Guides
How to gather family history that holds up, how genealogical evidence is weighed in the Islamic tradition, and how to read the documents families actually hold.
Getting started
Starting your family tree: what to gather first
Before you record a single name, gather what only your living relatives can tell you. A practical order of work for beginning a Muslim family tree.
7 min read
Evidence
What counts as evidence in nasab
Not all genealogical claims are equal. How documentary, physical, testimonial and scholarly evidence differ in weight — and what makes a lineage claim checkable.
8 min read
Lineage
Reading a shajrah nasab document
Traditional lineage documents follow conventions that are easy to misread. How the chain is written, what the seals mean, and how to transcribe one without losing information.
8 min read
Lineage
Tracing Sayyid and Sharif lineage
How descent from the Prophet ﷺ has historically been recorded and registered, what documentation actually exists, and how to approach a family claim honestly.
9 min read
Privacy
Why living relatives never appear publicly
Genealogy is the one hobby where the data is about other people. How Shajrah handles living relatives, what is published, and how to get a record removed.
6 min read
Looking for how to use the software rather than how to do the research? The user manual covers trees, evidence uploads, disputes and privacy settings step by step.