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{{short description|Biographies of Muhammad}}
{{redirect|Sīra|the popular genre of epic|Sīra shaʿbiyya}}
{{redirect|Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya}}
{{Muhammad}}
'''Al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya''' ({{Lang-ar|السيرة النبوية}}), commonly shortened to '''Sīrah''' and translated as '''prophetic biography''', are the traditional [[Muslim]] biographies of [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] from which, in addition to the [[Quran]] and [[Hadith]]s, most historical information about his life and the early period of [[Islam]] is derived.

{{Islamic prophets|Events}}

==Etymology==
In the [[Arabic language]] the word ''sīra'' or ''sīrat'' ({{lang-ar| سيرة}}) comes from the verb ''sāra,'' 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.<ref name="EI2">{{Cite encyclopedia | edition = 2nd| publisher = Brill Academic Publishers| volume = 9| pages = 660–3| last = Raven| first = W. | title = SĪRA | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of Islam| isbn = 90-04-10422-4| year = 1997}}</ref>
===Sīrat rasūl allāh===
The phrase ''sīrat rasūl allāh'', or ''as-sīra al-nabawiyya'', refers to the study of the life of Muhammad. The term ''sīra'' was first linked to the biography of Muhammad by [[Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri]] (d. 124/741-2), and later popularized by the work of [[Ibn Hisham]] (d. 833). 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<ref name="EI2" />—one that concerns the military campaigns of Muhammad.<ref name="Maghazi-oiso">{{cite web |title=Maghazi |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1372 |website=Oxford Islamic Studies |access-date=26 October 2019}}</ref>

Early works of sīra consist of multiple historical reports, or ''akhbār'', and each report is called a ''khabar''.{{sfn|Humphreys|1991|p=83}} Sometimes the word ''tradition'' or ''hadith'' is used instead.

==Content==
The sīra literature includes a variety of heterogeneous materials, containing mainly narratives of military expeditions undertaken by [[Muhammad]] and his [[Sahabah|companions]]. These stories are intended as historical accounts and are 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]]. Some of the sīra accounts include verses of poetry commemorating certain events and battles.<ref name="EI2" />

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'' — tales that show the merits and faults of individual [[Sahaba|companions]], enemies, and other notable contemporaries of Muhammad.<ref name="EI2" /> Some works of sīra also positioned the story of Muhammad as part of a narrative that includes stories of [[Prophets in Islam|earlier prophets]], [[Persian Kings]], [[pre-Islamic Arabia|pre-Islamic Arab]] tribes, and the [[Rashidun]].<ref name="EI2" />

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]].<ref name="EI2" />

==Comparison to hadith==

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 [[Sharia|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.{{sfn|Humphreys|1991|p=83}}

Starting from the 8th and 9th century, many scholars have devoted their efforts to both kinds of texts equally.{{sfn|Humphreys|1991|p=83}} Some historians consider the ''sīra'' and ''maghāzī'' literature to be a subset of Hadith.<ref name="Ahmad">{{Cite book| edition = 1st| publisher = King Saud University| author = M. R. Ahmad| title = Al-sīra al-nabawiyya fī ḍawʾ al-maṣādir al-aṣliyya: dirāsa taḥlīliyya| location = Riyadh| year = 1992 | pages=20–34}}</ref>

==Reception==

During the early centuries of Islam, the sīra literature was taken less seriously compared to the [[hadith]]s.<ref name="EI2" /> In [[Umayyad]] times, [[Qāṣṣ|storytellers (''qāṣṣ'', pl. ''quṣṣāṣ'')]] used to tell stories of Muhammad and [[Prophets of Islam|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.<ref name="EQ" /> 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.<ref name="EI2" />

==Authenticity==
{{see also|Ibn_Ishaq#Views_about_his_s.C4.ABra_narratives|label 1=Views about Ibn Ishaq|Historicity of Muhammad}}

