêat the end of his life. 162 An-
other extensive account of Íabarê’s trouble admittedly names other
·an×bilah, not AbùBakr. 163 But AbùBakr is also said to have be-
come a ·anbali apart from the trouble with Íabarê.164
AbùD×wùd is claimed for the Sh×fi‘i school by two leading bio-
graphical dictionaries, those of al-‘Abb×dê(d. Herat, 458/1066) and
al-Subkê(d. Damascus, 771/1370). 165 He did spend time with Abù
Thawr (d. Baghdad, 240/854) and al-Rabê‘ b. Sulaym×n al-Mur×dê(d.
Old Cairo, 270/884), disciples to Sh×fi‘êin Baghdad and Old Cairo,
respectively. The Sunan includes seven hadith reports from Abù
Thawr and ten from al-Rabê‘. 166 However, AbùIsç×q al-Shêr×zê(d.
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½39
158 Introduction, al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 1:86.
159 Al-Jayy×nê,Tasmiyah, ed. Zaghlùl, 60 fn. Two shaykhs are the source of more
material: Musaddad b. Musarhad, 651 hadith reports, and al-Qa‘nabê, 345 (ibid., 102fn,
105fn).
160 Al-Kha÷êb al-Baghd×dê,Ta’rêkh, 9:56, ll. 3-4 10:76. Cf. Introduction, Thal×th
ras×’il, ed. AbùGhuddah, 12-13.
161 On Najj×d, v. al-Dhahabê,Siyar, 15:502-5 with additional references; also Laoust,
H., “Le Hanbalisme sous le califat de Bagdad”, Revue des Études Islamiques, 27 (1959),
67-128, 88.
162 Ibn al-Jawzê,al-Muntaûam, Hyderabad, D×’irat al-Ma‘×rif al-‘Uthm×nêyah,
1357-60. Also edited by Muçammad ‘Abd al-Q×dir ‘A÷× and Muó÷afבAbd al-Q×dir
‘A÷×, with Nu‘aym Zurzùr, Beirut, D×r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmêyah, 1992, 6:172, 13:217;
al-Dhahabê,Siyar, 14:277; Ibn ·ajar, Lis×n al-Mêz×n, Hyderabad, Majlis D×’irat
al-Ma‘×rif, 1329-31, 3:295. (Repr. Beirut, Mu’assasat al-A‘lamê, 1986).
163 Y×qùt, Irsh×d, ed. Margoliouth, 6:435-7; ed. ‘Abb×s, 6:2450-1.
164 Ibn ‘Adêl-Qa÷÷×n, al-K×mil fêÝu‘af×’ al-rij×l, ‘¨dil Açmad ‘Abd al-Mawjùd and
‘AlêMuçammad Mu‘awwaÝ(eds.), Beirut, 1997, 5:437, s.n. ‘Abd All×h b. Sulaym×n.
165 Al-‘Abb×dê,Kit×bÍabaq×t al-fuqah×’ al-sh×fi‘êya, Gösta Vitestam (ed.),
Veröffentlichungen der “De Goeje Stiftung”, 21, Leiden, 1964, 60, and Subkê,Íabaq×t
al-sh×fi‘êyah al-kubr×,MaçmùdMuçammad al-Ían×çê and ‘Abd al-Fatt×ç al-·ulw
(eds.), Cairo, 1964-76, 2:293-6.
166 Al-Jayy×nê,Tasmiyah, ed. Zaghlùl, 66fn, 79fn.
Baghdad, 476/1083), who had no particular interest in exaggerating
the size of the ·anbali school, lists AbùD×wùd in the first generation
of ·anbali jurisprudents. 167 Al-Khall×l probably included him in the
earliest ·anbali biographical dictionary, as Ibn AbêYa‘l×certainly
did in the earliest extant one, and Ibn Mufliçal-Q×qùnênames him
alongside half a dozen ·anbali writers.
