Sīrah

Al-sīrah al-nabawiyya (Arabic: السيرة النبوية), commonly shortened to sīrah and translated as prophetic biography, are the traditional biographies of the Islamic prophet Muhammad written over centuries by Muslim historians, from which, in addition to the Quran and hadith literature, most historical information about his life and the early history of Islam is derived.

Early historiographic information in Islam emerged as the irregular products of storytellers (qass, pl. qussas)—they were quite prestigious then—without details. While the narratives were initially in the form of a kind of heroic epics called maghazi, details were added later, edited and transformed into sirah compilations. The stories were written in the form of "founding conquest stories" based on nostalgia for the golden age then. Humphrey, quoted by Antoine Borrut, explains that the stories related to this period were created according to a pact-betrayal-redemption principle. Western historians describe the purpose of these early biographies as largely to convey a message—of a hagiographic nature—rather than to strictly and accurately record history. Lawrence Conrad examines the early sirah books and sees that the dates of Muhammad's birth span a period of up to 85 years. Conrad defines this as: "the fluidity (evolutionary process) continued even in the written period." At the same time the study of the earliest periods in Islamic history is made difficult by a lack of sources.

From the very beginning, the process of creating the image of Muhammad as a warrior hero supported by divine help is seen as fitting the ideal hero typology and current needs during the military collapses experienced by the Umayyads.