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 [[Hadith terminology|other categories]].{{sfn|Donner|1998|p=14}} Since many sīra reports also contain isnād information and some of the sīra compilers (''akhbārīs'') were themselves practicing jurists and hadīth transmitters (''muḥaddiths''), it was possible to apply the same methods of hadīth criticism to the sīra reports.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 9780521629362| last = Robinson| first = Chase F.| title = Islamic Historiography| year = 2003| pages=39}}</ref> However, some sīra 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.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 9780199885008| last = Goodman| first = Lenn E.| title = Islamic Humanism| date = 2003-03-27| quote= ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dūrī, ''Historical Writing'', p.36: "Ahmad ibn Hanbal rejected the hadiths reported by Ibn Ishaq precisely on the grounds of their use of the collective isnād: "I see him relating a single hadith on the authority of a group of people, without distinguishing the words of one from those of another"" (Tanbih 9-43) But Ibn Hanbal did accept Ibn Ishaq's authority for the maghazi.}}</ref>

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.<ref name="EI2" /> He lists the following arguments against the authenticity of sīra, followed here by counter arguments:

# Hardly any sīra work was compiled during the first century of Islam. However, [[Fred Donner]] points out that the earliest historical writings about the origins of Islam first emerged in AH 60–70, well within the first century of Hijra (see also [[List of biographies of Muhammad]]). Furthermore, the sources now extant, dating from the second, third, and fourth centuries AH, are mostly compilations of material derived from earlier sources.{{sfn|Donner|1998|p=125}}<ref name=Raven-Sira_662>Raven, W., “Sīra”, in: Brill Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, v.9 p.662</ref>
# The many discrepancies exhibited in different narrations found in sīra works. Yet, despite the lack of a single orthodoxy in Islam, there is still a marked agreement on the most general features of the traditional origins story.{{sfn|Donner|1998|pp=26-27}}<ref name=Raven-Sira_662/>
# Later sources claiming to know more about the time of Muhammad than earlier ones. Scholar [[Patricia Crone]] found a pattern, where the farther a commentary was removed in time from the life of Muhammad and the events in the Quran, the more information it provided, despite the fact it depended on the earlier sources for its content. Crone attributed this phenomenon to storytellers' embellishment.<blockquote>If one storyteller should happen to mention a raid, the next storyteller would know the date of this raid, while the third would know everything that an audience might wish to hear about.<ref name="Crone-1987-223"/></blockquote> In the case of Ibn Ishaq, there are no earlier sources we can consult to see if and how much embroidering was done by him and other earlier transmitters, but, Crone argues, "it is hard to avoid the conclusion that in the three generations between the Prophet and Ibn Ishaq" fictitious details were not also added.<ref name="Crone-1987-223">{{cite book |last1=Crone |first1=Patricia |title=Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam |url=https://archive.org/details/meccantraderisei00cron |url-access=limited |date=1987 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/meccantraderisei00cron/page/n213 223]|isbn=9780691054803 }}</ref><ref name="Pickard-352">{{cite book |last1=Pickard |first1=John |title=Behind the Myths: The Foundations of Judaism, Christianity and Islam |date=2013 |publisher=AuthorHouse. |page=352 |isbn=9781481783637 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSBb4jBrHFIC&q=If+one+storyteller+should+happen+to+mention+a+raid%2C+the+next+storyteller+would+know+the+date+of+this+raid%2C+while+the+third+would+know+everything+that+an+audience+might+wish+to+hear+about.&pg=PA352 |access-date=18 October 2019}}</ref><ref name=Raven-Sira_662/>
# Discrepancies compared to non-Muslim sources. But there are also similarities and agreements both in information specific to Muhammad,<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Oxford University Press, USA| isbn = 0192876058| last = Cook| first = Michael| title = Muhammad| date = 1983-01-26 | pages=73–74}}</ref> and concerning Muslim tradition at large.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Darwin| isbn = 0878501258| last = Hoyland| first = Robert G| title = [[Seeing Islam as Others Saw It|Seeing Islam as Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam]]| year = 1998| author-link=Robert G. Hoyland| page=591}}</ref><ref name=Raven-Sira_662/>
# Some parts or genres of sīra, namely those dealing with miracles, do not qualify as sources for scientific historiographical information about Muhammad, except for showing the beliefs and doctrines of his community.<ref name=Raven-Sira_662/>

