The Maghazi of Sayyiduna Muhammad ﷺ: The Earliest Known Biography of the Messenger of Allah

Musa ibn 'Uqbah,
(Tr.) Javed Iqbal, Jody McIntyre, 
(Foreword) Abdul Aziz Suraqah

This text is the first English translation of The Maghazi of Sayyiduna Muhammad ﷺ, the earliest biography of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ currently known to exist. An eminent scholar of the generation of the Tabi'in, Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah ranks as one of the first individuals to compile reports specifically related to the sīrah, the biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. More significant, however, is the fact that his Maghazi (Expeditions) was acclaimed by his contemporaries, such as Imam Malik ibn Anas, as the most authentic work of its genre. In the years that followed, The Maghazi of Sayyiduna Muhammad ﷺ served as an authoritative source for many later works on the life of Allah's Messenger ﷺ.

A sub-genre within the field of Prophetic studies, the Maghazi literature covers the battles and military expeditions of the Prophetic era, and by extension, the biography of the Prophet ﷺ as well. The Maghazi literature is thus both historical and religious in its scope. What sets The Maghazi of Sayyiduna Muhammad ﷺ apart, even among the works of Maghazi and sīrah, is the fact that its author was a muhaddith first and foremost, and as such, adhered to strict requirements for documentation of both narrators and narrations in his works. The result is that his Maghazi is a work of history that is documented almost to the same standards as a work of hadith.