“He was more beautiful than the moon” ﷺ

Part 5

The Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said: “None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his child and all the people.”[1]

In this series we embark on a journey to increase our knowledge of the Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam), to view him as the Sahāba viewed him, and to love him as we should.

Last, we began with an exploration of the stature and physical characteristics of the Messenger of Allāh (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam). This week we learn of some of the qualities and virtues he was known for, inshāAllāh.

Shamāʾil al-Muḥammadiyyah

Shuʿbah said: I asked Simāk what the meaning of  ‘wide mouth’ was and he replied, ‘a large mouth.’

This is the opinion of the majority, and it is also said that the meaning is ‘having large teeth,’ but this is incorrect.

I asked him what the meaning of ‘ashkal eyes’ was and he replied, ‘wide eyes.’

 Qaḍī ʿIyāḍ said, ‘This is an error on the part of Simāk and the correct position is the position agreed upon by the scholars and all those who explained the difficult words occurring in the aḥādīth: shaklah is a redness in the white of the eye and this is an extremely praiseworthy feature in the view of the Arabs; shahlah is a redness in the black of the eye.[3] Bayhaqī records on the authority of ʿAlī that, “He (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) had large eyes, long eyelashes and his eyes had a tinge of red.”’[4]

Hāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī said, ‘This feature is one of the signs of Prophethood. When he (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) journeyed to Syria with Maysirah and the monk asked about him, amongst the things that Maysirah said was, “His eyes have a red tinge to them”, to which the monk said, “That is him, that is him!”’

The Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was said to have extremely keen eyesight, more so than those around him. Suhaylī records that he (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) could see ten stars of the Pleiades and in al-Shifā it is mentioned that he could see twelve.[5]

I saw the Messenger of Allāh (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) on a clear, moonlit night

Some narrations mention that it was the eighth night of the month,[7] “wearing a red ḥulla,” this incident had such an impact on him that he was able to recollect it as if he (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was actually standing there before him. The clothes struck him and were a further cause to ponder his (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) beauty.[8]

I paused and looked at him

What is meant here is his (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) face, “and found that, in my view,” not just his view because every Muslim who looks at him (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) through the light of faith and love sees him like this, unlike those who are blind. Allāh informs us, “You see them looking at you but not seeing.”[9] What we see depends on how we look and the strength of our vision. For this reason, disbelievers were unable to see his beauty and perfection as their sight was marred by disbelief.[10]

Some narrations of this ḥadīth have, “in my eyes”[11] in place of, “in my view.”[12]

He was more beautiful than the moon

His physical beauty coupled with his spiritual beauty. The moon, a luminous orb of white radiance hanging in an otherwise dark, majestic heaven is being compared to his (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) face. Even then, this comparison falls short and fails to convey his true beauty; it is employed merely to make the point. Allāh adorned His Prophet (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) with a beauty that far surpassed that of the moon,[13] and the light of his (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) face is intrinsic to it, never leaving it. The light of the moon, however, is something that does not belong to it, it is borrowed; sometimes it fades and sometimes it disappears altogether. As such, he (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) is more beautiful than the moon on a clear night.[14] Not only this, but Ibn Abī Hālah chose to compare his face to the moon because he (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) appeared when the world was steeped in the darkness of disbelief and he filled it with light just as the moon lights up the night.[15]

Kaʿb b. Mālik said that when he (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was happy, “his face lit up like it was the halo of the moon.”[16] Bukhārī records on the authority of Kaʿb b. Mālik who said that, ‘when the Messenger of Allāh (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was happy, his face would light up as if it was a piece of the moon.’[17] Ibn ʿUmar said that when he (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was pleased, his face lit up as if a wall-mounted mirror reflecting sunlight.[18] Rubayyiʿ bint Muʿawwidh said, “Were you to see him (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) you would have thought the sun had risen.”[19]

Was the face of the Messenger of Allāh (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) like a sword?

i.e. in beauty and lustre. The question was also posed regarding the shape of his face as indicated by the wording of Ismāʿīlī, ‘Was the face of the Messenger of Allāh (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) elongated like a sword?’[21]

No, it was like the moon

In its radiance and beauty as well as having a round quality rather than being long.[22] This understanding is strengthened by the ḥadīth of Kaʿb b. Mālik previously quoted who said that, ‘when the Messenger of Allāh (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) was happy, his face would light up as if it was a piece of the moon.’ Indeed the aḥādīth prove that, “he was more beautiful than the moon,” and that, “were you to see him (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) you would have thought the sun had risen,” as already quoted.[23] The moon is more radiant, permanent and imparts far more benefit than the sword; as such the comparison was altered to that of the moon.[24]

Muslim records on the authority of Jābir b. Samurah that a man asked him, ‘Did the face of the Messenger of Allāh (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) resemble a sword?’ He replied, ‘No, it was like the sun and the moon, it was round.’[25] Abū ʿUbayd said, ‘He did not mean that it was completely round, rather that it had a sense of softness and serenity about it.’[26] This understanding is strengthened by the report that, “he had smooth cheeks that were not raised.”[27] So his (sall Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) face was brighter than the sun, and more radiant and beautiful than the moon.[28]

Source: www.islam21c.com

Notes:

[1] Narrated by al-Bukhāri, 15; Muslim, 44

[2] Muslim, Faḍāʾil #2339 and Tirmidhī, Manāqib #3646-3647.

[3] This is the description of his (SAW) eyes provided by Ibn Ḥibbān #6289 with a ṣaḥīḥ isnād: ashhal al-ʿaynayn.

[4] Bayhaqī 1:212

[5] Qārī

[6] Tirmidhī, Adab #2811 who said it was ḥasan gharīb. Ḥākim #7383 said it was ṣaḥīḥ and Dhahabī agreed,

[7] Qārī

[8] Qārī

[9] al-Aʿrāf (7): 198

[10] Qārī

[11] Abū Yaʿlā #7477, Ḥākim #7383, Bayhaqī, Shuʿab #1351

[12] Munāwī

[13] ʿAbbād

[14] Qārī

[15] Munāwī

[16] Abū Nuʿaym, al-Dalāʾil #553, Abū al-Shaykh, Akhlāq al-Nabī #143

[17] Bukhārī, Manāqib #3556

[18] Abū al-Shaykh, Akhlāq al-Nabī #142

[19] Ṭabarānī, al-Kabīr. Haythamī, Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 8:280, said that its narrators were trustworthy and precise and Arnaʾūṭ ruled it ḥasan.

[20] Bukhārī, Ṣifatu’l-Nabī #3552 and Tirmidhī, Manāqib #3636.

[21] Qārī, Munāwī

[22] Suyūṭī

[23] Qārī

[24] Munāwī

[25] Muslim, Faḍāʾil #2344

[26] Qārī, cf. ḥadīth #7

[27] Ḥadīth #8.

[28] Munāwī. cf. the comments to ḥadīth #8.

[29] The author was alone in recording it. Albānī, al-Ṣaḥīḥah #2053 ruled it ṣaḥīḥ. Abū Dāwūd al-Maṣāḥifī – Sulaymān ibn Salm – narrated to us; Naḍr ibn Shumayl narrated to us; from Ṣāliḥ ibn Abū al-Akhdar; from ibn Shihāb; from Abū Salamah.

Shaykh Abu Rumaysah Refi Shafi