The Primary Foundations of Biographical Writing and Their Impact on Shaping the Historical Text of the Prophetic Biography

Abstract

This study examines the formulation of the historical text of Prophet Muhammad's Biography (Sīrah) in light of early biographical codification methodologies during the first and second centuries AH. The research originates from an epistemological problem concerning the impact of methodological divergence and intersection between the Hadith scholars' trend—characterized by strict rules of transmission continuity (Ittisāl) and narrator criticism—and the early chroniclers' (Ikhbāriyūn) trend, which relied on narrative flexibility, composite transmission (Al-Riwāyah al-Majmū‘iyyah), and un-transmitted reports (Balāghāt). The significance of this study lies in deconstructing the internal structure of both traditionist and historical codifications to understand how the contemporary Sīrah text was formed. Utilizing a historical-analytical approach based on induction and critical evaluation of early primary sources (such as ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, al-Zuhrī, Ibn Isḥāq, al-Wāqidī, and Mūsā ibn ‘Uqbah), the study yields several key findings. Most notably, early Sīrah codification was established upon early physical documents and scrolls, rather than mere oral spontaneity, and the divergence between Hadith scholars and chroniclers was functional, dictated by the purpose of documentation (normative law texts versus comprehensive historical context). The study recommends adopting a "knowledge integration" approach and contemporary methodological criteria that balance the certitude of the traditionist with the comprehensiveness of the chronicler to reconstruct an integrated, verified historical and legislative portrait of the Prophet's Sīrah.