It is difficult to point to distinctively ·anbali juridical positions
that AbùD×wùd’s Sunan can be seen to endorse. 168 For example, the
early ·anbali school called for raising the hands at the initial takbêrof
the ritual prayer as far as the shoulders. AbùD×wùd relates hadith in
favour both of raising the hands to the ears and to the shoulders,
which might seem to deliberately avoid endorsing the ·anbali posi-
tion; however, Açmad himself does the same. 169 Concerning the pen-
alty for adultery, AbùD×wùd does relate hadith in favour of flogging
and stoning together for the sometime-married adulterer, the ·anbali
position, but no hadith in favour of stoning alone, the position of the
M×liki, Sh×fi‘i, and ·anafi schools. 170 To the contrary, however, the
Sunan includes a notice that AbùD×wùd was asked whether the ritual
prayer at night (voluntary, not required) was to be performed by twos
(mathnà); that is, with a salutation (taslêm) after every two sets of
bowings (rak‘atayn). He said, “If you like, by twos, and, if you like,
by fours.” 171 This is contrary to what he himself related of Açmad,
that the night prayer is by twos. 172
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40 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
167 Al-Shêr×zê,AbùIsç×q, Íabaq×t al-fuqah×’, Içs×n ‘Abb×s (ed.), Beirut, 1970, 171.
168 Al-Maû×hirê,AbùD×wùd, 41-2 for a list of allegedly ·anbali positions, actually
no more than a tendency to rigour.
169 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 721, 724, 728, 730, 737-8, 740, Éal×h115-16, b×b raf‘
al-yadayn fêl-óal×hand b×b iftit×ç al-óal×h; Açmad, Musnad 4:317 31:150-1 with paral-
lels.170 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 4415-16, çudùd23, b×bfêl-rajm. Ibn Rushd names
al-·asan al-Baórê,Isç×qb.R×hawayh, Açmad b. ·anbal, and D×wùd al-Ô×hirêas the
jurisprudents who called for both flogging and stoning: Bid×yat al-mujtahid, Kit×bfê
açk×m al-zin×,b×b2, ‘Abd al-MajêdÍu‘mah ·alabê(ed.), Beirut, 1997, 4:273.
171 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 1296; al-ta÷awwu‘ 13, b×bfêóal×t al-nah×r. Oddly, there
later comes a hadith report from the Prophet expressly confirming that the night prayer is
by twos: n.º 1326, al-ta÷awwu‘ 24, óal×t al-layl mathnà mathnà.
172 Idem, Kit×b Mas×’il, 72. Confirmed as Açmad’s opinion by ‘Abd All×hb.
Açmad, Mas×’il al-im×mAçmad b. ·anbal, Zuhayr al-Sh×wêsh (ed.), Beirut, 1981, 89
and Ibn H×ni’ al-Nays×bùrê,Mas×’il al-im×mAçmad b. ·anbal, Zuhayr al-Sh×wêsh
(ed.), Beirut, 1400, 1:106. M×lik and al-Sh×fi‘êlikewise endorsed praying by twos, Abù
·anêfah by twos, threes, fours, sixes, or eights, according to Ibn Rushd, Bid×yat
al-mujtahid, Kit×b al-Éal×h2, b×b3fêl-naw×fil.
The Sunan includes a few comments on juridical matters from
Açmad; for example, “It pleases me that, in the required prayer, one
pray using what is in the Qur’×n.” 173 The next latest authority he
quotes with any frequency on juridical matters is M×lik. 174 Otherwise,
AbùD×wùd quotes mainly Followers and Companions; e.g. Makçùl,
mentioned above, on letting a man marry for no higher a bride price
than teaching his wife some chapters of the Qur’×n, or Ibr×hêm
al-Nakha‘êand ‘Abd All×h b. Shadd×d (d. 81/700-1) on how often a
woman with an issue of non-menstrual blood need wash herself. 175 At
the level of theory, his express disdain for books of law, as opposed to
hadith, seems highly similar to Açmad’s. 176 His implicit preference for
weak hadith over qiy×s, noted by Ibn ·ajar, likewise sounds very
·anbali. Formal schools of law in the classical sense formed only after
AbùD×wùd’s lifetime, and he plainly did not feel bound to agree with
Açmad on every point. However, it seems safe to say that AbùD×wùd
was as much a ·anbali as any of his contemporaries.
