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Seerah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
I. DEFINITION OF SEERAH:
Literal meaning:
Seerah is a word of Arabic language whose plural is seer. Actually this word is taken from saar, seren or mseerahn which are used in the meaning of walking. may be this is the reason that good repute is also referred to as hasan-alseerah
The word seerah is also used in the meaning of distance, as the meaning of alsiyara is voyage.
Again the word seerah is also used to tell the doings of earlier people.
According to another Arabic dictionary Taj-ul-uroos al-seerah means way to doing something.
Two other Arabic dictionaries Almuajam Alazam and Msbah-ul-Lughat give these meanings of the word seerah:
1. To leave - to depart
2. Way to doing something
3. Appearance
4. Sunnah
5. Way of living
6. Habit
7. Story - tales of earlier people
According to Dr. Sayad Abdullah the meaning of word seerah is not only limited to sunnah, way of living or appearance but it also includes the internal personality, important achievements and life histories of big personalities.
Professor Usman Yourish presents this aaya of Quran to describe the meaning of seerah:
“O prophet, tell the people to stroll on the earth to see what is the end of people who denied”.
And he says that the word seer means to look for solid and positive realities with complete focus, to think profoundly and to build ones personality with good conduct and deeds. So the seerah is a collection of rules and actions of a chaste and virtuous person.
Figurative meaning:
We have described the literal meaning of seerah but the actual use of this word is to describe the life history, behavior and habits of the prophet Muhammad SAW. The earlier books of seerah were called maghazi so in the meaning of seerah included the description of prophet Muhammad’s maghazi and afterwards his life histories description also included. Maghazi are those wars in which prophet Muhammad participated himself, and accordingly maghazi not only encircled the ghazwat but it also covered the whole life of prophet and all the incidents of the age of prophet.
Difference between Seerah and Biography
Biography is another word that is usually thought to be the synonym of seerah, but in fact there is a minute difference between these two. There are many definitions of biography, for example, dictionary of world literature by Joseph T. Shelly says that biography is a description of the ideas and doings of a person from his birth till his death, i.e. it is a picture of a person’s personality, a tale of his external attitude and internal feelings. And biography is that type of history that is not about human groups or casts but about a single person.
In contrast to this, seerah is an ideal picture of a person life story, which is free of all types of misdeeds and wrongdoing. The prophet of Islam SAW is at the height of human goodness, and although his seerah is composition of accounts of his life yet this seerah is superior and attractive from all aspects. This is why it is wrong to think seerah as a biography.
Seerah and History
In Islamic disciplines seerah is said to be a semi-historical and semi-biographical subject, and there is no doubt that Muslim’s historical art has impressions from the art of seerah writing. The evolution of art of history writing and the art of seerah writing of Arabs took place along with one another. The art of seerah writing gave very solid grounds for the development of the art of history writing. But we should not ignore the fact that there is some difference between history and seerah writing. The topics of history normally include empire, nations or era, and accordingly personalities can also be discussed. On the other hand the seerah writer selects the person as a topic and secondarily he discusses the empire or era.
Seerah and Hadith
The literal meaning of hadith is to copy a news or information. And in its figurative meaning its that sentence that is said by the prophet Muhammad SAW.
Difference between hadith and seerah is that while writing seerah special attention is given to the timings of the events, while in hadith there are some parts of the events of prophet Muhammad’s life but these are without any order or organization. Anyhow there is no doubt that the most authentic material about seerah is found in the books of hadith. Although in some places seerah writers did not took care of the sequence of rawayat as done by hadith writers, and this is why in the eyes of most people hadith is authentic rather then seerah.
