Islom tarixida birinchi navbatda e'tibor berilgan narsa Payg'ambar ﷺning siyrati va undan keyingi harbiy yurishlar (mag'ozi) bo'ldi. Bunda Payg'ambar ﷺning hayoti haqidagi hadislarga, ya'ni uning tug'ilishidan, yoshligidan va Islomga da'vatidan tortib mushriklarga qarshi jihod va harbiy yurishlarigacha, fath etgan yerlarigacha bo'lgan voqealar haqidagi, sahobalar, tobi'inlar va ulardan keyin kelganlar rivoyat qilgan xabarlarga tayanildi. Qisqacha aytganda, Payg'ambar ﷺning tug'ilishidan to vafotigacha bo'lgan davr haqidagi rivoyatlar.

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.

Payg'ambarimiz hayotining tarixi ham rivoyat qilingan hadislarning bir qismi edi. Bunday hadislar muhaddis barcha yetib kelgan rivoyatlarni to'plab, ularni hech qanday tartib va tizimsiz o'rganadigan davrlarda aralash holda bo'lardi. Hadislar boblar bo'yicha tartibga solina boshlanganda, harbiy yurishlar alohida boblarda bir joyga jamlandi. Keyinchalik ular hadisdan ajralib chiqdi va ular haqida alohida kitoblar yozildi, garchi muhaddislar ularni o'z boblari ichida qoldirishda davom etgan bo'lsalar ham. Shunday qilib, Buxoriyda Harbiy yurishlar kitobi (kitab al-Mag'hozi) bor, Muslimda esa Jihod va harbiy yurishlar kitobi (kitab al-jihod va al-siyar) bor.

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).

Garchi ko'pchilik Sīra haqida yozgan bo'lsa-da, ilk tuzuvchilar orasidan bizgacha yetib kelgan birinchi kitob Ibn Ishoqning "Kitob al-Mag'ozi" asaridir. Uning muallifi Muhammad ibn Ishoq ibn Yasor (vafoti 153 hijriy) mag'ozi ilmi bilan shug'ullangan olimlar orasida eng mashhuri hisoblanadi; hatto Shofi'iy rivoyat qilinishicha shunday degan: "Kim mag'ozi ilmida mohir bo'lishni istasa, Muhammad ibn Ishoqqa tayansin". Ibn Ishoqdan keyingi ikkinchi ilk muallif al-Voqidiydir. Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Voqid al-Voqidiy (vafoti 209 hijriy) mag'ozi borasida Ibn Ishoq darajasiga yaqin keng bilimga ega bo'lgan deb hisoblangan. U tarix va hadis ilmida ham juda bilimdon edi, biroq rivoyat qilinishicha, keyingi yillarda uning rivoyatlari chalkashib ketgan. Shu sababli ko'plab muhaddislar uni zaif deb baholagan; Buxoriy uning haqida: "Uning hadislari rad etiladi (munkar al-hadis)", degan. Shunga qaramay ular uning mag'ozi ilmidagi chuqur bilimiga shubha bildirmaganlar. Shu jumladan, Ahmad ibn Hanbal uning haqida: "U mag'ozi bo'yicha xabardordir", degan. U mag'ozi haqida kitob tuzgan va Ibn Sa'd o'zining "at-Tabaqat" (Avlodlar) kitobida Sīra bahsida undan naqllar keltirgan. Shuningdek, Tabariy ham undan iqtibos keltiradi. Sīra tuzuvchilarining eng mashhur ikki kishisi Ibn Hishom (vafoti 218 hijriy) va Muhammad ibn Sa'd (vafoti 230 hijriy)dir.

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.).

Bugungacha musulmonlar Sīrahga o‘z e’tiborlarini qaratib kelmoqdalar. Sīrah musulmonlar e’tibor berishi lozim bo‘lgan eng muhim narsalardan biri hisoblanadi, chunki unda Payg‘ambar ﷺ ning amallari, so‘zlari, sukuti va ta’rifi haqidagi rivoyatlar mavjud. Qur’on kabi, uning hammasi ham shariat hukmlaridir. Shuning uchun Sīrah shariat hukmlarining tarkibiy qismlaridan biri hisoblanadi va shu sababli u hadis (adabiyoti)ning bir qismi deb qaraladi. Payg‘ambar ﷺ haqida undan ishonchli deb isbotlangan har qanday narsa, rivoyat va ma’no jihatidan, shariat dalili sifatida qabul qilinadi, chunki u Sunnatdandir. Shuningdek, Alloh bizni Payg‘ambar ﷺ ga ergashishga buyurgani ham buning dalilidir. Alloh taolo aytadi:

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:

Shuning uchun Sīra (Payg‘ambarimiz ﷺ hayoti tarixi)ni o‘rganish va uni davom ettirish shariat ishidir. Biroq, avvalgilar va keyingi davrlarda kelgan olimlarning Sīrani tuzish usuli o‘rtasidagi farq shundaki: avvalgilarning Sīra va tarixni tuzish usuli rivoyatlarni naql qilishga tayangan. Tarixchilar og‘zaki naqldan boshlaganlar: Rasululloh ﷺ ning harakatlarini ko‘rgan yoki ularni eshitgan birinchi avlod uni boshqalarga naql qila boshlagan, uning mas’uliyatini esa undan keyingi avlod o‘z zimmasiga olgan. Ulardan ba’zilari hadislarni tartibsiz tarzda yozib olganlar, bunga bugungi kunda ham hadis kitoblarida guvoh bo‘lish mumkin. Hijriy ikkinchi asrga kelib, ba’zi olimlar tarjimai hol rivoyatlarini to‘plash va ularni naql usuliga ko‘ra yozib qo‘yishni boshlaganlarini ko‘ramiz: rivoyat qiluvchining nomini va undan naql qilgan kishini zikr qilgan holda, худди hadis naqlida qilinganidek. Shu tariqa hadis olimlari va tanqidchilari naql qiluvchilarni va isnodni bilishlari orqali ishonchli va qabul qilinadigan tarjimai hol rivoyatlarini zaif va qabul qilinmaydiganlaridan ajrata oladilar. Sanad sahih bo‘lganda, Sīradan iqtibos keltirishda aynan shu usulga tayaniladi. Bunga qarama-qarshi ravishda, zamonaviy Sīra mualliflari esa voqealarni naql qiluvchilarini zikr qilmasdan faqat sanab o‘tadilar. Shu sababli ularning kitoblari, muallif yozish paytida naql qilingan xabarlarning haqiqatan ham Sīra rivoyatlaridan ekanini va ishonchli ekanini tasdiqlamasa, Sīra manbai sifatida e’tiborga olinmaydi. Agar tasdiqlamasa, uning bayon qilgan so‘zi iqtibos qilinmaydi, lekin u zikr qilgan voqea naql usuli bilan yetkazilgan Sīra kitoblariga yoki hadis kitoblariga borib taqaladi. Chunki Sunnatdan Payg‘ambar ﷺ haqidagi rivoyatlar faqat sahih bo‘lganda qabul qilinadi.

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.