Introduction

بسم اهلل واحلمد لله والصالة والسالم على رسول اهلل ، وبعد ص ـــ ح يح السِّـري ة النَّــب ــو يَّة sahih al-Seeratin-Nabawiyyah What is authentic from the Biography of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ, mentioning the chronological account of events, and his military expeditions, and his delegations. By Shaikh Naaser-ud-Deen al-Albaanee رمحه اهلل

Introduction To proceed, the topics on Seerah (biographies) and Qasas (stories) of the Prophets and the righteous is something which is beloved to the self, and closer to the heart, because of what it contains from the admonitions, instructions, and lessons which the righteous and the people of understanding benefit from, and which gives strength and raises the morale, and is a provision which helps them on the path of Allaah تبارك وتعاىل, as Allaah تعاىل said: ﴿ ل ق د ك ان ف ق ص ص ه م ع بـ ر ة ِّلِّ ول اِّل ل ب اب﴾ {There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding.} [Surah Yusuf (12): 111] And the most beloved of the Seerah to the heart and the greatest of them is the Seerah of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ, for he is the most honored of the creations of Allaah and most beloved to Him, and he is the leader of all the children of Aadam. صلوات اهلل وسالمه عليه. This is the reason that attracted the attention of many scholars to write on the Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. But their books were filled and mixed with authentic and unauthentic narrations, and no one gained sufficient means to carefully separate them. That is till Allaah تبارك و تعاىل destined the noble Shaikh and the Imaam of hadith of our age, Shaikh Muhammad Naaser-uddeen al-Albaanee رمحه اهلل, who undertook the task of separating the authentic Seerah from the inauthentic. What led the Shaikh to undertake this task was that he had traveled from Beirut (Lebanon) to Sharjah (UAE) where he came across a book on Seerah, entitled: “خامت النبيني” by Muhammad Abu Zahrah and he saw the calamities it was filled with. So he engaged himself in the service of (compiling the authentic) Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, and Allaah تعاىل expanded his breast to work on the book “السرية النبوية” of al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer رمحه اهلل and to separate the authentic from the unauthentic; and he named his work: “صحيح ا لسرية النبوية”, “sahih Seeratin-Nabawiyyah: What is authentic from the Biography of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ, mentioning the chronological account of events, and his military expeditions”, and he made many important corrections on the work of

Imaam Ibn Katheer. But it was the Decree of Allaah that Shaikh al-Albaanee رمحه اهلل passed away before he could complete this work, and he could only reach to the chapter of “alIsraa’ wal-Me`raaj”. May Allaah have mercy on Shaikh al-Albaanee for his efforts and elevate his status and raise him in the company of those on whom Allaah has bestowed His grace, of the Prophets, the Siddeeqeen, the martyrs, and the righteous. What will proceed is the translation from the work of Shaikh al-Albaanee in presenting to the dear readers the authentic Seerah of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ. The Methodology of this book: This book does not deal with narrating a story-based description of the events which the other books of Seerah (biographies) and Qasas (stories) do, i.e. by making additions to make the story more interesting and for entertainment. Rather, this book is a narrationbased description of the events; relying on narrations which are found in the books of Ahaadeeth. It may not interest those who are used to storybooks, but for a student of knowledge, this is an opportunity to learn and differentiate between the authentic and unauthentic narrations in the books of Seerah. The methodology which the Shaikh al-Albaanee رحمه اهلل applied in his book: