Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ishaq as-Saghani and Ibrahim al-Harbi said, “When Abu Dawud compiled the book al-Sunan, hadith was made pliant for him just as iron was made pliant for David, peace be upon him. (1)

Al-Hakim related: I heard az-Zubayr ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Musa say—having heard it from Muhammad ibn Makhlad—‘Abu Dawud could engage in discussion over one hundred thousand hadiths. After he produced his Sunan and read it to the people, his book became for the hadith scholars like the Mushaf: they followed it and did not diverge from it, and the scholars of his age acknowledged his superior memorisation and pre-eminence in the field.’ (2)

Al-Hafiz Musa ibn Harun said, ‘Abu Dawud was created in this world for hadith, and in the Hereafter for Paradise.’

‘Allan ibn ‘Abd as-Samad said, ‘I heard Abu Dawud, and he was one of the knights of hadith.’

Abu Hatim ibn Hibban remarked, ‘Abu Dawud is one of the foremost imams of the world in jurisprudence, knowledge, memorisation, devotion, piety, and precision. He collected, authored, and defended the Sunan. (3)

Al-Hafiz Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Mandah stated, ‘Those who extracted and distinguished the sound from the defective and the correct from the erroneous are four: al-Bukhari, Muslim, then Abu Dawud, and an-Nasa’i.’

Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Hakim said, ‘Abu Dawud was the undisputed imam of the hadith scholars in his era. He heard hadiths in Egypt, the Hijaz, Syria, the two Iraqs (4), and Khurasan, and he wrote…’