The Ha'iyya of Ibn Abi Dawud

The Ha'iyya of Ibn Abi Dawud: A Poem on the Beliefs of the Salaf

The treatise Ha'iyya ibn Abi Dawud is considered one of the best early works in the study of 'Aqidah. It comprehensively covers the essential topics of creed, including the importance of adhering to the Book of Allah and the Prophetic Sunnah, avoiding innovations (bid'ah) and heresies (muhdathat), and refuting the early heretical groups that differed with Ahlus Sunnah.

Why a Poem

Because it was written to be memorized.

Before printing, creed was carried in the memory of ordinary Muslims rather than on shelves, and verse is what made that possible — meter and rhyme fix a text in a way prose does not. A student who had committed the Ha'iyya to memory carried a complete summary of Sunni belief with him wherever he went.

That is why the great creedal works of the early period are so often poems, and it is why this one has survived for eleven centuries.

Its Author

Ibn Abi Dawud was the son of Imam Abu Dawud, compiler of the Sunan. He wrote at a period when the disputes over creed were live and dangerous, and the poem names the groups it is refuting rather than dealing in generalities.

Who It Is For

Students of creed, and anyone who wants a compact and authoritative statement of what Ahlus Sunnah hold. Its brevity is the point — this is a text to learn rather than to consult.

Related Reading

• A Summary of the Creed of As-Salaf As-Salih — the creed of the Salaf, summarized in prose
• Sunni and Shiah Perspective on Islam — Sunni and Shia positions compared
• The Beautiful Names of Allah — the Beautiful Names of Allah