Sulayman ibn al-Ash'ath al-Sijistani was born in 817 CE and traveled widely in pursuit of hadith across the Hijaz, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Khurasan, studying under leading traditionists of his era, including Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
Abu Dawud specialized in collecting hadiths specifically bearing on legal rulings, compiling his 'Sunan' by selecting roughly five thousand traditions out of some five hundred thousand he examined, and noting the authenticity grade of each.
Legacy
He settled in Basra as a teacher until his death in 889 CE. His 'Sunan Abi Dawud' became one of the six canonical hadith collections and a primary reference for jurists deriving legal rulings.
