The Ḥā’iyya of Ibn Abī Dāwūd: A Poem on the Beliefs of the Salaf

The treatise "Ḥā’iyya ibn Abi Dāwūd" is considered one of the best early works in the study of ‘Aqīda.
It comprehensively covers essential topics of creed, including the importance of adhering to the Book of Allah and the Prophetic Sunnah, avoiding innovations (Bid'a) and heresies (Muḥdathāt), and refuting early heretical groups that differed with the creed held by the early generations of the Companions, their successors the Tābi‘ūn, and those who followed their guidance.

The Ḥā’iyya comprises thirty-three verses, wherein the author, may Allah have mercy upon him, aimed to clarify the beliefs of the early generations and the scholars of his time. After composing this poetic work, he stated that what he had presented was not only his belief, but that of his father Abū Dāwūd (famous author of the Sunan), Imam Aḥmad, and all the scholars that preceded them.

The author of this work, ‘Abdullah ibn Sulaimān ibn al-Ash‘ath al-Sijistāni, famously known as Abu Bakr Ibn Abi Dāwūd, was a well-respected scholar and a prominent Ḥāfiẓ of ḥadīth. He was acknowledged and esteemed by his peers and teachers for his knowledge. He was born in the year 230 AH and died in the year 316 AH at eighty-six.