Jambo la kwanza na muhimu kuliko yote lililopewa kipaumbele katika historia ya Kiislamu lilikuwa Sīrah ya Mtume ﷺ na vita (maghazi) zilizofuata. Kwa hili, walitegemea hadithi zilizosimuliwa na Maswahaba, Tabi'een na wale waliokuja baada yao kuhusu maisha ya Mtume ﷺ; tangu kuzaliwa kwake, maisha yake ya awali, na wito wake wa Uislamu, hadi jihadi na misafara ya kivita dhidi ya Mushrikin na ushindi wake. Kwa kifupi, ni habari zinazomhusu Mtume ﷺ tangu kuzaliwa kwake hadi kufa kwake.

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.

Historia ya maisha ya Mtume ﷺ ilikuwa sehemu ya hadith zilizopokewa. Hadith kama hizo zilikuwa zimetawanyika zamani ambapo Muhaddith alikusanya kila riwaya iliyomfikia na kuijifunza bila mpangilio wala utaratibu. Hadith zilipoanza kupangwa kwa mujibu wa abwabu (sura), vita na misafara ya kijeshi vilikusanywa pamoja katika sura zake maalum. Baadaye vitu hivyo vilitengwa na hadith, na vitabu maalum viliandikwa kuvihusu, ingawa wanazuoni wa hadith waliendelea kuviweka ndani ya sura zao. Kwa hiyo, katika Bukhari kuna Kitabu cha Safari za Kivita (kitabu al-Maghazi), na katika Muslim kuna Kitabu cha Jihadi na Safari za Kivita (kitabu 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).

Ingawa wengi wameandika kuhusu Sīrah, kitabu cha kwanza kilichopo miongoni mwa waandishi wa mwanzo ni kitabu cha al-Maghazi cha Ibn Ishaq. Mwandishi wake, Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yassaar (aliyefariki mwaka 153 A.H.), anachukuliwa kuwa maarufu zaidi miongoni mwa wale waliohusishwa na maghazi, hadi Shafi'i akaripotiwa kusema: 'Yeyote anayetaka kuwa mtaalamu wa maghazi, na amtegemee Muhammad ibn Ishaq'. Baada ya Ibn Ishaq, mwandishi wa pili wa mwanzo ni al-Waqidi. Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Waqid al-Waqidi (aliyefariki mwaka 209 A.H.) alionekana kuwa na elimu pana kuhusu maghazi iliyokaribiana na ile ya Ibn Ishaq. Alikuwa na ujuzi mkubwa wa historia na hadīth, ingawa inaripotiwa kuhusu yeye kwamba katika miaka ya baadaye alianza kuchanganya simulizi zake. Ndiyo maana wanazuoni wengi wa hadīth wamemtia alama ya udhaifu; Bukhari anasema kumhusu: 'Hadīth zake zinapaswa kukataliwa (munkar al-hadīth)'. Hata hivyo, hawakupinga kina cha elimu yake kuhusu maghazi. Kwa hiyo, Ahmad ibn Hanbal anasema kumhusu: 'Anafahamu vizuri kuhusu maghazi'. Ameandika kitabu kuhusu maghazi, ambacho Ibn Sa'ad ananukuu katika kitabu chake al-Tabaqat (Vizazi) alipojadili Sīrah. Vivyo hivyo, Tabari naye ananukuu kutoka kwake. Wakusanyaji wawili maarufu zaidi wa Sīrah ni Ibn Hisham (aliyefariki mwaka 218 A.H.) na Muhammad ibn Sa'ad (aliyefariki mwaka 230 A.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.).

Hadi leo Waislamu wameendelea kuelekeza umakini wao kwenye Sīrah. Sīrah inachukuliwa kuwa miongoni mwa mambo muhimu zaidi ambayo Waislamu wanapaswa kuyazingatia kwa makini, kwa sababu ina riwaya zinazohusu Mtume ﷺ kwa upande wa matendo yake, maneno yake, kimya chake na maelezo yake; kama Qur’ān, yote hayo ni sheria. Kwa hiyo Sīrah ni mojawapo ya vipengele vinavyounda sheria, na ndiyo sababu inachukuliwa kuwa sehemu ya hadīth (fasihi ya hadīth). Lolote lililothibitishwa kuwa sahihi kutoka humo kuhusu Mtume ﷺ, kwa upande wa usimulizi wake na maana yake, linachukuliwa kuwa ushahidi wa Sharī’ah kwa kuwa linatokana na Sunnah, bila kusahau kwamba tumeamrishwa na Allah (SWT) kumfuata Mtume ﷺ. Allah (SWT) amesema:

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:

Kwa hiyo, kujishughulisha na Sīrah na kuifuatilia ni jambo la Sharī‘ah. Hata hivyo, tofauti kati ya mbinu iliyotumiwa na wa zamani katika kukusanya Sīrah na zile za vipindi vilivyokuja baadaye ni hii: mbinu ya wa zamani katika kukusanya Sīrah na historia ilitegemea usimulizi wa riwaya. Wanahistoria walianza na usimulizi wa mdomo; kizazi cha kwanza kilichoshuhudia matendo ya Mjumbe ﷺ au kusikia habari zake kikaanza kuyasimulia kwa wengine, na mzigo huo ukachukuliwa na kizazi kilichofuata. Baadhi yao waliandika Ahadīth kwa namna isiyo na mpangilio maalum, jambo ambalo bado linaonekana katika vitabu vya hadīth hata leo. Hadi kuingia karne ya pili (Hijria), hatuoni wanazuoni wakianza kukusanya na kupanga riwaya za wasifu na kuziandika kwa mbinu ya usimulizi, kwa kutaja jina la msimulizi na yule aliyesimulia kutoka kwake, kama ilivyofanywa katika usimulizi wa hadīth. Hivyo, wanazuoni wa hadīth na wachambuzi wanaweza kutambua riwaya za wasifu zilizo sahihi na zinazokubalika kutoka zile dhaifu zisizokubalika, kwa sababu ya ujuzi wao kuhusu wasimuliaji na mnyororo wa usimulizi. Na huu ndio utaratibu unaotegemewa wakati wa kunukuu kutoka Sīrah, mradi tu ni sahihi, tofauti na waandishi wa kisasa wa Sīrah ambao hutaja matukio tu bila kutaja wasimuliaji wake. Ndiyo maana vitabu vyao havitegemewi kama chanzo cha Sīrah isipokuwa pale mwandishi anapothibitisha wakati wa kuandika kwamba riwaya zilizosimuliwa kweli ni katika riwaya za Sīrah na ni za kuaminika. Asipofanya hivyo, kauli yake hainukuliwi, lakini tukio analotaja hufuatiliwa hadi kwenye vitabu vya Sīrah vilivyopokelewa kwa mbinu ya usimulizi au hadi kwenye vitabu vya hadīth. Hii ni kwa sababu riwaya zinazomhusu Mtume ﷺ kutoka katika Sunnah hazikubaliwi isipokuwa zikiwa sahihi.

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.