In theology, AbùD×wùd strictly adhered, so far as we know, to ahl
al-sunnah wa-l-jamבah. But he was part of the transition to the catho-
lic Sunnism of the later third/ninth century and after, not so extreme as
his shaykh Açmad b. ·anbal’s Sunnism. He did not discriminate
strictly on theological grounds among traditionists. On the one hand, he
admittedly refused to take dictation from ‘Abd al-Raçm×nb.É×liç,a
Kufan who lived in Baghdad (d. 235/849-50), because “He wrote a
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½41
173 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 884, óal×h149, b×b al-du‘×’fêl-óal×h. Not found by me
in AbùD×wùd, Kit×b Mas×’il.
174 E.g. AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 769, al-óal×h118, b×bm×yustaftaçu bihi l-óal×h
min al-du‘×’: < al-Qa‘nabê<M×lik: “There is no harm in du‘×’in the course of the ritual
prayer, whether at the beginning, middle, or end, in the required or non-required.” Sh×fi‘ê
appears occasionally; e.g. at n.º 1897, al-man×sik 53, b×b÷aw×f al-q×rin.
175 AbùD×wùd, Sunan, n.º 296, ÷ah×rah 111, b×b man q×la tajma‘u bayna
al-óal×tayn.
176 AbùD×wùd quotes Açmad disparaging the ra’y of M×lik and others (Abù
D×wùd, Kit×b Mas×’il, 275-7, 282), but the only book he quotes him as disparaging is
admittedly Abù‘Ubayd, Kit×b al-Gharêb(i.e. Gharêb al-çadêth), which he blames for
distracting people from learning ‘ilm (i.e. hadith; Mas×’il, 282). Açmad’s most striking
disparagement of books comes from ‘Abd All×h: “This Abù·anêfah wrote a book, then
AbùYùsuf came and wrote a book, then Muçammad b. al-·asan (al-Shayb×nê) came and
wrote a book —there is no end to this—. Whenever a man comes along, he writes a book.
This M×lik wrote a book, al-Sh×fi‘êcame and wrote a book, too, and this one (meaning
AbùThawr) has come and written a book. These books that he has written are an innova-
tion. Whenever a man comes along, he writes a book and abandons the hadith of the
Messenger of God” (‘Abd All×h, Mas×’il, 437).
book on the faults of the Companions of the Messenger of God”, a
standard complaint about the Shi‘ah. 177 On the other hand, although he
observed that “Bishr b. al-·×rith would not talk to Sulaym×nb.·arb
because he disparaged Mu‘×wiyah”, AbùD×wùd himself sought him
out in Mecca, as we have seen, and included 56 hadith reports from
him in the Sunan. 178 Conversely, the Basran Açmad b. ‘Abdah b. Mùs×
al-®abbê(d.245/859) was accused of naób, meaning excessive regard
for Mu‘×wiyah and contempt for ‘Alê, yet AbùD×wùd included 17
hadith reports from him in the Sunan. 179 He wrote hadith from Ismבêl
b. Mùs×(d.245/859-60) even though he considered him a Shi‘i and
Wahb b. Muçammad al-Bun×nêeven though he considered him a
Qadari. 180 He did deliberately refuse to write hadith from the Basran
‘Abd al-Raçm×n b. al-Mutawakkil (d.a little after 230/844-5), offering
as explanation that he used to teach alç×n; that is, recitation of the
Qur’×n to tones, rejected by traditionalists. 181 He does not mention
Abù·anêfah or al-Shayb×nêamong the jurisprudents who interest him,
but he speaks less contemptuously than Açmad, again, of Awzבêand
Sufy×n al-Thawrê. He scorned involvement with rulers and rulership,
lamenting that his son AbùBakr should have sought a judgeship; 182 yet
he did accept Muwaffaq’s commission to teach in Basra.
