Sirat Un Nabi; A Great Book of Urdu Islamic Adab

Sirat Un Nabi by Shibli Noumani

Sirat-un-Nabi (Life of the Prophet) is arguably one of the greatest and most authentic Sirah Rasul Allah (biographies) of the Prophet Muhammad, written in Urdu by Shibli Nomani and his student, Syed Sulaiman Nadvi in 6 volumes.

The work started with the financial assistance of the late Nawab Sultana Jehan Begum of Bhopal and later through the aid of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Nomani had only managed to complete the first two volumes when he died in 1914. His loyal disciple Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, who was working with him as his literary assistant on the project, collected his research papers and manuscripts and had them published.

Originally in Urdu, the book since has been translated into many languages. The Arabic translation of the first part of this work was done by late Muhammad Ismail Madrasi of Algiers University. It was translated into English by Tayyab Bakhsh Budayuni and Mohammad Saeed Siddiqi. This work remains Nomani's most famous work.

Sirt Ul Mustafa, By Idrees Kandhelvi

The book is a great research work done by Shibli Noumani and his loyal student Sayyid Sulaiman Nadvi but according to many religious scholars there are some big mistakes in the book regarding Islamic teachings. Although in some places Sayyid Sulaiman Nadvi has tried to clarify the point, the book is not safe from mistake and misconceptions.

So, scholars do not recommend the book alone, rather they recommend the book Sirat Ul Mustafa, authored by Sheikh Muhammad Idrees Kandhelvi. One should read both books if he want to get proper and accurate knowledge of Sirat.

Both the Sirat Un Nabi and Sirat Ul Mustafa are published and could be found in any book shop of Pakistan and across the globe. And both are very popular in Islamic books specially the book on sirat written in Urdu.