II. SOURCES OF SEERAH
The important sources of seerah of Prophet Muhammad SAW are:
1. The Holy Quran
2. Books of Hadith
3. Books of maghazi
4. Books of history
5. Books of tafseer
6. Books of asma’a alrijal
7. Books of shuma’l
8. Books of Dala’l
9. Books of aasaar and akhbar
10. Ma’asrana poetry
1. The Holy Quran
The holy Quran is the basic source of the seerah. In this divine book the important parts of the Prophet Muhammad’s seerah are present. His early life, the orphaned times, poverty, financial relaxation in youth, search of the Truth, selection for being a prophet, revelation, his call towards Islam, opposition of kuffar, spread of Islam, meraj, migration to Habsha, migration to madina, important ghazwat, his family life and his behavior and habits – all these can be found in Quran. Sir William Muir has said “there is no exaggeration in the statement that Quran contains all the basic facts required to know the seerah or the earlier times of Islam, and all the researchable parts of Muhammad SAW life can be judged by this book. So we can find facts about all the religious belief of Prophet Muhammad, his personal life and his public affairs in this book with authentication. Quran is a mirror that reflects the seerah and the character of Muhammad SAW. This is why this was popular like a phrase that the seerah of prophet Muhammad SAW was Quran”.
Professor Sayad Nawab Ali writes that “This (Quran) first source of maghazi and seerah was saved by writing and learning by heart, in the early life 23 years of prophet’s life. And after one year of his death Abu Bakar RA compiled the complete Quran as one book. And Usman RA sent its 6 copies to balad-e-islamiya in 25 A.H. This was the Quran that was studied by the muslims who did saw the Prophet Muhammad SAW with their own eyes.
The Quran on one hand describes some important aspects of prophet Muhammad’s life and on the other hand it also discusses some events of his life. It also counts some features of his character. All this is not as arranged as it is in the books of seerah and history, but its simple and beautiful, and is always conveying some ethical lesson. The prophet was sent to a specific county, in a specific time and in a specific society, but the message that was given to you in the form of Quran was for the whole world, for all times and for all societies. The teaching of Quran is for the whole mankind and the prophet who was given Quran represents the best way of acting upon these teachings. Allah the almighty says that the seerah of the prophet Muhammad SAW is the best that can be followed by all believers.
The first image that Quran gives about the prophet Muhammad SAW is the image of a great messenger a messenger whose news was given through divine messages in earlier times. Quran has given him different names like Muhammad, Ahmad, Muzamil, Mudassir, Nabi-e-ummi, Hadi, Shahid, Mubashir, Noor, Rehmatul-almeen, Rasool-e-sadiq, beloved of Allah and appreciated by angels. But his most favorite attribute in the light of Quran is his being human and being the prophet of Allah. And this proves that his actual position was of a human being who was given the designation of the prophet.
The Quran gives clear reflections of prophet Muhammad’s life in Makka and in Madina. Here is a list that shows that where in Quran what events are talked about.
Event
Surah : Ayah
Financial relaxation in youth
93 : 6-8
Caste life before he was given prophethood
29:48
His search for reality
93:7
Prophethood
3:164
Revelation
96:1-5
Call towards Islam in Makka
5:67
Opposition of Quraish and their torture
6:33-35
Problems in the way of Islam
6:106-107
The event of Meraj
17:1
Migration of muslims towards habsha
16:41
The plan of murder of prophet
8:30
Migration to Madina
9:40
Construction of masjid-e-quba
9:108
Ghazwa-e-Badar
3:123
Ghazwa-e-Uhad
3:121-175
Ghazwa-e-Ahzab
33:9-20
Ghazwa-e-Hunain
9:25-26
Ghazwa-e-Tabook
9:92-106,117-123
Bait-e-Rizwan
48:18,19
The agreement of Hudabiya
48:2-27
Fatah-e-Makka
17:81
Hijja-tul-wida
5:3
And this is not all. Quran also contains some glimpses about his married life, his social contacts, his character and his habits.
Married life
33:2-51
Social contacts
Several aaya of Al-Imran and Al-Ahzab
Character
Several aaya of Tooba, Al-Imran and Al-Ahzab
Behavior and conduct
Several aaya of Tooba, Al-Imran and Al-Ahzab
The special position of wives of prophet
33:30-34
The event of Tehreem
66:3-5
Nikah of Zainab RA with Zaid RA, divorce and marriage to the prophet.
33:37
Prophet’s more attention to the leaders of Makka and ignorance from the blind companion
80:1-16
Quran also takes a momentary view of the prophets heartiest friends and his wickedest enemies. Its talks about Abu Baker RA as the companion of Soor without mentioning his name and also talk about Lahab and his wife. A complete soorah is given the name after him, who did his best to give the Allah’s messenger pain and distress. The Quran gives both of these the news of there bad consequences. (Al-Lahab 111:1 - 5)
Similarly Quran also talks about the father of Khalid bin Walid whose name was Walid bin Gughaira. He was wealthy, greedy, power loving and proud person. He denied the divine book and used to call it a result of magic. He spent his days and nights in the opposition of the prophet SAW. Quran do not mention his name but he is given the news of hell.
So the conclusion is that there is no aspect of the prophet’s life which Quran ignores. Moulana Abul Kalam Azad writes “if all the books about history of Islam are lost and only Quran lives, even then the character of the prophet could be known. Quran will the the world that who was the prophet who was given this Quran, where was he born, what was the condition of his nation, what life did he spend, what did he did with the world and what the world did with him. How was his social life and how was his personal life. How was his days spent and how did he used to spend his nights. How much life did he got. What important events occurred in his life. And when the time came that he left the world, what was the condition of this world”.
Almost the same opinion is given by Sayad Abul Al’a Mududi. He writes “if all the collection of books about seerah is lost that is compiled by the Islamic scholars, not only a single page is left which could tell about the prophet Muhammad and only the Book of Allah is left, then it could answer all the questions about the person who brought Quran, that could arise in the mind of a student.
2. Books of Hadith
After Quran the major source of seerah of the prophet Muhammad SAW are hadith, whose number of narrators reach more then one lakh. Hadith writers compiled these books after much effors, struggle and endeavor, and hence provided such a remarkable sources for seerah whose example cant be found.
The prophet Muhammad SAW himself wanted that his sayings should reach ummah in their right form. It is said that when he used to talk, he used to utter words slowly and clearly, so that the listeners could understand completely your point of view, and could also remember your sayings. He used to repeate important points three times, so that those stay in the minds of the listeners. He also urged the that his sayings should be told to those who dint listened. There are some hadith in this respect like:
“Those who are present should take these to those who are not”.
“You listen from me, others will listen from you, and rest will listen form them”.
“Allah will make his face fresh, who listened to my words, and remembered those, and even told those who did not heard”.
He also instructed that the hadith should always be verified.
“The person who will relate any false words with me, he should keep in mind that his place is in hell”.
Sayad Suleman Nadwi writes “the people who used to take the responsibility of writing the riwayat about prophet’s sayings, doings, and daily routine are called Rawiyan-e-Hadith, or muhaditheen or Arbab-e-Seer. These include companion’s of prophet Muhammad, Tabiyeen, Taba-Tabiyeen, and some people from the 4th century A.H. When all the details about the prophet’s sayings and doings were recorded, then all the details i.e. history of life, character etc about these narrators was also recorded. The number of such people reach about one 100,000. The details about these is collected in Asma-Arijaal.
Editing of books of Hadith
The formal editing of the books of hadith started in the rein of Umer bin Abdul Aziz (died 101 .H). but this fact is proved that some companions started collecting the prophet’s saying personally. In the beginning the prophet was worried that the hadith may mix with the Quran so he allowed only the writing of Quran. But afterwards when a big portion of Quran was revealed and many companions learned it by heart, then he permitted the writing of hadith.
The booklets of hadith that were formulated in the life of prophet are not now present in the same form, but they became the part of some later books. For example Imam Tarimzi narrates from Saad bin Abada Ansari RA that he had collected some hadith in a booklet. It is said his son uses to narrate hadith from this booklet. Ammam Bukhari says that this booklet was copied from the book of Abdullah bin Abi Aoffa who wrote it with his own hands. Jabbir bin Abdullah also contained a booklet of hadith.
