The early scholars did not detail the ruling on the reports of the Prophetic biography, whether authenticating or weakening them, even those considered among the experts in the critique and vindication of narrators.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, there is a problem that arises frequently regarding the verification of the Prophetic biography.

The Shaykh : Regarding the summarization.

The questioner : No, the verification of the Prophetic biography means we find that the early scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) did not address the detailed authentication or weakening of the Prophetic biography. We also found that some scholars considered among the experts in the critique and vindication of narrators wrote on the biography but did not address authentication and weakening. Some students of knowledge tried, and may Allah reward him with good, to verify the Prophetic biography, but we found that it means it is reduced to a few pages. When he rejects the report of al-Waqidi and the isnad of Ibn Ishaq, much and much of the Prophetic biography is lost. What is your opinion?
The student: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. It is as if you have not heard that the verification of the authentic Prophetic biography is prescribed?

The questioner : By Allah, I heard of it long ago.

The Shaykh : There is a difference between long ago and recently. Perhaps it was abrogated, meaning.
The student : Dr. Akram al-'Umrani started in this, he extracted some of the...

The Shaykh : Who?
The student : Dr. Akram al-'Umrani at the Islamic University.
Another student : ...
The student : He follows the method of the hadith scholars in it, meaning verifying the chains of narration and tracing the hadiths to their sources.

The Shaykh : The truth is that verifying the Prophetic biography according to the method of the hadith scholars is a matter that is difficult to attain. This is because most of the reports related to the biography are mursal (reports missing the Companion link) or mu'dil (reports with a broken chain) on one hand. On the other hand, there is no way for one who wants to write on the Prophetic biography except to follow the path that is obligatory for anyone who wants to write on the Prophetic hadith, because there is no separation between them. The biography is hadith and the hadith is biography. Therefore, adhering to the hadith rules in tracing the Prophetic hadiths without doing so for the Prophetic biography is adhering to what is not permissible. I do not say it is not obligatory, but it is not permissible. Because the author of the biography has no choice but to attribute a word to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), even in a long story, and the phrase is just a subject and a predicate. In that case, he falls under the warning of his saying (peace be upon him): . The fact that the scholars did not proceed to purify the authentic biography from the general biography does not imply that it is not permissible or that it is not obligatory, but it implies that it is difficult to attain for the reason I mentioned earlier. I actually had made a considerable progress in this field in the authentic biography. In my opinion, I reached about a quarter of it. That was due to a state of estrangement imposed on me by leaving this country, so I became a stranger in the country I settled in in the broadest sense of estrangement. Therefore, I planned for myself a plan to utilize what I could of knowledge, and I saw that I should work on the biography. Then that reason and that estrangement ceased, and I returned to my country here and continued the journey on the methodology I was following. In summary: I do not feel that your words imply that it is not permissible... to apply the scientific rules to the biography. In the biography, there are things that in my opinion contradict the Noble Qur'an. It is not only said that they are not authentic in terms of their chain, but they also contradict the Book of our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He).