How we source
Truth you can check.
Islamic history is not a pile of flat facts. This page explains, in plain words, how Vault29 decides what to tell you, and how every claim is sourced.
Our promise
Every claim carries a source. We say that a claim has a source you can check. We never say it is beyond all question. You decide what to make of it.
The four sources, and what each one means
Qur'an
The words of the Qur'an are the highest and most certain source, and nothing ranks above them. Where a moment in history is named in the Qur'an, we cite it by its exact chapter and verse, so you can open the page and read it for yourself.
Sound hadith
A hadith is a recorded report of what the Prophet ﷺ said or did. Scholars spent centuries tracing who passed each report on and testing whether its wording held up, then graded the result. We rely on the reports they graded sound, and we name the collection and number, such as Sahih al-Bukhari, so you can find the exact one.
Classical history
The earliest biographies and histories, written by scholars such as Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari, are our record of events that the Qur'an and hadith do not describe in detail. We treat them as careful historical writing rather than scripture: they carry real weight, but we read them with a historian's eye, not as final proof.
Modern scholarship
Careful study by modern historians and researchers helps us with dates, places, maps, and context. We use it to complete the picture and to cross-check the older sources, while always keeping it separate from the religious sources above.