Here I give a list and a brief description of the booklets and the books of Hadith.
Saheefa-e-Sdiqa
This was the most popular booklet of the times of prophet that was compiled by Abdullah bin Umro bin Alaas.
Saheefa-e-Hammam bin Munabba
Abbu Huraira RA also compiled many booklets of hadith but most of them were lost. Just one was left that is narrated by one of the students of Abbu Huraira RA, whose name was Hamman bin Munabba. This booklet is known by his name.
Kitab-ul-Assar
Ammam abu Hanifa was a great faqeeh, but he also contributed his services for the compilation of hadith. His reference work is said to be Kitab-ul-Asaar.
Mo’ta’
After Kitab-ul-Asaar, the most important collection of hadith is Mo’ta’, compiled by Imam Malik bin Ans (93A.H – 179A.H.). Meaning of Mo’ta’ is decorated. Thus this book is a collection of butiful ahadith of prophet Muhammad.
Masnad Ahmad Bin Jumbal
This is the biggest collection of hadith. It contains about 40,000 Ahadith.
Sahah Sitta
These are the six books that are said to be the best collection of hadith. These books that are popular with the name of there compilers
1. Bukhari
2. Muslim
3. Abu Daood
4. Nisaai
5. Tarimzi
6. Ibn majja
The previous collections were compiled with only one objective. i.e. to save the ahadith. They were not arranged and also contained hadith whose validity was doubtful. These books arranged the ahadith with specific topics and removed the hadith whose validity was unproven.
Different Collections
Some scholars selected some of hadith from other books and arranged them in new collections. Some of these are as under.
1. Msabeeh-al-sunnah
2. Mashkah almsabeeh
3. Jama almsaneed wa alqaab
4. Beher almsaneed
3. Books of Maghazi
Another important source of seerah of prophet Muhammad is those books that were formulated by the people of earlier times. Magazi’s actual meaning is wars but its figurative meaning is those wars in which the propher Muhammad SAW participated himself. Magahzi should have contained only the description of the wars in which the prophet participated but afterwards this word also covered the whole life of prophet. This is why the books about prophet’s life are called maghazi as well as seerah.
Similar to the books of ahadith the books of seerah and maghazi were also started formulating in the times of Umer bin Abdulaziz but its earlier traces are also found in the previous times. Prior to the foremost writers of seerah for example Ibn-Ishaq we find some scholars form tabiyeen and taba-tabiyeen who compiled some books of seerah and maghazi. Although those books are lost with the passage of time but their refferences can be found in the books of later times. These are
q Abban bin Usman
q Urwah bin Alzubair
q Sharjeel bin Saad
q Wahab bin Munaba
q Abdullah bin Abbi Bakar
q Asim bin Umer Katada
q Ibn-e-Shahab Zahry
q Abu-ul-Aswad Muhammad bin Abdul Rehman
q Muammar Suleman bin Sulman
q Muamir bin Rashid
q Abu Masher bin Alsindi
q Moosa bin uqba.
Aban Bin Usman
The first to formulate books on maghazi and seerah was Aban bin Usman who was the son of the third Caliph Usman bin Afaan. He was popular as the scholar of hadith, fiqh, and maghazi. Being the son of Usman RA he had the facility to know about he prophet’s life with authentication. So it is told that he composed the first book of maghazi, which was narrated by Mughaira bin Abdul Rehman.
Urwah bin Alzubair
Urwah bin Alzubair bin Aluloom (23-97A.H) was also a major scholar of maghazi and hadith. No part of the book of Abaan bin Usman’s maghazi reached us but some segments of the maghazi written by Urwah bin Alzubair can be found in the books of seerah. His own book “Almaghazi” can not be found anymore. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, Waqadi, Tibri and Ibn Sayad Alnaar copied contents from the maghazi written by Urwah bin Alzubair in there own books. These are the narration that has reached us about the prophet Muhammad SAW. Urwah bin Zubair has also included some improtant events of prophet’s life along with the details of ghazwat, e.g. the situation at the time of revelation and migration to habsha.
