Sunan Abi Dawud 2757
سنن أبي داود#2757Sahihحَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الصَّبَّاحِ الْبَزَّازُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ، عَنْ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ، عَنِ الأَعْرَجِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " إِنَّمَا الإِمَامُ جُنَّةٌ يُقَاتَلُ بِهِ " .
Abu Hurarirah reported the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) as saying “A Muslim ruler is shield by which a battle is fought.”
Scholarly Authentication
We show the most cautious grade (weakest-wins) as the overall label. Individual scholars graded it as follows:
Al-AlbaniSahih
Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul HamidSahih
Zubair Ali ZaiIsnaad Hasan
In-book reference: 15:281