The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume I — Page 29
I - Early Sources of Sīrat & Islāmic History 29 the analysis of Aḥādīth which comprise of religious tenants or moral conduct. However, in the case of Sīrat and history, such stiff standards have not been employed. ‘ Allāmah ‘Alī bin Burhān-ud-Dīn Ḥalabī rh writes in his biography of the Holy Prophet sa : َ لَا یَخْفی ٰ اَن َّ السِّیَر َ تَجْمَع ُ الصَّحِیْح َ وَالضَّعِیْف َ وَالْمُرْسَل َ وَالْمُنْقَطِع “The matter is not hidden from anyone that narrations of Sīrat are composed of Ṣaḥīḥ 1 , Ḍa‘īf 2 , Mursal 3 , Munqaṭi‘ 4 – all types of narrations. ” 5 Then, he has mentioned the verbal narration of Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal rh and other A’immah-e-Ḥadīth , as an elaboration in this regard: اِذَا رَوَیْنَا فِی الْحَلَال ِ وَالْحَرَام ِ شَدَدْنَا وَاِذَا رَوَیْنَا فِی الْفَضَائِل ِ وَنَحْوَھَا تَسَاھَلْنَا “Our custom is that when we present a narration in regards to lawful and unlawful issues, we investigate it with great scrutiny. But in the matters of Faḍā ’ il 6 and Sīrat, we soften our requirements. ” 7 Furthermore, he presents an elucidation in the following words: ِ اَلَّذِی ْ ذَھَب َ اِلَیْه ِ كَثِیْر ٌ مِن ْ اَھَل ِ الْعِلْم ِ التَّرَخُّص ُ فِی ْ الرَّقَائِق ِ وَمَالَا حُكْم ُ فِیْه ِ مِن ْ اَخْبَار ِ الْمَغَازِی ْ وَمَا یَجْرِی ْ مَجْرٰی ذَالِك َ وَاِنَّه ُ یُقْبَل ُ فِی الْحَلَال ِ والْحَرَام ِ لِعَدْم ِ تَعَلُّق ِ الْاَحْكَام بِھَا “In most instances, the custom of scholars has been to keep their standard soft in matters not related to jurisprudence or religious injunctions, such as Sīrat or Maghāzī, etc. This is because in these issues, we can accept things 1 A type of Ḥadīth categorized according to the attributes of its narrators (Publishers) 2 A type of Ḥadīth categorized according to the attributes of its narrators (Publishers) 3 A type of Ḥadīth categorized according to the links in chain of narration (Publishers) 4 A type of Ḥadīth categorized according to the links in chain of narration (Publishers) 5 As-Sīratul-Ḥalbiyyah, By ‘Allāmah Abul-Faraj Nūr-ud-Dīn ‘Alī bin Ibrāhīm, Volume 1, Muqaddamah, p. 5, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2002) 6 Matters of secondary importance (Publishers) 7 As-Sīratul-Ḥalbiyyah, By ‘Allāmah Abul-Faraj Nūr-ud-Dīn ‘Alī bin Ibrāhīm, Volume 1, Muqaddamah, pp. 5-6, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2002)