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

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.

Until recently, no copies of The Maghazi of Sayyiduna Muhammad ﷺ had been seen for over 400 years, and most scholars believed the text to be lost forever. Thus the good fortune of its reappearance cannot be overstated. The discovery of its manuscripts in the archives of the National Library of Tunisia is a significant event, the like of which the Ummah may not see again for many years, if ever. Ninety-one folios were found, which together contain approximately three-quarters of the original text. We hope that the remaining parts may be found soon.

The scholars and researchers who discovered the manuscripts of the Maghazi made the original text publicly available. Over the past year, Imam Ghazali Publishing's manuscripts team has been hard at work, with the aim of producing both an Arabic edition with vowels as well as an English translation. This text represents the fruition of that work.

IGP's paperback edition of the Maghazi

The first ever English translation of the manuscript text on facing pagesIntroduction and history of the workOriginal footnotes to provide context and explanation, as well as the sources of the dozens of Qur'anic verses woven into the textBiography of the authorA comprehensive foreword on the genre by Shaykh Abdul Aziz SuraqahBook Mūsā ibn ʿ Wordsmiths Editing Shaykh Abdul Aziz EnglishPaperback 238 Imam Ghazali Publishing