Reddit reply in r/islamichistory: are there any historical documents in islamic — June 30, 2024 | Ali Shukri Amin

If you are referring to the time of the Prophet then the main historical sources are the Qur'ān itself (strongest historical document), the ĥadīth compilations, the Sīrah compilations (which mostly predate the ĥadīth in terms of being written down), and some early tafasīr that contain historical documentation such as Asbāb al-Nuzūl.

The Sīrah books are pretty extensive and borderline encyclopedic when taken as a corpus about the life of the Prophet. You also have the Tabaqāt literature dealing with the sahabah.

After the death of the Prophet there is a lot of historical documentation about the khulafah, their reigns, and the exploits of the various sahabah. By the time the Muslims got to China with Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas and brought back Chinese papyrus, the amount of writing exponentially increased and everything became documented very extensively.

The difficult period is really before the death of the Prophet. Most Western academics accept only a "low resolution" biography, meaning they don't find credence to the details in the Sīrah, Hadith, and Tafsīr literature - however the broad strokes are accepted.

Essentially, if you want an accurate picture of the life of the Prophet: first check Qur'ānic references. Then go to the ṣaĥīĥ ahadith. Then check verified Asbab al-Nuzul stories in tafsir boojs. Then go to the Sirah books that have been critically reviewed (like Dr. Ali al-Sallabī's three volume masterpiece). Then go to weaker ahadith. Then you can check the mass quantity of unverified or contested Sirah literature.

Everything from Abu Bakr onwards is pretty extensively documented.