Islamic Apologetics By Ehteshaam Gulam : List of Biographies of Prophet Muhammad

It is commonly said that the earliest biography of Prophet Muhamamd (p) was written 120 years after his death at that biography is Ibn Ishaq. This is false. Below is a list of very early biographies of Prophet Muhammad, some written by his own disciples (companions):

To see very early hadith books see here http://www.letmeturnthetables.com/2011/04/hadith-compilations-by-companions-of.html and here http://www.letmeturnthetables.com/2012/05/documentation-sunnah-hadith-begin-early.html

The following is a list of the earliest known Hadith collectors who specialized in collecting Sīra and Maghāzī reports.

Sahl ibn Abī Ḥathma (d. in Mu'awiya's reign, i.e., 41-60 AH), was a young companion of the Prophet. Parts of his writings on Maghazi are preserved in the Ansāb ofal-Baladhuri, the Ṭabaqāt of Ibn Sa'd, and the works of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari and al-Waqidi.^[1]

Abdullah ibn Abbas (d. 78 AH), a companion of Muhammad, his traditions are found in various works of Hadith and Sīra.^[1]

Saʿīd ibn Saʿd ibn ʿUbāda al-Khazrajī, another young companion, his writings have survived in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal and Abī ʿIwāna, and the Tārīkh of al-Tabari.^[1]

ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr (d. 713). He wrote letters replying to inquiries of the Umayyad caliphs, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan and al-Walid I, involving questions about certain events that happened in the time of the Prophet. Since Abd al-Malik did not appreciate the maghāzī literature, these letters were not written in story form. He is not known to have written any books on the subject.^[2] He was a grandson of Abu Bakr and the younger brother of Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr.

Saʿīd ibn al-Masīb al-Makhzūmī (d. 94 AH), a famous Tābiʿī and one of the teachers of al-Zuhri. His traditions are quoted in in the Six major hadith collections, and in the Sīra works of Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sayyid al-Nās, and others.^[1]

Abū Fiḍāla ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik al-Anṣārī (d. 97 AH), his traditions were mentioned in Ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari.^[1]

Abbān ibn Uthmān ibn Affān (d. 101-105 AH), the son of Uthman. His traditions are transmitted through Malik ibn Anas in his Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Ṭabaqāt of Ibn Sa'd, and in the histories of al-Tabari and al-Yaʿqūbī.^[1]

ʿĀmir ibn Sharāḥīl al-Shaʿbī (d. 103 AH), his traditions were transmitted through Abu Isḥāq al-Subaiʿī, Saʿīd ibn Masrūq al-Thawrī, al-Aʿmash, Qatāda, Mujālid ibn Saʿīd, and others.^[1]

This section requires expansion. (June 2012)

Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr (d. 107 AH), another grandson of Abu Bakr. His traditions are mainly found in Tabari, Al-Balathuri, and al-Waqidi.^[1]

Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. during 725 to 737, or 114 AH). Several books were ascribed to him but none of them are now extant. Some of his works survive as quotations found in works by Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī, and others.^[1]^[2]

Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (d. c. 737), a central figure in sīra literature, who collected both ahadith and akhbār. His akhbār also contain chains of transmissions, or isnad. He was sponsored by theUmayyad court and asked to write two books, one on genealogy and another on maghāzī. The first was canceled and the one about maghāzī is either not extant or has never been written.^[2]

Musa ibn ʿUqba, a student of al-Zuhrī, and wrote Kitāb al-Maghāzī, a notebook used to teach his students; now lost. Some of his traditions have been preserved, although their attribution to him is disputed.^[2]

Muhammad ibn Ishaq (d. 767 or 761), another student of al-Zuhrī, who collected oral traditions that formed the basis of an important biography of the Prophet. His work survived through that of his editors, most notably Ibn Hisham and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari.^[2]

Zubayr ibn al-Awam, the husband of Asma bint Abi Bakr.
Abaan ibn Uthman ibn Affan, the son of Uthman wrote a small booklet.
Al-Sha'bi.
Hammam ibn Munabbih, a student of Abu Hurayrah
Asim Ibn Umar Ibn Qatada Al-Ansari
Ma'mar Ibn Rashid Al-Azdi, pupil of Al-Zuhri
Abdul Rahman ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Ausi, pupil of Al-Zuhri
Muhammad ibn Salih ibn Dinar Al-Tammar was a pupil of Al-Zuhri and mentor of Al-Waqidi.
Hashim Ibn Urwah ibn Zubayr, son of Urwah ibn Zubayr, generally quoted traditions from his father but was also a pupil of Al-Zuhri.

Ali ibn mujahid Al razi Al kindi.
Al-Bakka was a disciple of Ibn Ishaq and teacher of Ibn Hisham and thus forms a very important link in Sira between two great scholars.
Abdul Malik Ibn Hisham, his work incorporated the text of Ibn Ishaq; he was a pupil of Al-Bakka.
Salama ibn Al-Fadl Al-Abrash Al-Ansari, pupil of Ibn Ishaq.
Al-Waqidi, whose only surviving work is "Kitab alTarikh wa al-Maghazi" (Book of History and Campaigns)
Abu Isa Muhammad Al-Tirmidhi wrote compilations of Shamaail (Characteristics of Muhammad)
Ibn Sa'd wrote the 8-volume work called Tabaqat or The Book of the Major Classes; he was also a pupil of Al-Waqidi.
Imam Al-Bayhaqee, wrote Dalial An-Nabuwwah (Argument for Prophet hood).
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari wrote the well-known work History of the Prophets and Kings, whose earlier books include the life of Muhammad, which cite of Ibn Ishaq.

Later writers and biographies (1100 AD- 1517 AD)

Abdul Rahman Al-Suhaili, wrote a commentary on Ibn Ishaq's work called Raud al-Unuf.
Al-Hafiz Abdul Mu'min Al-Dimyati, wrote the book "al-Mukhtasar fi Sirati Sayyid Khair al-Bashar" but is commonly referred to as Sira of Al-Dimyati.
Ala'al-Din Ali ibn Muhammad Al-Khilati Hanafi,wrote Sirat of Al-Khilati.
Sheikh Zahir al-Din ibn Muhammad Gazaruni.
Abu-al-Faraj ibn Al-Jawzi,wrote A Great Collection of Fabricated Traditions a critique of Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal. But his book on Sira is called Sharaf Al-Mustafa (actual full Title of book(s):Uyun al-hikayat fi Sirat Sayyid al-Bariyya).
Ibn Kathir, wrote Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya (Ibn Kathir).
Abu Rabi Sulaiman ibn Musa Al-Kala'i compiled a book titled "Iktifa fi Maghazi al-Mustafa wal-Khulafa al-Thalatha".
Ibn Abd al-Barr.
Ibn Sayyid Al-Nas, wrote Uyun al-Athar.
Qadi Iyad, wrote Ash-Shifa – Muhammad The Messenger of Allah
Zain al-Din Iraqi was a teacher of Ibn Hajar and he wrote Sira Manzuma.
Al-Qastallani, his book on Sira is Al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ M. R. Ahmad (1992). Al-sīra al-nabawiyya fī ḍawʾ al-maṣādir al-aṣliyya: dirāsa taḥlīliyya (1st ed.). Riyadh: King Saud University. pp. 20–34.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Raven, Wim (2006). "Sīra and the Qurʾān". Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 29–49.