Two stories associate AbùD×wùd with the important renunciant
Sahl b. ‘Abd All×h al-Tustarê(d. Basra, 283/896?). According to one,
Sahl warned AbùD×wùd’s disciple Ibn D×sah that it would do him no
good to collect AbùD×wùd’s hadith and become in his turn an
equally sought-after traditionist. Hearing of it, AbùD×wùd himself
went to visit Sahl. In the course of their conversation, Sahl explained
a troublesome hadith report (“Everyone born is born after the original
nature...”), provoking AbùD×wùd to bend down and kiss his foot. 183
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
42 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
177 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 2:302.
178 Ibidem, 2:51; al-Jayy×nê,Tasmiyah, ed. Zaghlùl, 157.
179 Ibn ·ajar, Tahdhêb, 1:59; al-Jayy×nê,Tasmiyah, ed. Zaghlùl, 154-5.
180 Al-¨jurrê,Su’×l×t, 1:225, 359. Cf. Melchert, “How ·anafism”, 330, on lack of
correlation between orthodoxy and trustworthiness in transmitting hadith as attributed in
the Íabaq×tof Ibn Sa‘d.
181 For Açmad b. ·anbal’s position, v. Melchert, C., “Açmad Ibn ·anbal and the
Qur’×n”, Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 6/2 (2004), 22-34, 25-6.
182 Ibn ‘Adêal-Qa÷÷×n, K×mil, s.n. ‘Abd All×h b. Sulaym×n, ed. ‘Abd al-Mawjùd and
Mu‘awwaÝ, 5:436.
183 Al-Silafê,Muqaddimah, 369-70 (ed. Muçammad, 336-7). AbùD×wùd, Sunan, in-
cludes a variant of this hadith report at n.º 4714, al-Sunnah 17, b×bfêdhar×rê
According to the second story, Sahl came to AbùD×wùd, who wel-
comed him and had him sit down. Sahl asked a favour of him, refus-
ing to name it till AbùD×wùd had agreed to it. The favour he asked
was that he stick out his tongue, with which he had related hadith of
the Messenger of God, for Sahl to kiss. AbùD×wùd dutifully stuck
out his tongue and Sahl kissed it. 184
Sufi literature is replete with fictional meetings. Perhaps the most
famous are those in which al-·asan al-Baórê(d. 110/728) meets
R×bi‘ah al-‘Adawêyah (d. 185/801-2?), related by ‘A÷÷×r(fl. sixth/
twelfth cent.) to establish the superiority of mysticism to mere renun-
ciation. 185 Michael Cooperson has interpreted stories relating Açmad
b. ·anbal and Bishr al-·×fêas a debate over the relative merits of
traditionists and renunciants. 186 Stories relating Sahl and AbùD×wùd
seem most likely to have to do not with a debate between traditionists
and renunciants but rather between the ·an×bilah and S×limêyah
(M×liki in law) over the legacy of Sahl al-Tustarê. The S×limêyah
were a party of renunciants named for Ibn S×lim (d. early 4th/10th
cent.), disciple to Sahl. 187 The ·anbali jurisprudent AbùYa‘l×b.
al-Farr×’ (d. Baghdad, 458/1065) assembled a famous list of their er-
rors. 188 The ·anbali biographical tradition makes out Sahl to have
been master to al-Barbah×rê(d. Baghdad, 329/941), a major
·anbali. 189 The ·an×bilah would have been happy to associate Sahl
with AbùD×wùd, another of theirs, as well. AbùD×wùd is also re-
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THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ABÒD¨WÒD AL-SIJIST¨N½43
l-mushrikên, with a gloss from ·amm×d b. Salamah at n.º 4716 connecting it with the day
when God asked all Adam’s progeny, “Am I not your Lord?” (Q. 46:172). Sahl’s expla-
nation is the usual one, that Jewish and Christian parents mislead their children into be-
coming Jews and Christians, although he goes on to make a less usual point about the rel-
ative responsibilities of parents (great) and Satan (negligible). For a comprehensive
treatment of the problem, v. Gobillot, G., La fi÷ra. La conception originelle. Ses
interprétations et fonctions chez les penseurs musulmans, Cairo, 2000, with special atten-
tion in chaps. 4-5 to Açmad b. ·anbal, who sometimes interpreted “original nature”
(fi÷rah) to mean Islam, as here, but also sometimes to mean God’s predestination.
