Important Sources of Sīrah

• Siḥāḥ Sittah: It is the collection of the six most important and widely acknowledged works of Ḥadīth and individually these all are known by the name of their compiler, such as-

i) Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī by Imām Bukhārī (194 H-256 H).

ii) Ṣaḥīḥ al-Muslim by Imām Muslim (206 H – 261 H).

iii) Sunan Abī Dāwūd by Imām abū Dāwūd (202 H- 275 H).

iv) Sunan al-Nasāī’ by Imām Nasāī` (214 H- 303 H).

v) Sunan al-Tirmidhī by Imām al-Tirmidhī (209 H- 279 H)

vi) Sunan ibn Mājah by Imām ibn Mājah (207 H- 275 H)

3. Al-Maghāzī and Sīrah Literature

The third most important source of gaining information about the life and activities of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is the early written accounts which were popular by the name al-Maghāzī. Although these books were lost over the course of time, their references can be found in the later works of Sīrah. The very early scholars who engaged themselves in collecting Sīrah material and earned recognition as the pioneering writers of the Prophetic Sīrah who paved the way for later generations in this dimension were Abān ibn ‘Uthmān (d. 105 H), ‘Urwah Ibn al-Zubair (d. ca. 92 H), Shuraḥbīl ibn S‘ad (d. 123 H), Wahb ibn Munabbih (34 H-114 H), ‘Abdullah ibn Abī Bakr ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥazm (d. 130/135 H), ‘Āsim ibn ‘Umar ibn Qatādah (d. 120 H), Muḥammad ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (58 H-124 H); his three disciples, Mūsā ibn ‘Uqbah (d. 141 H), M‘amar ibn Rāshid (95 H-153 H) and Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (d. ca.152 H).

The second generation of Maghāzī writers consists of Abū M‘ashar al-Sindī (d. 171 H), Muḥammad ibn S‘ad (168 H-230 H), the author of al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā and Muḥammad ibn ‘Umar al-Wāqidī (130 H-207 H) whose Maghāzī was the first manuscript on Sīrah which was completely handed as down to us. But, it is mainly focused on the period related to the life of Madīnah of Prophet Muḥammad (SAW) therefore it could not be regarded as a complete biography of Prophet Muḥammad (SAW). Before him, the Sīrah of ibn Isḥāq (d. ca.152 H) had been written but, it has not come down to us in its original form and we know it only through the version of ‘Abdul Malik ibn Hishām (d. 213/218 H).

In the third generation, the most important Sīrah writer is ‘Abdul Malik ibn Hishām (d. 213/218 H). He used the word Sīrah for the first time to refer to the biography of Prophet Muḥammad (SAW) and named it “Al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah” which became popular by the name “Sīrah of Ibn Hishām”. Actually, it is an abridged version of the Sīrah of ibn Isḥāq.[7]

After that, numerous works have been compiled using these works as the main source on the topic of Sīrah throughout the world almost in every language.

Some Other Sources:

In addition to these three main sources, there are some other important sources of Sīrah of Prophet Muḥammad (SAW) life such as:

Books of History

Books that deal with Islamic history played an important role in collecting information in this relation. Some of the important books are given below:

a) Tārīkh al-Umam wal Mulūk (well-known as Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī) by Abū J‘afar Muḥammad ibn jarīr al-Ṭabarī (224-310 H).

b) Tārīkh al-Islām wa Wafyāt al-Mashāhīr wal Ā‘alām (popularly known as Tārīkh al-Dhahbī) by al-Ḥāfiẓ Shamsuddīn Muḥammad bin Aḥmad bin ‘Uthmān al-Dhahbī (673-748 H).

c) Al- Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah by Ḥāfiẓ ‘Amāduddīn abū al Fidā’ Ismā‘aīl ibn ‘Umar bin Kathīr (701-774 H).

d) Tārīkh al-Khulafā’ by Ḥāfiẓ Jalāluddīn al-Suyūṭī (849-911 H).

Books of Commentary (Tafāsīr)

The Companions of Prophet Muḥammad (SAW) who engaged themselves in this work and became popular were Khulafā’ al-Rāshidūn (the rightly guided Caliphs), Ibn Mas‘ūd, Ibn ‘Abbās, Ubaī bin K‘ab, Zaid bin Thābit, Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī, ‘Abdullah bin al-Zubair bin al-‘Awwām, etc.[8] Some well-known commentaries are:

a) Tafsīr ibn Jarīr by Abu J‘afar Muḥammad ibn Jarīral-Ṭabarī (224-310 H).

b) Al-Kashshāf ‘an Ḥaqāi’q al-Tanzīl wa ‘Uyūn al-Aqāwīl fī Wujūh al-Ta’wīl by Imām Abū al-Qāsim Jār Allah Muḥammad bin ‘Umar al-Zamakhsharī (467-538 H).

c) Tafsīr Ibn al-‘Arabī by Shaikh Muḥīuddīn Muḥammad ibn al-‘Arabī (560-638 H).

d) Tafsīr al-Baiḍāwī by al-Imām al-Qāḍī Nāṣiruddīn ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar bin Muḥammad bin ‘Alī al-Shīrāzī al-Baiḍāwī (d. 685 H). 

e) Tafsīr ibn Kathīr by Al-Imān abul Fidā’ Ismā‘aīl ibn ‘Umar bin Kathīr (701-774 H).

f) Tafsīr al- Jalālain by ‘Allāmah Jalāluddīn Muḥammad bin Aḥmad al-Maḥallī (d.864 H) and Jalāluddīn al-Suyūṭī (849-911 H).

