Biographies of Muhammad
This is a chronological listing of biographies of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, from the earliest traditional writers to modern times.
Earliest biographers
The following is a list of the earliest known Hadith collectors who specialized in collecting Sīra and Maghāzī reports.
1st century of Hijra (622–719 CE)
- Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma (d. in Mu'awiya's reign, i.e., 41-60 AH), was a young companion of Muhammad. Parts of his writings on Maghazi are preserved in the Ansāb of al-Baladhuri, the Ṭabaqāt of Ibn Sa'd, and the works of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari and al-Waqidi.[1]
- Abdullah ibn Abbas (d. 78 AH), a companion of Muhammad, his traditions are found in various works of Hadith and Sīra.[1]
- Saʿīd ibn Saʿd ibn ʿUbāda al-Khazrajī, another young companion, whose writings have survived in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal and Abī ʿIwāna, and al-Tabari's Tārīkh.[1]
- 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 Muhammad. 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.[2] He was a grandson of Abu Bakr and the younger brother of Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr.
- Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib al-Makhzūmī (d. 94 AH), a famous Tābiʿī and one of the teachers of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri. His traditions are quoted in the Six major hadith collections, and in the Sīra works of Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, and others.[1]
- Abū Fiḍāla ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik al-Anṣārī (d. 97 AH), his traditions are mentioned by Ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari.[1]
- Abān ibn Uthmān ibn Affān (d. 101-105 AH), the son of Uthman wrote a small booklet. His traditions are transmitted through Malik ibn Anas in his Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Ṭabaqāt of Ibn Sa'd, and in the histories of al-Tabari and al-Yaʿqūbī.[1]
- ʿĀmir ibn Sharāḥīl al-Shaʿbī (d. 103 AH), his traditions were transmitted through Abu Isḥāq al-Subaiʿī, Saʿīd ibn Masrūq al-Thawrī, al-Aʿmash, Qatāda, Mujālid ibn Saʿīd, and others.[1]
- Hammam ibn Munabbih (d. 101 AH/719 CE), author of the Sahifah and a student of Abu Hurayrah.
2nd century of Hijra (720–816 CE)
- Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr (d. 107 AH), another grandson of Abu Bakr. His traditions are mainly found in the works of al-Tabari, al-Balathuri, and al-Waqidi.[1]
- Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. during 725 to 737, or 114 AH). Several books were ascribed to him but none of them are now existing. Some of his works survive as quotations found in works by Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, and others.[1][2]
- 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.[2]
- Musa ibn ʿUqba, a student of 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.[2]
- Muhammad ibn Ishaq (d. 767 or 761), another student of al-Zuhrī, who collected oral traditions that formed the basis of an important biography of Muhammad. His work survived through that of his editors, most notably Ibn Hisham and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari.[2]
- Ibn Jurayj (d. 150 AH), has been described as a "contemporary" of Ibn Ishaq and "rival authority based in Mecca"[3]
- Abū Ishāq al-Fazarī (d. 186 AH) wrote Kitāb al-Siyar.[4]
- Abu Ma'shar Najih Al-Madani (d. c. 787)
- Al-Waqidi, whose surviving work Kitab al-Tarikh wa al-Maghazi (Book of History and Campaigns) has been published.
- Hisham Ibn Urwah ibn Zubayr, son of Urwah ibn Zubayr, generally quoted traditions from his father but was also a pupil of al-Zuhri.
3rd century of Hijra (817–913 CE)
4th century of Hijra (914–1010 CE)
- Ibn Hibban (d.965) wrote Kitāb al-sīra al-nabawiyya wa akhbār al-khulafāʾ.
5th century of Hijra (1011–1108 CE)
- Ibn Abd al-Barr wrote al-Durar fi ikhtisar al-maghazi was-siyar.[6]
- Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani (d. 1038) wrote Dala'il al-Nubuwwa.
- Al-Bayhaqi (d. 1066), wrote Dala'il al-Nabuwwa (Proof of Prophethood).
- Al-Baghawi wrote al-Anwar fi Shama'il al-Nabi al-Mukhtar
- Ibn Hazm wrote Jamawiʿ al-Sīra (The Sira Synopsis), an abridgement of the work of Ibn Abd al-Barr.[6]
6th century of Hijra (1109–1206 CE)
- Abu al-Qasim al-Suhayli (d. 1185), a grammarian from Malaga, wrote al-Rawd al-unuf, a commentary on Ibn Hisham's biography explaining the difficult and ambiguous words.[6]
7th century of Hijra (1207–1303 CE)
- Al-Kalāʿī of Valencia (d. 1236) wrote a three-volume biography called al-Iktifāʾ. It follows the structure of Ibn Ishaq's sira with additional traditions from various other works.[6]
- Abdul Mu'min al-Dimyati (d. 705AH/1305CE), wrote the book "al-Mukhtasar fi Sirati Sayyid Khair al-Bashar" but is commonly referred to as Sira of Al-Dimyati.
8th century of Hijra (1304–1400 CE)
Others (710–1100 CE)
- Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, the husband of Asma bint Abi Bakr.
- Asim Ibn Umar Ibn Qatada Al-Ansari
- Ma'mar Ibn Rashid Al-Azdi, pupil of al-Zuhri
- Abdul Rahman ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Ausi, pupil of al-Zuhri
- Muhammad ibn Salih ibn Dinar Al-Tammar was a pupil of al-Zuhri and mentor of al-Waqidi.
- Ya'qub bin Utba Ibn Mughira Ibn Al-Akhnas Ibn Shuraiq al-Thaqafi
- Ali ibn mujahid Al razi Al kindi.
- Salama ibn Al-Fadl Al-Abrash Al-Ansari, pupil of Ibn Ishaq.
- Abu Sa`d al-Naysaburi wrote Sharaf al-Mustafa
- Faryabi wrote Dala'il al-Nubuwwa