Urwah had close relations with the family of prophet. His father Zubair bin Alowam was one of the ashra mubashra. Asma bin Abu Bakar was your mother and Aisha RA was his auntie. So he used to ask questions from his father, mother and auntie and collected information about the prophet SAW. This is the reason that the valuable information is found in his book which was not accessed by other tabiyeen.
Wahab bin Munaba
Another important writer of maghazi is Wahab bin Munaba, who was the native of southern Arabia but was Iranian . He had great interest in the religious books and narration of Judaism and Christianity. His brother Hamaam bin Munaba’s writings are referred in the books of hadith. Wahab bin Munaba narrates his writings from Abdullah Ibn Abbas, Abu Huraira RA, and Jabir RA but the hadith writers has taken his narration very less often. For example bukhari has taken only one hadith form him.
Asim bin Umer
Asim bin Umer bin Qatada Al-Ansari (dead 120 AH) was also a popular tabiyee. According to Ibn-e-Saad he was ordered by Umer bin Abdul Aziz to stay in the mosque of Damascus and to teach people about the maghazi. So he obeyed this order. It is said that if after some time he came back to his home in Madina and continued teaching maghazi.
Muhammad bin Ishaq met Asim bin Umer in Madina and until he stayed there he continuously attended the lessons of Asim bin Umer. This is why he has copied some parts from the maghazi of Asim bin Umer in his book. Other then Ibn Ishaq, alwaqadi has also copied many narrations form Asim bin Umer. His most narrations are about the prophet’s life in Makka, and the earlier days of Islam.
Sharjeel bin Saad
Sharjeel bin Saad (died 123 AH) was a freed slave, and belonged to the southern Arabia but his most of the time was spend in Madina. It is said that he had a life of more then hundred years. Those companions of prophet form which he has taken the narrations include Zaid bin Harris, Abu Huraira, and abu Saeed Alhazry. Like Asim bin Umair he also had great interest in seerah and maghazi. There is also a chance that he had taken the material for maghazi from Urwah bin Alzubair.
Ibn-e-Shahab Zahry
Muhammad bin Ubaid bin Shahab Alzahry (51 – 124 AH) was a great tabyiee. He was specially popular for writing and editing hadith, tafseer, fiqh, history and maghazi. He spend his earlier times in Madina and took the benefit from the company of Aban bin Usman, Urwah bin Zubair, Saeed bin Almseeb, Ali bin Husain etc.
Ammam Zahri was requested to write a book on seerah by Khalid bin Abdullah Alqusra. Zahri fulfilled this request heartily. That book is now not present but its references are found in the later books of seerah.
Muhammad bin Ishaq
Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Ysaar bin Kayar (85 – 151AH) was the first seerah writer whose book “Kitab Almaghazi” has reached us with most of its part in its original form. It is his popularity that dint let the attention go to people prior to him. His book is popular with the names like “Kitab Almaghazi wa alseer” and “ Kitaab alseerah wa almubtada wal maghazi”. Most part of this book is saved by Abn Hashaam in his book “Seeraht-e-Rasool”.
Muhammad bin Ishaq was also born in Mwali family. His father Ishaq bin Yassar and his uncle Moosa bin Yassar also had very deep interest in hadith. Ishaq was the student of Urwah bin zubair. So he had the facility to extract seerah from hadith. Muhammad bin Ishaq kept contact with Madina’s popular tabiyeen, Asim bin Umer, Abdullh bin Abi Bakkar and Ibn Shahaab Zahri. So most of the hadith in his book was from these three. He took benefit from 114 teacher amongst which more then hundred were form Madina. Similarly the number of his students were also very huge, amongst which fifteen students narrated his book. The most authentic narration is by salma bin alafzal.
