The Life of Imaam Abu Dawood Sajistaani

Imaam Abu Dawood’s (R.A) name is Sulaymaan Ibn Al-Ash’ath ibn Ishaaq ibn Basheer ibn shaddaad in Amr ibn Imraan (R.A) He was born in Sajistaan and is thus known as Sajistani and Sajzee.


He is of the famous tribe of Azd of Yemen. His clan, a branch of the Azd tribe, settled at the foot of Kirmaan range at a place called Qafs.It is not known precisely which of his ancestors had accepted Islaam. It is however established that his fore-father Imraan had fought on the side of Hadhrat Ali (R.A) in the battle of Siffeen.


The Historian Ibn Khalliqah says that he is from Sajistan. Shah Abdul Aziz says that he is from Sayastaan which is a province between Sind and Herat in present day Afghan.Yaqoot Hamawi says that Sajistan is a vast province in southern Khuraasaan on the banks of the lake Batieera Zarrah.This third view is most correct. For this reason he is known as Abu Dawood Sajistani and as Abu Dawood Sijzee.In any case, he was born in Sajstan. His son Abdullaah was born here in 230 A.H. Some time after this he moved to Basrah. He frequently traveled to Baghdad. His last trip to Baghdad was in 271 A.H. He returned to Basrah where he lived till his end.On his final return to Basrah, Abu Ahmad Muwaffaq, the govenor, requested him to permanently settle there so that Basrah may become a center of Ilm for students from all over the Muslim lands, and to teach Kitaab-us-Sunan to his sons. He further requested the noble Imaam to teach his sons privately since they were princes. Imaam Saheb acceded to the first two conditions but rejected the third saying: “In the matter of Ilm all are equal.” Consequently the princes would sit with the rest of the students while studying under him.