Books of Asmā’ al-Rijāl

a) Ṭabaqāt ibn S‘ad by Muḥammad ibn S‘ad (d. 230 H).

b) Tārīkh al-Faswī (known by al-M‘arifah wa al-Tārīkh) by Y‘aqūb bin Sufyān al-Faswī (d. 277 H).

c) Tārīkh ibn abī Khaithamah by al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Imām Aḥmad bin Zuhair bin Ḥarb al-Nisāi’ī (d.279 H).

d) Tārīkh abū Zur‘ah by ‘Abdur Raḥmān bin ‘Amr bin ‘Abdullah al-Naṣrī al-Dimashqī (d. 281).

e) Tārīkh ‘Alī bin al-Ḥussain al-Rāzī by ‘Alī bin al-Ḥussain al-Rāzī (d. 291 H).

f) Al-Tārīkh by al-Imām Abū Bashar Muḥammad bin Aḥmad al-Dūlābī (224-310 H).

g) Istī‘āb fī M‘arfah al-Aṣḥāb by al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū ‘Umar Yūsuf bin ‘Abdul Barr al-Andalusī (368-463 H).

h) Usud al-Ghābah fī m‘arfati al-Ṣaḥābah by Imām ‘Izzuddīn abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Muḥammad al-Jundī, (widely known by the name ibn Al-Athīr (555-630 H).

i) Mīzān al-I‘atidāl fī Naqd al-Rijāl by Shamsuddīn Abū ‘Abdullah Muḥammad bin Aḥmad al-Dhahbī (d. 748 H)

j) Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb by ibn Ḥajar al-‘Asqalānī (773-852 H).

k) Ḥilyatul A’awliyā’ by Abū Nu‘aim al-Aṣbahānī (d. 430 H).

Books of Shamāi’l

a) Shamāi’l al-Tirmidhī by Imām Muḥammad bin ‘Ῑsā al-Tirmidhī (d. 279 H).

b) Al-Shamāi’l by Abū Bakr bin al-Muqrī’ Muḥammad bin Ibrahīm bin ‘Alī (d. 381 H).

c) Al-Hudā al-Nabawī by Abū Nu‘aim al-Aṣbahānī (d. 430 H).

d) Al-Anwār fī Shamāi’l al-Nabī al-Mukhtār by ‘Allāmah Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥussain bin Mas‘ūd al-Baghwī (d. 516 H).

e) Al-Shifā’ bi T‘arīf Ḥuqūq al- Muṣṭafā by Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ al-Andalusī (476-544 H).

f) Al-Shamāi’l by Abu al-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Muḥammad Ibrahīm bin al-Ḍiḥāk al-Fazārī (d. 552/553/557 H).

Books of Dalāi’l

a) A’‘alām al-Nubuwwah by Dāwūd bin ‘Alī al-Aṣbahānī (d. 270 H).

b) A’‘alām al-Nubuwwah by Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī (202- 275 H).

c) Dalāi’l al-Nubuwwah by Ḥāfiẓ Abu al-Qāsim Sulaimān bin Aḥmad al-Ṭabarānī (d.360 H).

 d) Dalāi’l al-Nubuwwah by Abū Nu‘aim al-Aṣbahānī (336-430 H).

e) A’‘alām al-Nubuwwah by Al-Māwardī al-Shafa‘ī (d.450 H).

f) Dalāi’l al-Nubuwwah by Ḥāfiẓ Aḥmad bin Ḥussain Baihaqī (d. 458 H).

Books of Āthār and Akhbār

a) Akhbār Makkah by ‘Allamah Azraqī (d. 223 H).

b) I‘alām al-A‘alām by ‘Allāmah Quṭubuddīn (d. 986 H).

Contemporary Poetry

The poetry that was composed during Prophet’s (SAW) era is also among the important sources of Sīrah which played a significant role in collecting the material concerning his blessed life. Some most prominent names in this context are: Abū Ṭālib (d. 620AD – A.D), A‘ashā (d. 7 H), K‘ab bin Zuhair (d. 26 H) who said the famous eulogistic poetry Qaṣīdah Burdah, Ḥassān bin Thābit (d. 54 H), ‘Abdullah bin Rawāḥah (d. 8 H), K‘ab bin Mālik (d. 50 H), etc.