Sunan Abi Dawud 2843
سنن أبي داود#2843Sahihحَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ، حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ، حَدَّثَنِي أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ بُرَيْدَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبِي بُرَيْدَةَ، يَقُولُ كُنَّا فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ إِذَا وُلِدَ لأَحَدِنَا غُلاَمٌ ذَبَحَ شَاةً وَلَطَخَ رَأْسَهُ بِدَمِهَا فَلَمَّا جَاءَ اللَّهُ بِالإِسْلاَمِ كُنَّا نَذْبَحُ شَاةً وَنَحْلِقُ رَأْسَهُ وَنَلْطَخُهُ بِزَعْفَرَانٍ .
Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib: When a boy was born to one of us in the pre-Islamic period, we sacrificed a sheep and smeared his head with its blood; but when Allah brought Islam, we sacrificed a sheep, shaved his head and smeared his head with saffron
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
In-book reference: 16:56