Sirah is an Arabic word. Generally, it means days and nights, events, and qualities of someone’s life. Therefore, sometimes people understand this meaning from the word ‘siratun nabi’. They thought that sirah is the life of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam from birth to death. For knowledge of sirah, it is enough to know the days, nights, and events of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam’s life.

This meaning may be accepted in our life but it cannot be accepted on the part of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, whom Allah gave a complete din and comprehensive shariah; upon whom Allah sent down the last divine book. His Prophethood is not limited to any particular time, place, or nation; rather, he is rahmatullil 'alamin.

Only days and nights of his sirah are preserved accurately and perfectly. Only his sirah is worth following for all people. Therefore, it is entirely wrong to think that his sirah, which is full such qualities, is confined to only a few days, nights, and events. If we think this, it indicates that we are ignorant of the greatness of the Prophethood.

Essentially, Siratun Nabi is a vast subject that encompasses many sections and parts. Within each section, there are numerous headings and subheadings. Without a brief introduction of these subjects, it is not possible to acquire a complete knowledge of sirah. Before delving into a detailed study of sirah, we have to know the subjects and headlines of sirah briefly.

Here, we mention some basic and important headlines of siratun nabi so that the vastness and completeness of the subjects of sirah become a bit clearer.

1. Events and conditions from birth to prophethood.
2. Moral and religious conditions of Hijaz and neighboring countries during prophethood.
3. Events from the prophethood to Hijrah.
4. Events, battles, treaties a long with their dates and year from Hijrah to death.
5. Daily life and series of events during the 23 years of his prophethood.
6. Days and nights of the Prophet
7. His appearance, beauty, and daily life
8. His character and qualities
9. His relationship with Allah and his Companions
10. Different aspects of his life: a. personal life b. family life c. social life d. political life
11. Teachings and guidance in al-aqidah, al-Ibadah, al-mua`mala, al-mu`asharah, as-siyasah, al-akhlaq, encompassing all of his directions and instructions, whether from the Quran, or Hadith, or deeds, or any consent.
12. Sunan and adab i. e. account of how the prophet sallallahu alahi wa sallam did his religious and worldly works. Through the study of this part of the sirah, it must be proved that he is the perfect and best ideal for all human being.
13. His role as a source of mercy to the world. 
14. His fulfillment of duties entrusted by Allah.
15. Qualities of siratun nabi
16. Core principles and essence of Sirah teachings
17. Mujiza
18. Predictions
19. Qualities and exceptions
20. Allah’s special favors
21. Duties upon ummah
22. The profound impact of his teachings on humanity.
23. His life in the eyes of non-Muslim historians.
24. A detailed look at his wives and children.

These are some basic headlines. Each of them contains more than a hundred subheadings without any exaggeration. From these headings, it can be guessed that how vast and deep is the word siratun nabi!

Sources of knowledge of sirah

It may be clear from above mentioned discussions that sources of sirah are not only those books which are known as Books of siratun nabi. Because most of the books of this name tell about the conditions of the time from birth to prophethood and about the history of the age of the prophet sallallahu alai hi wa sallam; the above mentioned subjects related to sirah are completely absent or discussed incidentally. Shaikh Muhammad al-Gazzali said,

قد تظن أنك درست حياة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا تابعت تاريخه من المولد إلى الوفاة، و هذا خطأ بالغ، إنك لن تفقه السيرة حقا إلا إذا درست القران الكريم و السنة المطهرة، و بقدر ماتنال من ذلك تكون صلتك بنبي الإسلام

If you think, after reading the biography of the Prophet sallallahu alai hi wa sallam from birth to death, you have completed study of sirah, you are wrong. You cannot study the sirah completely until you study the Quran and Sunnah. The more you get closer to them, the more you become closer to the prophet sallallahu alai hi wa sallam. Therefore, for comprehensive study of sirah, the sources suggested below should be studied once and again with due attention and thinking. He should think about what he read and try to implement the teaching of sirah in his life.

Al-Quran al-karim

Hadhrat `Ayishah r.a. was asked about the character of the prophet sallallahu alai hai wa sallam; she answered, his character was the Quran. Muslim

That is, his nature was to follow the Quran and his character was Qur’anic character. Quran was his life, he was the living example of the Quran. Therefore, Al-Quran is the first and foremost source of the sirah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. What was his mission? What was his dawah? What was the teaching of his life? What duties did Allah entrust with him and how he fulfilled them? How did Kafirs behave him, how Allah helped him? What was the principles and taste of his shariah? What is the ignorace and jahiliyah? How he guided the mankind to the light and knowledge? What is the glory of the Book revealed to him? What qualities, specialties did Allah give him? All these things are discussed in the Quran.

In short, this type of basic questions related to sirah are clearly answered in the Quran. Therefore, the readers of sirah cannot but study the Quran and its reliable explanatory books. Readers can keep M`ariful Quran, Tafsir e Usmani, Tafsir e Ashrafi in their study list.

Hadith

Hadith is not but the sayings, instructions, actions, characters, events and conditions of the daily life of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Therefore, in fact, all the sources of hadith are the account of the sirah. However, format of hadith books are not like that of sirah. Books of hadith mainly preserved the teachings, instructions, characters, ethics, behavior, efforts to establish deen, qualities and specialities of the Prophet sallallahu alahi wa sallam. But other aspects of sirah are also sporadically preserved in hadith-books, which many sirah-writers utilize in their books.