Ibn Hashaam
Abu Muhammad Abdul Malik bin Hashaam bin Ayoob Al hamery (died 213 or 218 AH) will live forever due to his remarkable book “Seeraht-e-Rasool Allah”, because this book had the pride to reach us completely in its original form. This book is in fact a better version of the book by Ibn Ishaq.
Waqadi
Waqadi enjoyed the company of popular hadith writers like Malik bin Anas, Muammar bin Rashid, Abu Muashar Alsindi, and Abi Jahreeh. He was also interested in fiqh, hadith, maghazi and history.
These are the four books of Waqadi that are about seerah
1. Tareekh al Maghazi wal Mabas
2. Azwaj Alnabi
3. Wafat Alnabi
4. Alseerah.
There are some other books by Waqadi that are basically about history but contains many imortant seerah topics.
Other writers:
There are countless other writers who contributed in the seerah writing. Names of some are given here:
q Abu Maasher Alsindi
q Mutamar Suleman bin Tarkhan
q Muhammad bin Saad
Some important books:
q Sharaf Almustafa by Hafiz Abu Saeed Abdulmalik
q Seerah Ibn Abdulber by Ammam Abu Umer Yousaf bin Abdulbar
q Alrwooz Alanaf by Qasim Abdulrehman
q Sharaf Almustafa by Hafiz Abdulrehman ibn Jozi
q Seerah ibn Abi Tay by Yahya bin Hameeda
q Seerah Gazroni by Sheikh Zaheer-ud-din Ali
q Khalish Alseer by Muhib al deen Ahmad
q Seerah Damyaty by Hafiz Abdul Momen Aldmiyaty
q Seerah Khalati by Alauldeen Bin Muhammad Alkhallati
q Ayoon Alasar by Abu Fattah bin Muhammad
4. Books of history
Another important source of seerah is the books of Islamic history. Basically these are not the books of seerah but these are the description of happenings and events about Islamic world’s leaders, important personalities and Muslim countries. But while describing all this they also talk about the founder of Islam, his life, his achievements and his deeds. In these books of history the biography of Prophet Muhammad is described, somewhere briefly and somewhere in detail. In the old books of history some narrations are those that are similar to those that are found in books of maghazi. But some are those that are found explicitly in the books of history only. This is why these books are considered as an important source of seerah. There are many books written about Islamic history but regarding seerah of the prophet Muhammad SAW most important are those which describe a lot about prophet’s personality. Some description of such books follows.
The earliest people who wrote books about Islamic history are Abu Maasher Alsindhee (died 170 AH), Waqadi (died 207 AH) and Madayeene (died 225AH). Abu Maasher had great interest in history along with seerah and maghazi, but unfortunately we lost his book about history along with his other books. Some parts of his books were saved in the books of Tibree.
Ibn Nadeem has talked bout twenty seven books that are written by Waqadi. These books are about different aspects of Islamic history, but one book “Kitab Alkabeer” is most important. This book contains events that occurred till 179 AH. This book is also not found any more but some parts of it are copied in the book of Tibree. Other then this there is another book of Waqadi named “Kitab Altabqaat” which contains seerah of the prophet and some history about prophet’s companions and Tabeyeen. A large portion of this book is saved by Ibn saad in his book “Tabqaat ul kabeer”.
Madayeene is another popular historian, who wrote seerah and maghazi. He also wrote about the history of Abaasies. Ibn Nadeem says that the number of books by Madayeene is about 245.
