Shamā“il al-MuHammadiyyah
Imām Abū ‘Isā at-Tirmidhī
(B) = Bukhārī;
(SM) = Muslim;
(IM) = Ibn Majah;
(AD) = Abu Dawud;
(SN) = an-Nasa'i;
(T) = Tirmidhi;
(BQ) = Bayhaqī, Dalā ́il an-Nubuwwah;
(M) = Munāwī, SharH Shama“il al-MuHammadiyyah;
(Q) = al-Qārī, SharH Shama“il
al-MuHammadiyyah;
(S) = Suyūţī, Khasā“is al-Kubra
(Z) = Zurqānī,
SharH Mawāhib al-Laduniyyah;
(H) = ibn Hajr, FatH al-Bārı;
(AQ) = al-`Ainī,`Umdatu-l-Qārī;
(N) = Nawawī, SharH SaHīH Muslim;
(A) = al-Albānī,
Mukhtasar Shama“il a-MuHammadiyyah;
(IQ) = ibn al-Qayyim, Jala ́ al-Afham.
With the Name of Allāh, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful
al-Hāfiz Abū `Īsā MuHammad bin `Īsā bin Sawrah at-Tirmidhī
said:
The Stature and Physical Characteristics of the Messenger of Allāh,
sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam
§1. Abū Rajā“, Qutaybah
bin Sa`īd informed us; from Mālik bin Anas; from Rabī`ah bin Abū `Abdur-RaHmān; that he heard Anas bin Mālik (RA) saying,
|
The Messenger of Allāh, sallAllāhu
`alayhi wa sallam, was neither very tall, such that he would be clearly noticed, nor was he short. He was not extremely white
and neither was he very brown. His hair was neither very curly nor completely straight. Allāh commissioned him towards the
end (ra“s) of his fortieth year. He remained in Mecca for ten years and in Madīnah for ten years. Allāh caused him to pass
away at the turn of his sixtieth year and there were not to be found [as much as] twenty white hairs on his head and beard.
[1] |
"The Messenger of Allāh,
sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, was neither very tall, such that he would be clearly noticed, nor was he short," (Q)
Meaning that he was of medium height. His being short has been categorically negated but only his being so tall as to be clearly
noticed has been negated, in this lies an indication that he, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, was indeed of medium height but
leaning towards being described as tall and this is what has been reported about him, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, by al-Bayhaqī.
There is no contradiction between this and the forthcoming description that he, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, was of medium
stature because such a statement is relative. This understanding is strengthened by the report of al-Barā“a, ‘He, sallAllāhu
`alayhi wa sallam, was of medium stature but closer to being described as tall.’ [2]
al-Bayhaqī and ibn `Asākir mention that, ‘None would
be perceived to be taller than he, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, sometimes two tall men would stand on either side of him
and he would seem taller than them, yet when they parted he would seem to be of medium height.’ [3]Ibn
Saba“, al-Khasā“is, mentions that when he, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, sat, his shoulder was higher than all those sitting
around him. It is said in explanation to this, ‘Perhaps it was that none could be perceived to be physically above him
just as none was spiritually and morally above him.’
"He was not extremely
white and neither was he very brown," (Q) This description does not contradict the affirmation of his having a brownish
complexion mentioned in the next Hadīth. [Ibn Hajr] al-`Asqalānī said, ‘From all the various reports on this it becomes
clear that the whiteness that has been negated from him, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, is that whiteness that has no tinge
of red and the brownness [affirmed for him] is redness that is mixed with white. [4 ](M) This is
proven by the narration of Anas in ad-Dalā“il, ‘He was white, a whiteness going towards brown.’ (H) Moreover AHmad
records on the authority of ibn `Abbās with a Hasan isnād, 'He was brown going towards white.' (M) As for his being described
in some narrations to be extremely white, such as in the report of Bazzār from Abū Hurayrah, ‘He was extremely white’
[5] and the report of at-Ţabarānī from Abū at-Ţufayl, ‘I have not forgotten the
extreme whiteness of his face,’ these are understood to refer to the lustre, sheen and glitter of his skin under the
light of the sun as shown by the Hadīth, ‘It was as if the sun were pursuing its course across, and shining from, his
face.’ [6]
"His hair was neither
very curly nor completely straight," (M) Meaning that his, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, hair was in a state in between
being very curly and completely straight and the best of affairs are those that are in between the two extremes. az-Zamakhsharī
said, ‘The predominate course amongst the Arabs is to have curly hair and among the non-Arabs, straight hair.’
