Imam Abu Dawud’s Methodology in Presenting Expressions of Doubt (Shakk) and Their Attribution to Narrators

-, Abdullah Khaled Faiz Almodares; -, Mohammed Khalid Mustafa Gardi

doi:10.34278/aujis.2026.192232

	Imam Abu Dawud’s Methodology in Presenting Expressions of Doubt (Shakk) and Their Attribution to Narrators
Anbar University Journal of Islamic Sciences
Article 8, Volume 17, Issue 3, September 2026, Pages 1870-1893 PDF (4.01 M)
DOI: 10.34278/aujis.2026.192232
Authors
Abdullah Khaled Faiz Almodares -; Mohammed Khalid Mustafa Gardi -
Salahaddin University-Erbil / College of Islamic Sciences
Abstract
This Paper Explores the methodology of Imam Abū Dāwūd in recording expressions of doubt found in his Sunan and attributing them to the narrators, as this issue represents one of the subtle and intricate matters related to the science of hidden defects (ʿIlal), as well as the precision of texts and chains of transmission. The study adopts an inductive-analytical approach by tracing and collecting the hadiths in Sunan Abū Dāwūd that contain expressions of doubt, then analyzing his method of presenting them and commenting on them. The study concludes that Imam Abū Dāwūd did not devote an independent chapter to expressions of doubt, nor did he articulate explicit theoretical rules for them. However, his practical methodology reveals precise principles, most notably: preserving expressions of doubt exactly as transmitted from the narrator, indicating their location when necessary, remaining silent regarding doubt that does not affect legal judgment, and refraining from preferring one wording over another unless supported by a recognized indication. The importance of this study lies in highlighting the precision of Abū Dāwūd’s methodology and his scholarly integrity in transmitting narrations, as well as its contribution to understanding how hadith scholars dealt with expressions of hesitation and doubt
Keywords
doubt; hesitation; inconsistency; hidden defect (ʿillah); narrator

