Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
Qurʾān Bukhārī Muslim Nasāʾī Abū Dāwūd Tirmidhī Ibn Mājah Mālik Aḥmad Dārimī Ḥākim Ibn Ḥibbān Ṭabarānī Nasāʾī's Kubrá Bayhaqī al-Luʾluʾ wa-al-Marjān Ibn Rajab's Fifty Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn Aḥmad's Zuhd Suyūṭī
abudawud:2757 – Muḥammad b. al-Ṣabbāḥ al-Bazzāz > ʿAbd al-Raḥman b. Abū al-Zinād > Abū al-Zinād > al-Aʿraj > Abū Hurayrah

Abu Hurarirah reported the Apostle of Allaah ﷺ as saying “A Muslim ruler is shield by which a battle is fought.”  

أبو داود:٢٧٥٧ – حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الصَّبَّاحِ الْبَزَّازُ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ عَنْ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ عَنِ الأَعْرَجِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ إِنَّمَا الإِمَامُ جُنَّةٌ يُقَاتَلُ بِهِ  

See similar narrations below:

Collected by Bayhaqī, Suyūṭī
bayhaqi:18816 – Abū ʿAlī al-Rūdhbārī > Abū Bakr b. Dāsah > Abū Dāwud > Muḥammad b. al-Ṣabbāḥ > ʿAbd al-Raḥman b. Abū al-Zinād > Abū al-Zinād > al-Aʿraj > Abū Hurayrah

Abu Hurarirah reported the Apostle of Allaah ﷺ as saying “A Muslim ruler is shield by which a battle is fought.” (Using translation from Abū Dāʾūd 2757)   

البيهقي:١٨٨١٦ – أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَلِيٍّ الرُّوذْبَارِيُّ أنبأ أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ دَاسَةَ ثنا أَبُو دَاوُدَ ثنا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الصَّبَّاحِ ثنا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ عَنْ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ عَنِ الْأَعْرَجِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ؓ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ إِنَّمَا الْإِمَامُ جُنَّةٌ يُقَاتَلُ بِهِ