The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 37
I - Early Sources of Sīrat & Islāmic History 37 14 Mustadrak Ḥākim Abū ‘Abdullāh Muḥammad bin ‘Abdullāh (321 A. H. – 405 A. H. ) Written by a renowned scholar of Ḥadīth. 15 Various books on Ḥadīth and Sīrat Aḥmad bin Ḥusain Baihaqī (384 A. H. – 458 A. H. ) Written by a renowned scholar of Ḥadīth. In addition to the above mentioned Muḥaddithīn , there are some who despite their distant time period, have traced the chain of narrations to the Holy Prophet sa or his companions and have reproduced these Aḥādīth. 1 However, the names of more noteworthy Muḥaddithīn have been included in the following list. The collections of the Muḥaddithīn mentioned last in the above mentioned list possess a great deal of weak and less authentic Aḥādīth , either due to distance in time or lack of caution. Anyhow, it is these very collections of Ḥadīth through which a historian can derive beneficial information of a superlative degree which is pertinent to the biographical history of the Holy Prophet sa and early Islām. Therefore, as mentioned previously, the collections of Ḥadīth are far more authentic and reputable than the narrations of Sīrat and history. Moreover, the narrations of Sīrat hold very little value in comparison to the great books of Ḥadīth , such as Bukharī and Muslim. Distinction between Sunnat and Ḥadīth Prior to bringing the discussion on Ḥadīth to a close, it would not be inappropriate to present a brief note with regards to Sunnat. It must be understood that the belief that Ḥadīth and Sunnat are synonymous is definitely untrue. In reality, Ḥadīth and Sunnat are two very different things. The term Ḥadīth refers to the verbal narrations which comprise the statements or actions of the Holy Prophet sa , relayed from his companions, to the Tābi‘īn , from the Tābi‘īn to the Taba‘ Tābi‘īn , and from the Taba‘ Tābi‘īn to subsequent generations and then were gathered in the form of a proper book, after an in-depth investigation and profound contemplations by the A’immah-e-Ḥadīth. On the 1 For example, Ibni Ḥabbān, Sa‘īd bin Manṣūr, Ibni Abī Shaibah, ‘Abdur-Razzāq, Abul-‘Alī, Ibni ‘Adī, ‘Uqailī, Khaṭīb Baghdādī, Bazzār, Ibni ‘Asākir, Ibni Abī Ḥāṭim, Ibni Mardawaih, etc, etc. From among these, some are also historians.