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The sīrat rasūl allāh (Life of the Messenger of God; Arabic: سيرة رسول الله) or al-sīra al-nabawiyya (Prophetic biography; Arabic: السيرة النبوية) or just al-sīra, is the Arabic term used for the various traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad from which, in addition to the Qur'an and Hadith, most historical information about his life and the early period of Islam is derived.
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In the Arabic language the word sīra or sīrat (Arabic: سيرة) comes from the verb sāra (Present tense: yasīru), which means to travel or to be on a journey. A person's sīra 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 "seera", "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.[1]
The phrase sīrat rasūl allāh, or al-sīra al-nabawiyya, refers to the study of the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The term sīra was first linked to the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, and later popularized by the work of Ibn Hisham. In the first two centuries of Islamic history, sīra was more commonly known as maghāzī (literally, stories of military expeditions), which is now considered to be only a subset of sīra.[1]
Early works of sīra consist of multiple historical reports, or akhbār, and each report is called a khabar.[2] Sometimes the word hadith or tradition is used instead.
The sīra literature includes a variety of heterogeneous materials, containing mainly stories of military expeditions undertaken by Muhammad and his companions. These stories are intended as historical accounts and used for veneration. The sīra 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. The sīra literature also includes verses of poetry commemorating certain events and battles. While some of which are considered to be of a lesser quality and lacking authenticity, the most serious of those are the ones by Hassan ibn Thabit.[1]
At later periods, certain type of stories included in sīra developed into their own separate genres. One genre is concerned with stories of prophetic miracles, called aʿlām al-nubuwa (literally, proofs of prophethood—the first word is sometimes substituted for amārāt or dalāʾil). Another genre, called faḍāʾil wa mathālib, is concerned with tales that show the merits and faults of individual companions, enemies, and other notable contemporaries of Muhammad.[1] Some works of sīra also positioned the story of Muhammad as part of a narrative that includes stories of earlier prophets, Persian Kings, pre-Islamic Arab tribes, and the Rashidun.[1]
Parts of sīra 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.[1]
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.[1] Wim Raven lists the following arguments against the authenticity of sīra:
Furthermore, the authenticity of the poetry included by Ibn Ishaq has also been questioned by later Muslim historians, like Ibn Sallam al-Jumahi and Ibn Nadim, who both censured Ibn Ishaq for including poetry that was either impossible to belong to ancient periods in Arab culture or has been attributed to persons not known to have written any poetry.[1] Nevertheless, other content of sīra, like the Constitution of Medina, are generally considered to be authentic.[1]
During the early centuries of Islam, the sīra literature was taken less seriously compared to Hadith. In Umayyad times, storytellers used to address the faithful in private gatherings and mosques, given they obtain a permission from the authorities. 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.[3] In later periods, however, works of sīra became more prominent. More recently, western historical criticism and debate concerning sīra have elicited a defensive attitude from some Muslims who wrote apologetic literature defending its content.[1]
The main difference between a hadith and a historical report (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.[2]
In terms of structure, a hadith and a khabar are very similar. They both contain isnads (chains of transmission). Thus starting from the 8th and 9th century, many scholars have devoted their efforts to both kinds of texts equally.[2]
The earliest form of sīra was that of the storytellers (qaṣṣ, or pl. quṣṣāṣ), who told stories of Muhammad and earlier prophets in private gatherings and mosques. Many of these storytellers are now unknown, but the following is a list of the earliest documented works and teachers of sīra:[3]