Perkara pertama dan paling utama yang diberi keutamaan dalam sejarah Islam ialah Sirah Nabi ﷺ dan peperangan (maghazi) yang berlaku selepasnya. Untuk tujuan ini, rujukan diberikan kepada hadis-hadis yang diriwayatkan oleh para Sahabat, Tabi'in dan mereka yang datang selepas mereka mengenai kehidupan Nabi ﷺ; dari kelahiran, kehidupan awal, dan seruan baginda kepada Islam hinggalah kepada jihad dan ekspedisi ketenteraan terhadap kaum musyrikin serta penaklukan baginda. Ringkasnya, riwayat-riwayat mengenai Nabi ﷺ dari kelahiran baginda hingga kewafatan baginda.

The first and foremost thing that was given priority in the Islamic history was the Sīrah of the Prophet  and the subsequent military campaigns (maghazi) that followed. For this, reliance was placed on ahadīth narrated by the Sahabah, Tabi'een and those who came after them concerning the life of the Prophet ; from his birth, his early life, and his Call to Islam to the Jihad and military expeditions against the Mushrikin and his conquests. In short, reports concerning the Prophet  from his birth till his death.

Sejarah kehidupan Nabi ﷺ merupakan sebahagian daripada hadith-hadith yang diriwayatkan. Hadith-hadith sedemikian dahulu berselerak pada zaman ketika seorang Muhaddith akan menghimpunkan segala riwayat yang sampai kepadanya dan mempelajarinya tanpa sebarang susunan atau aturan. Apabila hadith mula disusun mengikut bab, peperangan-peperangan ketenteraan dikumpulkan dalam bab-bab yang berasingan. Lama-kelamaan ia terpisah daripada hadith, dan kitab-kitab khusus ditulis mengenainya, walaupun para muhaddithin terus memasukkannya dalam bab-bab mereka. Oleh itu, dalam Bukhari terdapat Kitab Ekspedisi Ketenteraan (kitab al-Maghazi), dan dalam Muslim terdapat Kitab Jihad dan Kempen Ketenteraan (kitab al-jihad wa al-siyar).

The history of the Prophet's life  was a part of the reported ahadīth. Such ahadīth used to be miscellaneous in the days when the Muhaddith would compile all the reports that reached him and learn them without any order or arrangement. When ahadīth came to be arranged according to chapters, the military campaigns were brought together in separate chapters. These then became separated from the hadīth and specific books were written on them although the muhaddithin continued to include them within their chapters. So, in Bukhari there is the Book of Military Expeditions (kitab al-Maghazi) and in Muslim the Book of Jihad and Military Campaigns (kitab al jihad wa al-siyar).

Walaupun ramai yang telah menulis tentang Sīrah, kitab pertama yang masih wujud daripada kalangan penyusun awal ialah kitab al-Maghazi karya Ibn Ishaq. Pengarangnya, Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yassaar (wafat 153 H), dianggap yang paling masyhur di antara mereka yang berkaitan dengan al-maghazi, sehingga diriwayatkan bahawa Shafi'i pernah berkata: 'Sesiapa yang ingin menjadi pakar dalam al-maghazi, hendaklah dia bergantung kepada Muhammad ibn Ishaq'. Selepas Ibn Ishaq, penulis awal yang kedua ialah al-Waqidi. Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Waqid al-Waqidi (wafat 209 H) dianggap mempunyai pengetahuan yang luas tentang al-maghazi yang hampir setara dengan Ibn Ishaq. Beliau sangat berpengetahuan dalam sejarah dan hadis, namun diriwayatkan tentangnya bahawa pada tahun-tahun akhir hidupnya, riwayat-riwayatnya mula bercampur aduk. Sebab itulah ramai muhaddithin menilai beliau sebagai lemah. Bukhari berkata tentangnya: 'Hadis-hadisnya harus ditolak (munkar al-hadis)'. Walau bagaimanapun, mereka tidak mempertikaikan kedalaman ilmunya mengenai al-maghazi. Maka, Ahmad ibn Hanbal berkata tentangnya: 'Dia mempunyai pengetahuan yang mendalam tentang al-maghazi'. Beliau telah menyusun sebuah kitab tentang al-maghazi, dan daripadanya Ibn Sa'ad menukil dalam kitab beliau al-Tabaqat (Generasi-generasi) ketika membincangkan Sīrah. Begitu juga, al-Tabari turut menukil daripadanya. Dua antara penyusun Sīrah yang paling terkenal ialah Ibn Hisham (wafat 218 H) dan Muhammad ibn Sa'ad (wafat 230 H).

Though many have written about the Sīrah, the first book that is existent from amongst the early compilers is the kitab al-Maghazi of Ibn Ishaq. Its author, Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yassaar (d.153 A.H.) is considered the most well known of the ones who were associated with the maghazi, to the extent that Shafi'i is reported to have said: ' Whosoever wishes to be an expert in the maghazi, he should depend on Muhammad ibn Ishaq'. After Ibn Ishaq, the second early author is al-Waqidi. Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Waqid al-Waqidi (d.209 A.H.) was considered to have an extensive knowledge of the maghazi which approximated to that of Ibn Ishaq. He was very knowledgable in history and hadīth though it is reported about him that in later years he began to get his reports muddled. That is why many muhaddithin have branded him as weak, Bukhari says of him: ' His ahadīth are to be rejected (munkar al-hadīth)'. However they did not impugn the depth of his knowledge concerning the maghazi. Thus, Ahmad ibn Hanbal says about him: 'He is well-informed about the maghazi'. He has compiled a book on maghazi from which Ibn Saa'd quotes in his book al-Tabaqat (The Generations) in his discussion of the Sīrah. Likewise, Tabari also quotes from it. Two of the most famous compilers of the Sīrah are Ibn Hisham (d.218 A.H.) and Muhammad ibn Sa'ad (d.230 A.H.).

