Sirah Of The Prophet Muhammad

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AlSīra al-Nabawiyya (Arabic: السيرة النبوية), commonly shortened to Sīrah and translated as prophetic biography, are the traditional Muslim biographies of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from which, in addition to the Quran and Hadiths, most historical information about his life and the early period of Islam is derived.

The most striking issue about the life of Muhammad and early Islamic history is that the source information emerged as the irregular products of the storytelling culture and the increasing progress of the details over the centuries. Lawrence Conrad examines the biography books written in the early post-oral period and sees that a time period of 85 years is exhibited in these works regarding the date of Muhammad's birth. Conrad defines this as "the fluidity (evolutionary process) is still continuing" in the story.[1]

In the Arabic language the word sīrah or sīrat (Arabic: سيرة) comes from the verb sāra, which means to travel or to be on a journey. A person's sīrah is that person's journey through life, or biography, encompassing their birth, events in their life, manners and characteristics, and their death. In modern usage it may also refer to a person's resume. It is sometimes written as "seerah", "sirah" or "sirat", all meaning "life" or "journey". In Islamic literature, the plural form, siyar, could also refer to the rules of war and dealing with non-Muslims.[4]

The sīrah literature includes a variety of heterogeneous materials, containing mainly narratives of military expeditions undertaken by Muhammad and his companions. These stories are intended as historical accounts and are used for veneration. The sīrah also includes a number of written documents, such as political treaties (e.g., Treaty of Hudaybiyyah or Constitution of Medina), military enlistments, assignments of officials, letters to foreign rulers, and so forth. It also records some of the speeches and sermons made by Muhammad, like his speech at the Farewell Pilgrimage. Some of the sīrah accounts include verses of poetry commemorating certain events and battles.[4]

Parts of sīrah were inspired by, or elaborate upon, events mentioned in the Qur'an. These parts were often used by writers of tafsir and asbab al-nuzul to provide background information for events mentioned in certain ayat.[4]

In terms of structure, a hadith and a historical report (khabar) are very similar; they both contain isnads (chains of transmission). The main difference between a hadith and a khabar is that a hadith is not concerned with an event as such, and normally does not specify a time or place. Rather the purpose of hadith is to record a religious doctrine as an authoritative source of Islamic law. By contrast, while a khabar may carry some legal or theological implications, its main aim is to convey information about a certain event.[6]

Starting from the 8th and 9th century, many scholars have devoted their efforts to both kinds of texts equally.[6] Some historians consider the sīrah and maghāzī literature to be a subset of Hadith.[7]

During the early centuries of Islam, the sīrah literature was taken less seriously compared to the hadiths.[4] In Umayyad times, storytellers (qāṣṣ, pl. quṣṣāṣ) used to tell stories of Muhammad and earlier prophets in private gatherings and mosques, given they obtained permission from the authorities. Many of these storytellers are now unknown. After the Umayyad period, their reputation deteriorated because of their inclination to exaggerate and fantasize, and for relying on the Isra'iliyat. Thus they were banned from preaching at mosques.[8] In later periods, however, works of sīrah became more prominent. More recently, Western historical criticism and debate concerning sīrah have elicited a defensive attitude from some Muslims who wrote apologetic literature defending its content.[4]

For centuries, Muslim scholars have recognized the problem of authenticity of hadith. Thus they have developed sophisticated methods (see Hadith studies) of evaluating isnāds (chains of transmission). This was done in order to classify each hadith into "sound" (ṣaḥīḥ) for authentic reports, as opposed to "weak" (ḍaʿīf) for ones that are probably fabricated, in addition to other categories.[9] Since many sīrah reports also contain isnād information and some of the sīrah compilers (akhbārīs) were themselves practicing jurists and hadīth transmitters (muḥaddiths), it was possible to apply the same methods of hadīth criticism to the sīrah reports.[10] However, some sīrah reports were written using an imprecise form of isnād, or what modern historians call the "collective isnād" or "combined reports". The use of collective isnād meant that a report may be related on the authority of multiple persons without distinguishing the words of one person from another. This lack of precision led some hadith scholars to take any report that used a collective isnād to be lacking in authenticity.[11]

