His Doctrine on the Attributes:

Imam Abu Dawud—may Allah have mercy on him—held the doctrine of the Salaf in affirming the attributes and negating [any inquiry into] their modality, just as was the doctrine of his teacher Imam Ahmad and most of the scholars of that era and those before it among the jurists and hadith scholars. It is the doctrine upon which the righteous Salaf were agreed, and which the four followed imams and the generality of the people of hadith adopted.

Indeed, al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi mentioned that Imam Abu Dawud was upon the doctrine of the Salaf in following the Sunnah and submitting to it, and in refraining from delving into the narrow straits of theological speculation (1).

Imam Abu Dawud also cited in the Book of the Sunnah within his Sunan hadiths that bear witness to and support the doctrine of the Salaf, as well as what he transmitted in his Masa'il from Imam Ahmad and other scholars of the Salaf in refuting the Jahmiyyah, the Mu'attilah, the Qadariyyah, the Khawarij, and the Mu'tazilah regarding what they held of theological matters such as al-'Uluww (divine elevation), al-Ru'yah (the vision [of Allah]), and the attributes—all of which clearly indicates that he was proceeding upon the doctrine of the Salaf and Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah. May Allah have abundant mercy upon him.

Abu Tahir al-Silafi narrated with his chain of transmission to Muhammad ibn Raja' al-Basri, who said: I said to Abu Dawud al-Sijistani: "I do not see that you narrated from al-Ramadi." He replied: "I saw him keeping company with the Waqifah, so I did not narrate from him."

Al-Silafi commented on that: This al-Ramadi is Ahmad ibn Mansur, one of the distinguished hadith memorizers and trustworthy scholars of Islam. Abu Dawud refrained from narrating from him due to his keeping company with the Waqifah.

--------------------------------------------
(1) "Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'" 13/215.