Sehingga ke hari ini umat Islam terus mencurahkan perhatian mereka kepada as-Sīrah. As-Sīrah dianggap sebagai salah satu perkara paling penting yang wajib diberi perhatian teliti oleh umat Islam kerana ia mengandungi riwayat-riwayat mengenai Rasulullah ﷺ dari segi perbuatan, ucapan, persetujuan (diam) dan sifat baginda; seperti al-Qur’ān, kesemuanya merupakan perundangan. Oleh itu, as-Sīrah adalah salah satu unsur pembentuk perundangan, dan kerana itulah ia dianggap sebahagian daripada (literatur) hadith. Apa sahaja yang terbukti sahih daripadanya mengenai Nabi ﷺ, dari segi periwayatan dan maknanya, ia dianggap sebagai dalil Syariah kerana ia berasal daripada Sunnah, apatah lagi kita diperintahkan oleh Allah (SWT) untuk meneladani Rasulullah ﷺ. Allah (SWT) berfirman:

To this day Muslims have continued to devote their attention to the Sīrah. The Sīrah is considered one of the most important things to which Muslims should pay careful attention because it contains reports concerning the Messenger  in terms of his actions, sayings, silence and description; like the Qur’ān all of it is legislation. Therefore the Sīrah is one of the constituent elements of legislation and that is why it is considered part of the hadīth (literature). Whatever is proven to be authentic from it concerning the Prophet , in terms of its transmission and meaning, it is considered as a Sharī’ah evidence because it is from the Sunnah, not to speak of the fact that we are commanded by Allah  to emulate the Messenger . Allah  said:

Oleh itu, menumpukan perhatian kepada Sirah dan mempelajarinya ialah perkara syariah. Namun, perbezaan antara kaedah yang digunakan oleh para ulama terdahulu dalam menyusun Sirah dengan kaedah mereka yang datang kemudian ialah: kaedah ulama terdahulu dalam menyusun Sirah dan sejarah bergantung kepada periwayatan khabar. Para sejarawan bermula dengan penyampaian secara lisan; generasi pertama yang menyaksikan perbuatan Rasulullah ﷺ atau mendengar tentangnya dan menyampaikannya, mula menyampaikannya kepada orang lain, dan tanggungjawab itu kemudian dipikul oleh generasi berikutnya. Sebahagian mereka pula menulis hadis secara tidak tersusun, sebagaimana yang dapat dilihat dalam kitab-kitab hadis hingga hari ini. Baru pada kurun kedua Hijrah kita dapati sebahagian ulama mula mengumpul dan menyusun khabar-khabar biografi, lalu mencatatnya secara bertulis mengikut kaedah periwayatan, dengan menyebut nama perawi dan orang yang meriwayatkan daripadanya, sebagaimana yang dilakukan dalam periwayatan hadis. Dengan itu, ulama dan pengkritik hadis dapat membezakan khabar biografi yang sahih dan boleh diterima daripada yang lemah dan tidak boleh diterima, kerana pengetahuan mereka tentang para perawi dan silsilah periwayatan. Inilah kaedah yang dijadikan pegangan apabila memetik daripada Sirah, selagi ia sahih, berbeza dengan penulis Sirah moden yang hanya menyenaraikan peristiwa tanpa menyebut perawinya. Oleh sebab itu, kitab-kitab mereka tidak dijadikan rujukan Sirah kecuali apabila pengarangnya memastikan ketika menulis bahawa khabar yang dipetiknya memang daripada riwayat Sirah dan boleh dipercayai. Jika tidak, kenyataannya tidak dipetik, tetapi peristiwa yang disebutkannya itu dikembalikan kepada kitab-kitab Sirah yang diriwayatkan mengikut kaedah periwayatan atau kepada kitab-kitab hadis. Ini kerana khabar-khabar tentang Nabi ﷺ daripada Sunnah tidak diterima kecuali apabila ia sahih.

Therefore, devoting ones attention to the Sīrah and its pursuance is a Sharī’ah matter. However, the difference between the method employed in compiling the Sīrah by the ancients and those who came in later periods is that: the method of the ancients in compilation of the Sīrah and history used to depend on the narration of reports. The historians started with the oral transmission; the first generation which witnessed the actions of the Messenger  or heard about it and transmitted it began to transmit it to others, the burden of which was assumed by the generation that came after. And some of them wrote down ahadīth in a miscellaneous manner which can be seen in the books of hadīth even today. Not till the advent of the second century (Hijri) do we find some scholars beginning to compile and put together the biographical reports and put them down in writing according to the method of narration, by mentioning the name of the transmitter and the one who transmitted from him, exactly as it was done in the (transmission) of hadīth. Thus, hadīth scholars and critics are able to know the authentic and acceptable biographical reports from the weak and inadmissible ones due to their knowledge of the transmitters and the chain of transmission. And this is the procedure which is relied upon when quoting from the Sīrah, as long as it is authentic, contrary to the modern authors of the Sīrah who only enumerate events without mentioning their transmitters. That is why their books are not relied upon as a source of Sīrah except when the author verifies at the time of writing that the transmitted reports are indeed from the Sīrah reports and are trustworthy. If he does not then his statement is not quoted but the event which he mentions is traced back to the books of Sīrah which have been transmitted according to the method of narration or to the books of hadīth. This is because reports concerning the Prophet  from the Sunnah are not taken except when they are authentic.