According to Wim Raven, it is often noted that a coherent image of Muhammad cannot be formed from the literature of sīra, whose authenticity and factual value have been questioned on a number of different grounds.[4] He lists the following arguments against the authenticity of sīra, followed here by counter arguments:

This book represents a simple, intriguing, and historically precise portrayal of 60 Companions of Prophet Muhammad (s).This is the textbook for both SIR 101 and 102 with the Ribaat Academic Program. For more information, please visit rabata.org/ribaat.Author: Asma Tabaa'Translator: Sawsan TarabishyPaperback: 441 pages

في هذا الكتاب عرض مبسط مشوّق لستين شخصية من صحابة رسول الله ﷺ..... شهدوا فجر الإسلام وسطعت عليهم شمس التوحيد فأيقظتهم من غفلة الشرك والشرود وراحوا يتلقّون من رسول الله ﷺ دروس الهدى ثم هبّوا في حركة راشدة يبنون الحياة الجديدة فأشرقت بهم الأرض وتعطّر التاريخ.... فكانوا نجوماً متلألئة في سماء الإنسانية تطوف في فلك النبوة لكل نجم من هذه النجوم قصة حب مع الله... قصة تعلم الإنسان-كائناً من كان- كيف يصالح الله كيف يسعَد ويسعِد... إنه فن الحياة يتعلمه القارئ من هؤلاء النجوم. تأليف أسماء طباع The book is the original Arabic version of Stars in the Prophet's...

هذا الكتاب في جزئين تأليف الشيخة سميرة الزايد وهي عالمة عاشت في القرن العشرين والواحد والعشرين. سبقت كل علماء عصرها. مؤلفاتها عميقة تغوص بك في عالم الحبيب رسول الله ﷺ وقراءة هذا الكتاب ستغير حياتك عندما تتفكر في حياته عليه السلام. هذا الكتاب تحديداً يحتوي على دروس من حياته ﷺ. ويهدف هذا الكتاب لإنارة عقول وقلوب هذا الجيل السالك في طريق العلم. This Arabic, 2-volume book is written by Sheikha Samira az-Zayid, a female scholar who lived during the twentieth and twenty first century. She was the foremost scholar of Sīra in the world during her life. Her publications are a...

EACH OF YOU ARE A SHEPHERD AND EACH OF YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIER FLOCK This profound statement by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) compels us to recognize that we are all leaders at some level. But what makes someone a good leader? And how does each and everyone of us measure up against the leadership standards set by the Prophet? This book presents a well researched leadership framework combined with extensively applied contemporary practitioner case studies for the first time to readers interested in a Sirah (prophetic life) based universal model for good leadership. Drawing upon scholarly findings from eastern and...

by Dr. M. Said Ramadan al Buti / Translated by: Nancy Roberts This book highlights the significance of studying the prophetic biography for understanding Islam and the scholarly methods of narrating it. It tackles the period from the Prophet's birth to his mission, so it mentions his lineage, birth and suck; his journey to Syria; his laboring for provision, his trading with Khadijah's wealth, his marriage to her, his participation in building the Kabah, his seclusion in Hira Cave and the start of the Revelation.Publisher: Dar al-Fikr, (January 1, 2006)Language: EnglishHardcover: 670 pagesISBN-10: 9953511179ISBN-13: 978-9953511177

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Historically, women have been an integral part of spreading our Deen. They have contributed as mothers, wives, supporters, and defenders of our religion. This book allows the reader to take a glimpse into the lives of thirty-seven amazing women. Starting with the women from the Prophet Muhammad's (SAW) household to female companions and pioneers of Islamic History. Women in Islamic History have had a huge impact on building nations. Many that have been through education, raising children, raising scholars or being scholars themselves. These exceptional women have helped shape the world. These women have a lot of favours upon us,...

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