References
After the Holy Quran. Ibn al-Ṣalaḥ. (1986). Marifat Anwa Ulum al-Ḥadith. 1nd ed. ed. Nur al-Din Itr. Dar al-Fikr al-Muaṣir. Ibn Ḥajar al-Asqalani. (2014). Tahdhib al-Tahdhib. 1nd ed. Prepared by Ibrahim al-Zaybaq & Adil Murshid. Beirut: Muassasat al-Risalah. Ibn Ḥajar al-Asqalani. (1390 AH). Fatḥ al-Bari Sharḥ Ṣaḥiḥ al-Bukhari. 1nd ed. Egypt: al-Maktabah al-Salafiyyah. Ibn Khallikan al-Barmaki al-Irbili. (1990). Wafayat al-Ayan wa-Anba Abna al-Zaman. 1nd ed. ed. Iḥsan Abbas. Beirut: Dar Ṣadir. Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi. (2002). Rawḍat al-Naẓir wa-Jannat al-Manaẓir fi Uṣul al-Fiqh ala Madhhab al-Imam Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. 1nd ed. Intro. & ed. Shuban Muḥammad Ismail. n.p.: Muassasat al-Rayyan. Aḥmad b. Faris b. Zakariyya. (1389 AH). Mujam Maqayis al-Lughah. 2nd ed. ed. Abd al-Salam Muḥammad Harun. Cairo: Maṭbaat Muṣṭafa al-Babi al-Ḥalabi. al-Raghib al-Aṣfahani. (1412 AH). al-Mufradat fi Gharib al-Quran. 1nd ed. ed. Ṣafwan Adnan al-Dawudi. Damascus: Dar al-Qalam; Beirut: al-Dar al-Shamiyyah. Ibn Asakir. (1995). Tarikh Madinat Dimashq. 1nd ed. ed. Muḥibb al-Din Abu Said al-Amrawi. Damascus: Dar al-Fikr. Abu Dawud al-Sijistani. (2009). al-Sunan. 1nd ed. ed. Shuayb al-Arnauṭ & Muḥammad Kamil Qara Ballali. n.p.: Dar al-Risalah al-Alamiyyah. Abu Dawud al-Sijistani. (n.d.). al-Sunan. n.ed. ed. Muḥyi al-Din Abd al-Ḥamid. Beirut: al-Maktabah al-Aṣriyyah. Abu Dawud al-Sijistani. (n.d.). Risalat Abi Dawud ila Ahl Makkah wa-Ghayrihim fi Waṣf Sunanih. n.ed. ed. Muḥammad al-Ṣabbagh. Beirut: Dar al-Arabiyyah. al-Nawawi. (n.d.). Tahdhib al-Asma wa-al-Lughat. n.ed. Beirut: Idarat al-Ṭibaah al-Maniriyyah (Cairo), repr. Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah. al-Samani. (1988). al-Ansab. 1nd ed. Intro. & notes Abd Allah Umar al-Barudi. Beirut: Dar al-Jinan & Dar al-Fikr. al-Azhari. (2001). Tahdhib al-Lughah. 1nd ed. ed. Muḥammad Awaḍ Murib. Beirut: Dar Iḥya al-Turath al-Arabi. Ismail Basha al-Babani. (1955). Hadiyyat al-Arifin Asma al-Muallifin wa-Athar al-Muṣannifin. n.ed. Istanbul: Wikalat al-Maarif. Ismail b. Ḥammad al-Jawhari. (1987). al-Ṣiḥaḥ: Taj al-Lughah wa-Ṣiḥaḥ al-Arabiyyah. 4nd ed. ed. Aḥmad Abd al-Ghafur Aṭṭar. Beirut: Dar al-Ilm li-al-Malayin. al-Suyuṭi. (2006). Tadrib al-Rawi fi Sharḥ Taqrib al-Nawawi. ed. Aḥmad Umar Hashim; takhrij Aḥmad Inayah. Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi. al-Mizzi. (1980). Tahdhib al-Kamal fi Asma al-Rijal. 1nd ed. ed. Bashshar Awwad Maruf. Beirut: Muassasat al-Risalah. al-Khaṭib al-Baghdadi. (2002). Tarikh Madinat al-Salam (Tarikh Baghdad). 1nd ed. ed. Bashshar Awwad. Lebanon: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami. al-Khalil b. Aḥmad. (n.d.). Kitab al-Ayn. n.ed. ed. Mahdi al-Makhzumi & Ibrahim al-Samarrai. n.p.: Maktabat al-Hilal. Rifat Fawzi. (2011). al-Madkhal ila Manahij al-Muḥaddithin: al-Usus wa-al-Taṭbiq. 2nd ed. Cairo: Dar al-Salam. Ziyad Awwad Abu Ḥammad. (2002). “Al-Ḍabṭ inda al-Muḥaddithin wa-Atharuh fi al-Rawi wa-al-Marwi.” Majallat Jamiat Dimashq, vol. 18, no. 2, Syria. Abd al-Aziz Muḥammad. (2022). Manahij al-Muḥaddithin fi al-Taṣnif. 1nd ed. Istanbul: Uzum Digital. Mahir Yasin al-Faḥl. (1431 AH). al-Jami fi al-Ilal wa-al-Fawaid. 1nd ed. Dammam: Dar Ibn al-Jawzi. al-Dhahabi. (2003). Tarikh al-Islam. 1nd ed. ed. Bashshar Awwad Maruf. Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami. al-Dhahabi. (1998). Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffaẓ. 1nd ed. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah. al-Dhahabi. (1985). Siyar Alam al-Nubala. 3nd ed. ed. Shuayb al-Arnauṭ et al. Beirut: Muassasat al-Risalah. Muḥammad b. Ismail al-Ṣanani. (1997). Tawḍiḥ al-Afkar li-Maani Tanqiḥ al-Anẓar. 1nd ed. ed. Ṣalaḥ b. Muḥammad b. Uwayḍah. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah. Ibn Ḥibban al-Busti. (1973). al-Thiqat. 1nd ed. Hyderabad: Dairat al-Maarif al-Uthmaniyyah. Muḥammad Luṭfi al-Ṣabbagh. (1395 AH). “Abu Dawud: Ḥayatuh wa-Sunanuh.” Majallat al-Buḥuth al-Islamiyyah, no. 1, Riyadh. Muḥammad Muḥammadi b. Muḥammad Jamil al-Nurastani. (2008). al-Madkhal ila Sunan al-Imam Abi Dawud. 1nd ed. Kuwait: Maktab al-Shuun al-Fanniyyah.
Statistics Article View: 55 PDF Download: 52