He went on: “We have recorded every individual about whom criticism has been raised; that is why I have just mentioned Ibn Abī Dāwūd (1).

His own father spoke against him, as did Ibrāhīm ibn Ūrmah, and in the beginning he was thought to incline toward a measure of nasb (anti-ʿAlid sentiment). Ibn al-Furāt expelled him from Baghdad to Wāsiṭ, but the vizier ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā later brought him back. After his return he taught hadith and openly proclaimed the virtues of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him. He then adopted the Hanbalī school, became a shaykh among them, and is regarded as acceptable by the hadith scholars.

As for his father’s remarks about him, I do not know what evidence led him to that view (2). I heard ʿAbdān say: I heard Abū Dāwūd remark,
“Part of our affliction is that ʿAbdullāh is seeking the judgeship.”

Ibn ʿAdī: ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Dāhirī informed us; I heard Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr Kurkurah; I heard ʿAlī (3) ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Junayd; I heard Abū Dāwūd say, “My son ʿAbdullāh is a liar.” (4)

Ibn Ṣāʿid said, “What his own father has said about him suffices for us.” (5)

Ibn ʿAdī: I heard Mūsā ibn al-Qāsim al-Ashyab say: “Abū Bakr related to me; I heard Ibrāhīm al-Iṣbahānī declare, ‘Abū Bakr ibn Abī Dāwūd is a liar.’” (6)

Ibn ʿAdī: I heard Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī. Abū Bakr ibn Abī Dāwūd had written him a note asking about the exact wording of a hadith transmitted by his grandfather. When he read the note he said, “By Allah, in my estimation you have been stripped of knowledge.” (7)