al-Sira al-Nabawiya wa Akhbar al-Khulafa min al-Thiqat li-Ibn Hibban

al-Sira al-Nabawiya wa Akhbar al-Khulafa min al-Thiqat (The Prophetic Biography and Chronicles of the Caliphs from the Book of Trustworthy Narrators) is a historical and biographical text by the hadith scholar and historian Abu Hatim Muhammad ibn Hibban al-Busti (d. 354 AH / 965 CE), constituting the opening biographical and historical divisions of his larger biographical dictionary Kitab al-Thiqat al-Sira al-Nabawiya wa Ak…+1.

Composition and Context

In the introduction to his biographical work Kitab al-Thiqat, Ibn Hibban explained that he intended to document trustworthy transmitters of religious knowledge across generations Ilm al-Rijal Nashatuhu wa…+1. As the foundational preface to the biographical tiers of the Companions, Successors, and later transmitters, he opened the work with an extensive chronological account of the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the successive caliphates Ilm al-Rijal Nashatuhu wa…+1.

Modern editors extracted these two initial historical sections—covering the Prophetic biography (al-sira al-nabawiyya) and the history of the caliphs (akhbar al-khulafa)—and published them as a self-contained volume drawn directly from Kitab al-Thiqat al-Sira al-Nabawiya wa Ak…+1.

Content and Structure

The work is organized sequentially around two primary subjects:

• The Prophetic Biography: The opening section begins with an introduction encouraging adherence to the Prophetic traditions and the study of transmitter history, followed by the lineage, birth, and upbringing of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the early revelations, the call in Mecca, the covenants of 'Aqaba, the Hijra to Medina, and a detailed chronicle of military campaigns and expeditions down to his death Ilm al-Rijal Nashatuhu wa…+1.
• The Caliphates: The second section follows the reigns of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafa al-Rashidun) through the killing of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, continuing through the Umayyad rulers and the Abbasid caliphs down to Ibn Hibban's contemporary, the Abbasid caliph al-Muti' li-Llah Ilm al-Rijal Nashatuhu wa…+1.

Manuscripts and Publication

Manuscripts preserving these sections within copies of Kitab al-Thiqat include:

• Ahmet III MS 2995 (dated 887 AH) at the Topkapı Palace Library in Istanbul al-Sira al-Nabawiya wa Ak…+1.
• Asafiyya Library MS 1/780 (Rijal 89, dated 1292 AH, copied by Miskin Ahmad) in Hyderabad al-Sira al-Nabawiya wa Ak…+1.
• Sa'idiyya Library MS in Hyderabad al-Sira al-Nabawiya wa Ak….
• Zahiriyya Library MS Tarikh 710 (dating from the 7th century AH) in Damascus al-Sira al-Nabawiya wa Ak….

The text was edited and annotated by al-Sayyid 'Aziz Bek and a committee of scholars, and issued by Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyya in Beirut (first edition 1407 AH / 1987 CE; third edition 1417 AH / 1997 CE) al-Matalib al-Aliya Muhaq…+1.