Some other books and names of their writers are as under:
q Tabqat al kabeer by Muhammad Ibn Saar (died 230 AH)
q Tareekh Sagheer-o-Kabeer by Amman Bukhari (died 256 AH)
q Kitab Al Maarraf by Abu Muhammad Abdullah bin Muslim (213 – 270 AH)
q Tareekh-e-Yaqoobi by Ahmen bin abi Yaqoob (died 284 AH)
q Tareekh-e-Tibree by Abu Jaffer Muhammad bin Jareer Al Tibree (235 – 310 AH)
q Tareekh Ibn Abe Kazeema by Ahmad bin Abi Kazeema (205 – 299 AH)
q Tambeeh wa Ashraf by Abu Alhassan bin Alhusain bin Ali Almasoodi (died 345 AH)
q Almuntzim by Abu Alfarah Abdulrehman ibn Jozi (510 – 597 AH)
q Tareekh Al kamil by Az Aldeen Ali bin Muhammad Aljazree(555 – 630AH)
q Tareekh Abu Alfida by Amad-udeen Abu Alfida Ismaeel bin Ali (672 – 732 AH)
q Tareekh Alislam by Shams-addeen Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ahmad Almaroof beh allama Zehby (673 – 748 AH)
q Al badaiya and Alnhaya by Ibn Kaseer (710 – 774 AH)
q Tareekh Ibn Khaldoon by Abu Zaid Abdul Rehman bin Muhammad bin Khaldoon Almaghrabi (732 – 808 AH)
q Amraaa Alasmaa by Ahmen bin Ali Taqi Aldeen Almaqrezi (776 – 845 AH)
5. Books of Tafseer
Another important source of seerah is books of tafseer, written for the clarification of Quran. The Quran is the best source to know about prophet’s seerah. When those parts of Quran are described in detail that refers to life of Prophet Muhammad, many aspects of seerah are also discussed. These tafaseer also prove to be very informative when we want to know that what were the times, reasons and places when these ayaah of Quran were reavealed. This is why the books of tafaseer are said to be a precious fountain for the knowledge of seerah
The tafseer writing started in the times of companions of prophet Muhammad SAW. The companions, who were mufasireen, were not many in number but there narrations are important because whatever they said was what they heard from the prophet directly or indirectly.
Amman Jallal Adeen Syoty writes that among the companions of prophet ten were popular as muffasirs which are
q Abu Bakar RA
q Umer RA
q Usman RA
q Ali RA (the four caliphs)
q Abdullah bin Masood RA
q Abdullah bin Abbas RA
q Abye bin Kaab RA
q Zaid bin Sabit RA
q Abu Mosa Ashery RA
q Abdullah bin Zubair RA
Other then these some other companions are also known for the tafseer of Quran although their number is comparatively less. The following names are very important in this respect:
q Anas bin Malik RA
q Abu Huraira RA
q Abdullah bin Umer RA
q Jabbir bin Abdullah RA
q Abdullah bin Umro Alaas
q Ayisha Sadeeqa RA
Tafaseer of times of Sahaba
The most populer of the tafseer of times of sahaba is “Tafseer Ibn Abaas” by Abdullah bin Abaas (died 76 AH)
The second important tafseer is by Abye bin Kab Ansari (died 19 AH)
No one wrote any complete tafseer of Quran in the times of sahaba. The proper work on writing tafaseer was started in the second century AH.
Tafaseer in the times of Tabaeen and afterwards:
Tabiaeen were the people who learned form sahaba. And taba tabyeen were those who learned for the tabeyeen. Much work on writing tafseer was done in there times.
6. Books of Asma-Alrajaal
Another source of seerah is the books that are present in numbers of hundreds and thousands, which are developed by the historian with a great effort and struggle. The life history of the prophet is describe by the Sahaba and these narrations were heard and noted by tabiyeen, so it was important to collect information about these sahaba and tabiyeen. According to Mulana Shiblee Naumani “It was important to find out that the person who came in silsila-e-riwayatt, who were thay, what did they used to do?, what were there daily routines? How was there repute? How was there memory? Were they educated? - hundreds of hadith writters spend their lives for this task. They went to each cities, met the narraters, lived with then and find out each detail about them. Those who were not present in that time, the information about those was asked from the people who used to live with them. As a result an art was born with the help of which now we can know the life histories of about more then 100,000 people”.