Allāh has blessed His Messenger, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, with the best of virtues and qualities and has combined in
him all that He has scattered amongst the different races.
"Allāh commissioned
him towards the end (ra“s) of his fortieth year," (M) Allāh commissioned him as a Prophet and Messenger, sent to the
entirety of the worlds of Jinn and Man, this by agreement of the Muslim nation and is known in the religion by necessity,
whoever rejects this becomes a disbeliever. He was also sent to the Angels in the view of the researching scholars (muHaqqiqūn),
however some have objected to this position. (Q) It is said that he was born on Monday, revelation came to him on Monday,
he migrated to Madīnah on Monday, he arrived at Madīnah on Monday and passed away on Monday. [7]The
commentators have stated that the meaning of the ra“s of his fortieth year is its last part [and not the turn] due to the
opinion of the majority of the historians and biographers that he was commissioned after having entered his fortieth year.
at-Ţībī said, ‘Ra“s here is metaphorically used to refer to the end of the year [and not its beginning] in the
same way as one says, “Ra“s of the verse” i.e. its last part.’ As for the usage of the word forty then it
could either refer to the entry into the fortieth year or the year which is added to the thirty-ninth, both usages are common.
However the specification that occurs through mention of the word ‘year’ in this Hadīth lends weight to the first
possibility. al-Hāfiz al-`Asqalānī said, ‘[Understanding it to mean the turn of the fortieth year] would mean that he
was commissioned in the month of his birth which is Rabī` al-Awwal, however he was commissioned in the month of Ramadān and
therefore his age would be forty and a half or thirty nine and a half. Those who mentioned forty as his age did so by ignoring
the addition or subtraction. However both al-Mas`ūdī and ibn `Abdu-l-Barr mention that the correct opinion was that he was
commissioned in Rabı` al-Awwal, so according to this view he, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, would have just turned forty.
It is also postulated that he was commissioned when he was forty years and ten days or forty years and twenty days old. Qādī
`Ayād relates an irregular [and hence weak] report from ibn `Abbās and Sa`īd bin al-Musayyab that he, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa
sallam, was commissioned at the turn of his forty-third year.’
"He remained in Mecca
for ten years," (Q) The nation is agreed that he, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, stayed in Mecca for thirteen years,
(M) therefore one could say that those who narrated ten years, rounded down and left off mention of the additional three,
or one could say that the narration of those who mention thirteen years is stronger. "And in Madınah
for ten years," (M) meaning after the Hijrah. He, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, remained there for ten years and there
is no difference concerning this. He remained there until the people entered into the religion in droves, until Allāh perfected
the religion for him and his nation and completed His favour upon them.
"Allāh caused him to
pass away at the turn of his sixtieth year," (Q) This implies that he passed away at the age of sixty, however the
strongest opinion is that he was sixty-three and it is said sixty-five. These ages are reconciled by stating that those who
stated sixty-five included the year of his birth and death. Those who mentioned sixty-three did not and those who mentioned
sixty rounded down. (M) This point is not contradicted by the statement ‘turn of his sixtieth year’ because what
is meant here is the beginning of his sixties. "And there were not to be found [as much as] twenty
white hairs on his head and beard," (M) Rather there were less as proven by the narration of ibn Sa`d [from Anas (RA)],
‘There were only seventeen white hairs on his head and beard.’ There is no contradiction between this and the
report of ibn `Umar (RAA), ‘He had approximately twenty white hairs’ [8 ]because this
just talks about an approximation. In the report of ibn Hibbān and al-Bayhaqī from ibn `Umar (RAA) there occurs, ‘His
white hairs were approximately twenty all towards the front.’ As for the Hadīth of `Abdullāh bin Busr, ‘His white
hairs did not exceed ten’, he was talking about the hairs on the front of his beard, and hence the remainder is understood
to be on his temples. (B) `Abdullāh bin Busr reports that he saw a few white hairs between his, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam,
lower lip and chin and Anas was asked if the Prophet, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, used to dye his hair to which he replied,
'No, for there were only a few [white hairs] on his temples.' (SM) Anas reports that the white hairs were only to be found
on his lower lip, temples, and a few scattered on his head. (Q) As for what is mentioned in one narration (SM) on the authority
of Anas (Q) by way of negating white hairs for him, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, what is meant is a negation of plenitude
not a negation in totality. A more detailed discussion concerning his, sallAllāhu `alayhi wa sallam, age and white hairs follows
in the relevant chapters if Allāh wills.