Editing Sīrah (section)

==Comparison to hadith ==
In terms of structure, a [[hadith]] and a historical report (''khabar'') are very similar; they both contain [[isnads]] (chains of transmission). The main difference between a hadith and a khabar is that a hadith is not concerned with an event as such, and normally does not specify a time or place. Rather the purpose of hadith is to record a religious doctrine as an authoritative source of [[Sharia|Islamic law]]. By contrast, while a khabar may carry some legal or theological implications, its main aim is to convey information about a certain event.{{sfn|Humphreys|1991|p=83}} 

Starting from the 8th and 9th century, many scholars have devoted their efforts to both kinds of texts equally.{{sfn|Humphreys|1991|p=83}} Some historians consider the sīrah and ''maghāzī'' literature to be a subset of Hadith.<ref name="Ahmad">{{Cite book| edition = 1st| publisher = King Saud University| author = M. R. Ahmad| title = Al-sīra al-nabawiyya fī ḍawʾ al-maṣādir al-aṣliyya: dirāsa taḥlīliyya| location = Riyadh| year = 1992 | pages=20–34}}</ref>