General readers can easily benefit from Al-adab al-almufrad by Imam Bukhary, al-mishkat al-masabih, Riyad as-salihin by Nawawi, Hayat as-sahahah by Yusuf Kandhlawi, M`ariful Hadith by Manzor Nomani, Uswa e Rasul e Akram by Dr. Abdul Hai Arifi. Hayat as-Sahabah is mentioned for two reasons. One, every chapter of it begins with sirah and Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alai hi wa sallam. Two, the life of sahaba in fact is the reflection of the life of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Therefore, from one point of view, the study of the sirah of the sahaba is included in the study of the sirah of the Prophet sallallahu alahi wa sallam.

Ibn al-Qaiyim r.a. presented the sirah in the light of hadith in his book zadul m`ad, although his book is more suitable for 'ulama. 

Books of Sirah

There are many books in this subject. For general people, it is more appropriate to read Shamayil at-tirmidhi, Asahhus Siar, Siratun Nabi by Mawlana Shibli Nomani and Mawlana Sayid Sulaiman Nadwi, Sirat e Mustafa by Idris Kandhlawi,Rahmatul lil Alamin by Qazi Sulaiman mansurpuri, Nabi e Rahmat by Mawlana Sayid Abul Hasn Ali Nadwi etc.

Books of History

Islamic history cannot be imagined without the biography of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. For this reason, a big part of any history book discusses the biography of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. However, historians generally gather all kinds of narrations related to a subject. They do not give much attention to scrutinization of the narrations. They do not differentiate between the weak and the correct narration. Therefore, everybody should not study sirah from the books of history. Although the part of sirah from Al-bidaya wa an-nihaya by Ibn kathir is reliable as compared to other history books, its presentation is academic, which is not suitable for general readers.

Unfortunately nowadays, those history books, whose writers clearly said that they gathered all type of narrations related to the topic without scrutinization of the narrations, are also being translated in several languages. If someone refers to these books, his duty is to scrutinize the narrations. But based on these books, many people who have no knowledge even about Arabic language, have become Islamic Historians. My question is if we drop the scrutinization of the narrations for sometime, is this translation so much reliable that study and conclusion of the study would be based upon them?

Sirah and Oriantalists

The worst disease than that subject mentioned above is that, a class of educated people study sirah from the books written by the orientalists. Rather, they thought, the books of orientalists are basic and reliable source for sirah. Inna lillahi wa inna alaihi Rajiun. They should have thought that how many orientalists know Arabic language well? How many of them can scrutinize the authenticity of a narration? If they have these two abilities, is it enough to prove their trustworthiness and faithfulness? Are the orientalist so faithful that they will present sirah correctly? Why will the orientalist try to understand the sirah correctly when they do not have faith and love for the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam?

The reality proves that the orientalists upon whose writings general educated people depend for sirah and Islamic history have problems mentioned below.

1.  Unfaithfulness in choosing the narrations. They take ‘shadh’, ‘matruk’, or ‘batil’ narration as basis of their research and decision. It is their common rule to present maruf narattion as munkar, munkar narration as maruf. They do not deem it condemnable.

2. Misinterpretation of the narrations. They do not accept the meaning of any narration that is correct in accordance with Arabic language, grammar and principles. They impose some imaginary meaning upon the narration. 
3. In determining the cause, context, and outcome of events, they rely on assumptions. They abandon the explicit meaning of the narrations. Similarly, the subject where history is silent they filled it with mere conjectures with such firmness that as if it were a proven fact of history.
    
4. They make the narration suitable for their claim by cutting something from the narration, adding something into it. This is a very easy way to distort the truth. Although this method of dishonesty is easy, it is also easy to be disclosed. If someone turns over the pages of the reference books, their dishonesty becomes open. But the irresponsible and shameless mentality made them indulge in this vile act.
   If they did not do such dishonesty in important matters such as 'Sirah’, 'History of Islam' and 'introduction of Islam' and presented the Sirah, history and identity of Islam correctly and appropriately, then their enmity to Islam and hatred towards the Prophet of Islam would be meaningless.
   In the words of Hadhrat Mawlana Sayid Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi R.A., “the mission of the orientalists is to make the Muslim nation skeptical about their past, pessimistic about the future and indifferent about the present. A little observation will show that all the symptoms of these three disorders are clearly visible among the classes nurtured by the Orientalists.

It is not my work to expose the dishonesty of the orientalist researchers in this short essay. All I want to say at this point is that the works of Orientalists are not reliable sources of the sirah. Therefore, it is not right to study their writings to gain knowledge of sirah. However, those who are aware of their dishonesty and the poison they spread in the pages can study it to warn others.
 

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I want to complete the article with a quote of Mawlana Mazoor Nomani R.A.. In a sirah gathering, he also finished his speech with this saying. He said, 

Dear brothers and friends! Among the prophets of Allah and spiritual leaders of the world, only the life and teachings of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam are preserved so elaborately and accurately that even today, we can know the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in the same way as his neighbors saw him. Let me say this clearly: when I read the biography of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam from reliable sources, it feels as if I am seeing him, his actions, his surroundings with my eyes, and hearing his words with my own ears. I can swear and say that I do not know many of my friends and elders, with whom I have spent days and nights, as intimately as I know my beloved Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam through reliable history. And this feeling is not unique to me. Whoever studies his sirah and teachings with a sincere heart, he will feel the same. 

I want to convey this message to my Muslim brothers as well as my non-Muslim brothers that if someone deprives themselves of benefitting from this living ideal, then truly it is a great loss. May Allah grant us the vision, hearing, and understanding to benefit from it. 

# April, 2005