Nevertheless, other content of sīra, like the [[Constitution of Medina]], are generally considered to be authentic.<ref name="EI2" />

==Early compilations of sīra==
{{main|List of biographies of Muhammad}}

The following is a list of some of the early Hadith collectors who specialized in collecting and compiling sīra and maghāzī reports:

* [[ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr]] (d. 713). He wrote letters replying to inquiries of the [[Umayyad]] caliphs, [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan]] and [[al-Walid I]], involving questions about certain events that happened in the time of the Prophet. Since Abd al-Malik did not appreciate the maghāzī literature, these letters were not written in story form. He is not known to have written any books on the subject.<ref name="EQ" />
* [[Wahb ibn Munabbih]] (d. during 725 to 737). Several books were ascribed to him but none of them are now extant. Some of his works survive as quotations found in works by [[Ibn Ishaq]], [[Ibn Hisham]], [[Ibn Jarir al-Tabari]], and [[Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī]].
* [[Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī]] (d. c. 737), a central figure in sīra literature, who collected both ahadith and akhbār. His akhbār also contain chains of transmissions, or [[isnad]]. He was sponsored by the [[Umayyad]] court and asked to write two books, one on [[genealogy]] and another on maghāzī. The first was canceled and the one about maghāzī is either not extant or has never been written.
* [[Musa ibn ʿUqba]], a student of [[Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri|al-Zuhrī]], wrote ''Kitāb al-Maghāzī'', a notebook used to teach his students; now lost. Some of his traditions have been preserved, although their attribution to him is disputed.<ref name="EQ">{{Cite encyclopedia | publisher = Brill Academic Publishers| pages = 29–49| last = Raven| first = Wim| title = Sīra and the Qurʾān | encyclopedia = [[Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān]] | year = 2006 }}</ref>
* [[Muhammad ibn Ishaq]] (d. 767 or 761), another student of [[Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri|al-Zuhrī]], who collected oral traditions that formed the basis of an important biography of the Prophet. His traditions survived through a number of sources, most notably [[Ibn Hisham]] and [[Ibn Jarir al-Tabari]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Islam}}
* [[Biographical evaluation]] (ʿIlm al-rijāl)
* [[Hadith]]
* [[Historiography of early Islam]]
* [[List of biographies of Muhammad]]
* [[List of hadith collections]]
* [[Sunnah]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book| edition = Revised| publisher = Princeton University Press| isbn = 0-691-00856-6| last = Humphreys| first = R. Stephen| title = Islamic History: A framework for Inquiry| year = 1991}}
* {{Cite book| publisher = Darwin Press, Incorporated| isbn = 0878501274| last = Donner| first = Fred McGraw| title = Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing| date = May 1998}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite book| edition = 1st| publisher = King Saud University| author = M. R. Ahmad| title = Al-sīra al-nabawiyya fī ḍawʾ al-maṣādir al-aṣliyya: dirāsa taḥlīliyya| location = Riyadh| year = 1992}}
* {{Cite journal| issn = 0041-977X| volume = 21| issue = 1/3| pages = 453–463| last = 'Arafat| first = W.| title = Early Critics of the Authenticity of the Poetry of the "Sīra"| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London| date = 1958-01-01| jstor = 610611| doi=10.1017/s0041977x00060110| s2cid = 194960198}}
* Hagen, Gottfried, ''Sira, Ottoman Turkish,'' in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol. II, pp. 585–597. {{ISBN|1610691776}}.
* Jarar, Maher, ''Sira'' (Biography), in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol. II, pp. 568–582. {{ISBN|1610691776}}.
* Williams, Rebecca, Sira, Modern English, in Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2014, Vol. II, pp. 582–585. {{ISBN|1610691776}}
{{refend}}

{{Muhammad2}}
{{Depictions of Muhammad}}
{{Islam topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prophetic Biography}}
[[Category:Biographies of Muhammad]]
[[Category:Islamic terminology]]

Prophetic biography - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article