184 Al-Silafê,Muqaddimah, 370 (ed. Muçammad, 337); Ibn Khallik×n, Wafay×t,
2:404-5.
185 ‘A÷÷×r, The Tadhkiratu l-awliy×’, Reynold A. Nicholson (ed.), London, 1905-7,
1:24-40, 59-73, esp. 64.
186 Cooperson, Classical Arabic biography, chap. 5.
187 Provisionally EI2, s.v. “S×limiyya”, by L. Massignon and B. Radtke.
188 Massignon, L., Essay on the origins of the technical language of Islamic mysti-
cism, Benjamin Clark (transl.), Notre Dame, 1997, 201-3. I expect future research to con-
firm more of the list than Radtke allows in EI2, s.v. “S×limiyya”.
189 Ibn AbêYa‘l×,Íabaq×t, 2:18.
membered as denouncing four renunciants of the late second/eighth
century for Zandaqah, probably meaning secret unbelief. 190
We know almost nothing of AbùD×wùd’s private life. What we
know of his relations with his son AbùBakr is that he supervised his
earliest collection of hadith; that he was pleased to hear from whom
he had first collected hadith on his own, in Tus; that they travelled to-
gether to the Hijaz and Egypt, among other places; and that AbùBakr
eventually disappointed him. His disapproval of AbùBakr’s ambition
to become a q×Ýê has been mentioned already. Of his reliability as a
traditionist, AbùD×wùd is quoted as saying, “This son of mine, ‘Abd
All×h, is a liar (kadhdh×b).” 191
AbùD×wùd seems historically significant mainly insofar as he repre-
sents hadith science in his time. The proportion of hadith from the
Prophet in his Sunan (almost 90 percent), by contrast with the proportion
in, say, Ibn AbêShaybah’s Muóannaf (scarcely 20 percent), illustrates the
rapid shift of attention among the jurisprudents of his time away from
Companion and Follower hadith towards prophetic. His announced con-
cern to provide hadith supporting the juridical opinions of an earlier gen-
eration illustrates a new willingness to make hadith science ancillary to
jurisprudence, all the more notable for AbùD×wùd’s association with the
extremist, ·anbali wing of nascent Sunnism. It contrasts with Açmad b.
·anbal’s conflation of hadith and jurisprudence, expecting hadith to
speak for themselves and disdaining the supposed jurisprudent with a
limited repertory of hadith at his command. (Whether it also illustrates
the way hadith were generated in the first place, mainly to support rules
arrived at earlier by other means, stubbornly remains controversial.) He
seems to have had little time for anything but hadith. It must depend on
personal taste whether stories of his austere living and devotion to fron-
tier warfare make him a more or less attractive figure.
Recibido: 16/11/05
Aceptado: 29/06/06
Al-Qan÷ara (AQ) XXIX 1, enero-junio 2008, pp. 9-44 ISSN 0211-3589
44 CHRISTOPHER MELCHERT
190 Ibn ·ajar, Lis×n, 2:469. For more on these persons and their identification,
Massignon, Essay, 79 and Melchert, C., “Baóran origins of classical Sufism”, Der Islam,
83 (2006), 221-40, 225-6.
191 Ibn ‘Adê,al-K×mil, 5:436, s.n. ‘Abd All×h b. Sulaym×n b. al-Ash‘ath. The trans-
mitter of this from AbùD×wùd is one ‘Alêb. al-·usayn b. al-Junayd, probably the
traditionist and rij×lcritic of Rayy (d. 291/904?), on whom v. al-Dhahabê,Siyar,
14:16-17, with further references.