The principal biographical chronology places Dawud al-Zahiri’s birth in 200 AH / 815–816 CE.

Sources: [2] Hadith-biographical chronology, [3] Classical chronology, [7] 200 AH principal birth date

Some biographical sources instead give 202 AH / 817–818 CE for Dawud’s birth.

Sources: [1] Variant chronology, [2] Biographical variant, [7] 202 AH alternative

Dawud was born in Kufa to a family remembered as being of Isfahani origin.

Sources: [2] Identity, [3] Baghdad biography, [7] Isfahani family origin and Kufan birth

Abu Thawr was one of the important jurists from whom Dawud studied.

Sources: [2] Teacher network, [7] Abu Thawr among teachers, [10] Shafii-oriented formation

Dawud travelled to Nishapur to study with Ishaq ibn Rahwayh.

Sources: [1] Classical biography, [7] Journey to Nishapur for Ishaq, [10] Eastern traditionalist formation

Dawud was strongly influenced by al-Shafii’s legal thought and defense of hadith, but chronology excludes a direct teacher-student relationship between them.

Sources: [7] Initial strong Shafii affiliation, [9] Zahiri origins, [10] Development from Shafii legal thought

Dawud rejected qiyas as an independent method of extending legal rulings beyond the cases addressed by revelation.

Sources: [6] Defining Zahiri principle, [7] Complete rejection of qiyas, [9] Anti-qiyas legal theory

Dawud rejected blind taqlid and required juristic judgments to remain accountable to evidence.

Sources: [6] Anti-taqlid principle, [7] Ibtal al-taqlid and doctrine, [9] Zahiri legal authority

Dawud restricted binding ijma to the consensus of the Companions.

Sources: [6] Zahiri consensus doctrine, [7] Ijma limited to Companions, [9] Legal theory

Dawud was the founder of the legal tradition later known as the Zahiri school.

Sources: [6] Systematization begins with Dawud, [7] Founder of Zahiri school, [10] Personal-school formation

The early school was initially known as the Dawudiyya before the name Zahiriyya became dominant.

Sources: [6] Early name Dawudiyya, [9] School naming history, [10] Personal school development

Modern reconstruction suggests that Dawud’s concept of dalil relied on textual and linguistic indication rather than ordinary analogical qiyas.

Sources: [5] Reconstruction of dalil method, [6] Debate over clear analogy and textual implication, [9] Zahiri terminology

Classical sources report that Ahmad ibn Hanbal refused to receive Dawud after hearing reports about Dawud’s formulation concerning the Qurʾan.

Sources: [3] Classical Baghdad narrative, [7] Ahmad refused Dawud’s visit, [10] Qurʾan controversy

The exact theological formulation attributed to Dawud concerning the createdness, pronunciation or temporal occurrence of the Qurʾan is transmitted inconsistently and remains disputed.

Sources: [3] Classical report, [7] Conflicting formulations in sources, [10] Doctrinal reconstruction

Biographical works report that roughly four hundred students attended Dawud’s teaching sessions.

Sources: [1] Classical biography, [3] Teaching reputation, [7] Approximately 400 attendees

Ibn al-Nadim and later bibliographers list roughly one hundred and fifty works under Dawud’s name, though some entries may represent subdivisions or short treatises.

Sources: [7] About 150 works listed, [10] Early legal literature, [11] Bibliographical titles

None of Dawud’s known works survives intact, so his legal theory must be reconstructed from later quotations and transmission.

Sources: [7] No complete work survives, [9] Reconstructed doctrine, [11] Bibliographical corpus

Bibliographical scholarship credits Dawud with an early biography of al-Shafii, often described in modern scholarship as the first major biography devoted to a Muslim jurist.

Sources: [9] Dawud and Shafii tradition, [10] Modern identification as earliest major jurist biography, [11] Early Shafii biography attribution

The Zahiri school developed a real teaching network in Baghdad and later found followers in Iraq, the eastern Islamic world, North Africa and al-Andalus.

Sources: [6] School diffusion and later Ibn Hazm, [7] Baghdad and later regional spread, [9] History of Zahiri movement

Dawud al-Zahiri died in Baghdad in Ramadan 270 AH / March 884 CE and was buried in the Shuniziyya cemetery.

Sources: [2] Classical chronology, [3] Death in Baghdad, [7] Ramadan 270 AH / March 884