The books in which these life histories were collected were said to be Alasma Alrijaal. It is said that the one who begin this art was Shaba bin Hajaaj and the one who first ever wrote a book like these was Yahya bin saeed.
A brief list of these book follows:
q Tabqat Alkubra by AlIbn Saad
q Tawareekh by Ammam Bukhari
q Kitaab Al jarah wal Tadeel by Allama Ahmad bin Abdullah Alajly
q Astiyab fe Maarfa Al ashaab by Hafiz Abu Umro Yosab bin Abdulber
q Alkamal fe Maarfa Al rijaal by Hafiz Abdul Ghani bin Abdul Wahid
q Asad Alghaba Fe Maarata Alashaab by Allama Ibn Aseer
q Tehzeeb Alkamaal Fe Maarfa Alrijaal by Hafiz Jamal Ad-deen
q Mezaan Alaatadal fe Naqad Alrijaal by Ammam Zehbi
q Tehzeeb Altehzeeb by Ibn-e-hajar Asqalani
7. Books of Shuma’l
Another source of seerah are the books that are written by the appearance of prophet Muhammad, his habits, his daily routine and his lifestyle. All these topics are also discussed in some books of hadith but in some books only such topics are chosen to be discussed.
Kitab Al-Shuma’l by Ammam Tarimzi is the first book on this topic. Similarly “Kitab-ul Shiffa” by Qazi Ayaaz Undlisi is said to be the biggest book of Shuma’l.
8. Books of Dala’l
These are the books about the miracles and the spiritual achievements of prophet. Sayed Sulaman Nadwi has written about numerous such books which are about some specific aspect of the prophet’s life. For example
q Dla’l Alnaboowa by Ibn – Qattada
q Dla’l Alnaboowa by Abu Ishaq Harbi
q Dla’l Alnaboowa by Ammam Abo Bakkar Baqeeha
q Dla’l Alnaboowa by Abo Inam Isfahani
q Dla’l Alnaboowa by Ammam Mastaghfari
q Dla’l Alnaboowa by Abu Qasim Ismail Isfahani
and
q Khasaes Alkubra by Amam Sayooti which is the most authentic book on this topic.
Some people have made miracles of Prophet Muhammad SAW as the topic of there book. In this respect the best book ever written was by Allama Jallal-ud-Deen Balqeeni who was teacher of Ammam Sayooti. The name of the book was “Mujazaat – Alnabi SAW”.
9. Books of Asaar and Akhbaar
Another sources of seerah are those books that are written about the circumstances of Madia and Makka. In these book, along with the state of affairs of these cities, many details about the prophet’s life, and the sacred location related to prophet was also included. These book act as are preview of situations that occurred in the life of prophet. Their writers are appreciable because they have done a lengthy research for collection of data about the ancient cities, the tribes that were living there and their way of life.
The oldest book written in this respect is “Akhbar-e-Madina” by Allama Azraqi. This book is said to be very authenticated source for information about the cities. Sayed Suleman Nadwi has mentioned some names of books which are
q Akbar-e-Madina by Ummer bin Shabba
q Akbar-e-Makka by Fakahee
q Akbar-e-Madina by Ibn-eZabala.
10. Ma’asrana poetry
Another source of information about prophet’s life is the poetry that was done for admiration of the prophet’s personality. The popular poets who wrote about prophet at that time were:
q Abu Talib
q Aasha
q Kaab bin Zaheer
q Ahsaan bin Sabit
q Abdullah bin rooha
q Abdullah bin Zubraa
q Kaab bin Malik
q Fazala Laishi
q Abaas bin Mardaas
It is said that there is no poet who dint wrote any stanza about the prophet Muhammad SAW. This is confirmed when we look at the poetry done by the 4 caliphs, and prophet’s other close relatives. But the poetry that is helpful in knowing seerah is done by the people whose names are mentioned above.
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