The Appearance of Muhammad SAW (English)

Originally Posted on February 6, 2009:


Assalam Alaikum

I have collected the following from various authentic resources. Please give it a read, and see how great a person was our Prophet (SAWW). I have divided this into two parts. The following is about the physical appearance of the Prophet (SAWW).

How did the Prophet (SAWW) look? (Allah ka habeeb kaisa tha)

Face

Jabir bin Samurah reported that Allah's Messenger [pbuh] had a broad face with reddish (wide) eyes and lean heels. [Sahih Al-Muslim 2/258].

Al-Bara’ also said: "He had the most handsome face and the best character." When he was asked: "Was the Messenger’s face sword-like?" "No," he said: "it was moon-like." But in another version: he said, "His face was round." Ar-Rabi‘ bint Muawwidh said: "Had you seen him, you would have felt that the sun was shining." Jabir bin Samurah said, "I saw him at one full-moony night. I looked at him. He was dressed in a red garment. I compared him with the moon and found that — for me — he was better than the moon." [Mishkat Al Masabeeh 2/518]

Ka‘b bin Malik said: "When he was pleased, his face would shine with so bright light that you would believe that it was a moon-piece." [Sahih Al-Bukhari 1/502]

Hands

Anas bin Malik said: "He had unfolded hands and was pink-coloured. He was neither white nor brown. He was rather whitish. In both his head and beard there were as many as twenty grey hairs, besides some grey hairs at his temples." In another version: "and some scattered white hairs in his head." [Sahih Al-Bukhari 1/502]

Abu Juhaifa said: "I took his hand and put it on my head and I found that it was colder than ice and better scented than the musk perfume." [Sahih Al-Bukhari 1/503]

Legs

Jabir bin Samurah said: "His legs were gentle, delicate and in conformity. His laughter is no more than smiling. Looking at him will make you say ‘He is black-eyed though he is not so." [Jami' At-Tirmidhi 4/306]

Hair

Abu Juhaifa said: "I have seen some grey colour under his lower lip." Al-Bara’ said: "He was of medium height, broad-shouldered, his hair went up to his earlobes. I saw him dressed in a red garment and I (assure you) I have never seen someone more handsome. At first he used to let his hair loose so as to be in compliance with the people of the Book; but later on he used to part it." [ibid 1/503]

‘Â'ishah radiyallâhu ‘anhâ narrates that when Rasûlullâh sallallâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam intended applying oil (to his head), he used to place it in his left hand and commence with his eyebrows. Thereafter, he used to apply some to his eyes and thereafter to his head. It is related in another Hadîth that when he intended applying oil to his beard, he used to apply to his eyes first and thereafter to his beard.


Overall physique and personality

Describing the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh], who passed by her tent on his journey of migration,
Umm Ma‘bad Al-Khuza‘iyah said to her husband:

"He was innocently bright and had broad countenance. His manners were fine. Neither was his belly bulging out nor was his head deprived of hair. He had black attractive eyes finely arched by continuous eyebrows. His hair glossy and black, inclined to curl, he wore long. His voice was extremely commanding. His head was large, well formed and set on a slender neck. His expression was pensive and contemplative, serene and sublime. The stranger was fascinated from the distance, but no sooner he became intimate with him than this fascination was changed into attachment and respect. His expression was very sweet and distinct. His speech was well set and free from the use of superfluous words, as if it were a rosary of beads. His stature was neither too high nor too small to look repulsive. He was a twig amongst the two, singularly bright and fresh. He was always surrounded by his Companions. Whenever he uttered something, the listeners would hear him with rapt attention and whenever he issued any command, they vied with each other in carrying it out. He was a master and a commander. His utterances were marked by truth and sincerity, free from all kinds of falsehoods and lies."[Za'd Al-Ma'ad 2/45]

‘Ali bin Abi Talib describing him said: "The Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] was neither excessively tall nor extremely short. He was medium height among his friends. His hair was neither curly nor wavy. It was in between. It was not too curly nor was it plain straight. It was both curly and wavy combined. His face was not swollen or meaty-compact. It was fairly round. His mouth was white. He had black and large eyes with long haired eyelids. His joints (limbs) and shoulder joints were rather big. He had a rod-like little hair extending from his chest down to his navel, but the rest of his body was almost hairless. He had thick hand palms and thick fingers and toes. At walking, he lifted his feet off the ground as if he had been walking in a muddy remainder of water. When he turned, he turned all. The Prophethood Seal was between his shoulders. He is the Seal of Prophets, the most generous and the bravest of all.

The Prophet [pbuh] was the most tractable and the most yielding companion, seeing him unexpectedly you fear him and venerate him. He who has acquaintance with him will like him. He who describes him says: 

‘I have never seen such a person neither before nor after seeing him.’ "
[Ibn Hisham 1/401; Jami' At-Tirmidhi 4/303]

Abu At-Tufail said: "He was white, good-looking. He was neither fat nor thin; neither tall nor short."
Ibn Al-‘Abbas said: "His two front teeth were splitted so whenever he speaks, light goes through them. His neck was as pure and silvery as a neck of doll. His eyelids were long haired but his beard was thick. His forehead was broad; but his eyebrows were like the metal piece attached to a lance, but they were unhorned. His nose was high-tipped, middle-cambered with narrow nostrils. His cheeks were plain, but he had (little hair) running down like a rod from his throat to his navel. He had hair neither on his abdomen nor on his chest except some on his arms and shoulders. His chest was broad and flatted. He had long forearms with expansive palms of the hand. His legs were plain straight and stretching down. His other limbs were straight too. The two hollows of his soles hardly touch the ground. When he walks away he vanishes soon; but he walks at ease (when he is not in a hurry). The way he walks seems similar to one who is leaning forwards and is about to fall down." [Khulasa As-Siyar p.19,20]


From: Ali Munir