Ma Shaa wa Lam Yathbut fi al-Sira al-Nabawiya
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Ma Shaa wa Lam Yathbut fi al-Sira al-Nabawiya (Arabic: ما شاع ولم يثبت في السيرة النبوية, lit. 'What Is Widespread but Not Established in the Prophetic Biography') is a critical study of the Prophetic biography (sira) by the Saudi scholar Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Awshan, dedicated to identifying and evaluating unverified yet widely circulated historical reports regarding the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Purpose and Methodology
The author composed the work to filter out unauthenticated narratives from the Prophetic biography, drawing an analogy to the efforts of early hadith scholars who sifted authentic traditions from defective ones. The book does not attempt an exhaustive catalog of every weak report, but focuses on the most famous accounts frequently reproduced in classical biography and military expedition (maghazi) literature.
Al-Awshan operates on the principle that the fame and widespread circulation of an account do not guarantee its historical authenticity, while noting that the absence of a verified chain of transmission (isnad) indicates a lack of evidentiary proof rather than a categorical denial of the event. He highlights that most biographical traditions trace back to Ibn Ishaq, whose solitary narrations and undisclosed transmission modes (tadlis) were treated with caution by hadith critics. Whenever he declares a widespread report unestablished, the author aims to provide sound alternative narrations where available.
In evaluating narrations, the work relies extensively on earlier critical scholars—notably al-Dhahabi in Tarikh al-Islam and Siyar A'lam al-Nubala', Ibn Kathir in al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Fath al-Bari and al-Isaba—as well as contemporary researchers such as Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani and Akram Diya' al-Umari.
Content and Examined Reports
The book addresses numerous widely accepted biographical episodes across the pre-prophetic, Meccan, and Medinan periods, demonstrating their lack of authentic chains:
- Pre-Prophetic and Early Meccan Period: The work assesses the claim that the Prophet was born on 12 Rabi' al-Awwal (favoring the 9th as more probable, while noting that 12 Rabi' al-Awwal was the date of death), the story of the young Prophet sitting on his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib's mattress, his participation in the Fijar War preparing arrows for his uncles, and the report that Khadijah was forty years old at marriage. It also examines reports that the Prophet attempted to throw himself from mountaintops after the initial revelation, fixing the duration of the secret preaching phase to three or four years, and the wording of his statement to Abu Talib regarding the sun and the moon.
- Meccan Persecution and Emigration: The author evaluates the details surrounding the conversions of Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Umar ibn al-Khattab, the story of the apostasy of Ubayd Allah ibn Jahsh to Christianity in Abyssinia, the incident of the Gharaniq (Satanic verses), the specific supplication during the return from al-Ta'if, the naming of the tenth year of prophethood as the "Year of Sorrow", and the account of Umar publicly announcing his emigration to Medina.
- Medinan Period and Military Expeditions: The book addresses the attribution of the advice to dig the ditch to Salman al-Farsi during the Battle of the Trench (which lacks a connected chain), the narrative of Abu Sufyan visiting Medina to renew the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya and being denied a seat on the Prophet's bedding by his daughter Umm Habiba, the solitary transmission by al-Waqidi regarding the cause of the Battle of Mu'ta, and circumstances surrounding Ka'b ibn Zuhayr's poem Banat Su'ad.
Publication
The author completed the manuscript's introduction in Riyadh in Rajab 1428 AH (July 2007 CE). The book was published in Riyadh by Dar Taybah in 1429 AH (2008 CE). An abridgment prepared by the author was also published on his personal blog.
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