The Physical Beauty of The Prophet ﷺ | Shamail Session 1 | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed|Seerah Int. 2023

Shamā'il vs. Sīrah: What Is the Difference?

Before we go into the first topic, the question that most people would have on their mind is: what is the difference between shamā'il and sīrah? Is there a difference? Are they the same thing?

The sīrah has to do with his life — his journey, his different expeditions, all of the different parts of his history. And shamā'il has to do with his ā'dāt. Ā'dāt means his personality and, as a second tier, his innate characteristics. Not necessarily different aspects of his life where there are situations taking place or where there is an expedition taking place — just the way that he was. This is who he was.

And what does shamā'il include? Things like how he would walk, how he would speak to people, how he would stand, how he would eat, how he would look, what type of personality would he present himself with in front of enemies, how would he present himself in front of his friends and family. This has less to do with sunnah and has more to do with who he actually was. That doesn't mean that shamā'il is not sunnah — it actually means that it's a stronger sunnah. Because these are amongst his ā'dāt, these are habits.

Personality Can Be Refined Through the Shamā'il

People say that personality is something that you cannot change. But there's a reality to it. Someone can say, "What's the point of learning shamā'il if we are who we are?" But the reality is, Umar was who he was, but he was able to allow the shamā'il — the ā'dāt, the etiquette, the habits of the Prophet ﷺ — to impact his life, where he was able to refine and realign the way he wanted to present himself.

So though he was a very straightforward person, though he was extremely strong and powerful, at the same time, he understood that if someone corrected him he was to remain silent. If someone called him out for something and he was wrong, he would not respond — even though he was a leader of the believers. People can say, "I am naturally harsh. I am naturally the way I am. I don't know how to speak softly." If someone had that excuse, it would have been Umar رضي الله عنه. But because he spent time with the Prophet ﷺ, his entire personality was realigned. It wasn't necessarily changed — he still was harsh, but now he was harsh against the enemies of Islam.

Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه was an extremely soft person. He was very tender, he was very gentle, he was a rafīq. However, he did not allow his personality to be a source of justification to not implement deen when it needed to be implemented. It wasn't that "I am so soft that I can't tell my children to pray. I am so soft that I don't really know how to tell people to worship Allah. I am so soft that I don't know how to correct someone when they are wrong. Just not my personality." That's scapegoating.

Because the reality is that Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه, when the Prophet ﷺ left this world, there was nobody that was more harsh than him. The people that said they would not give zakat — he was ready to wage war upon them. He was ready to stop speaking to his daughter because she got into an argument with the Prophet ﷺ. So it wasn't that he was soft and simply a doormat. He understood how to allow his personality to fit within the lifestyle that the Prophet ﷺ taught us.

There is no individual who can use their personality as an excuse to compromise deen. Because the Sahabas had all of those personalities. There were people who were elderly, who had a certain level of presence in the community before they became Muslim — they were able to subdue their egos. There were people who were nobodies — they were able to increase themselves and not have a complex or insecurities.

Bilal رضي الله عنه was a slave before he became a Muslim. He was persecuted in Mecca openly — his name was Ṣalāhunnah, "Mr. Persecution." But when he became a Muslim and deen gave him that level of strength, he did not let those demons limit himself. Similarly, Sa'd ibn Mu'ādh, who was the leader of Madinah — when he became a Muslim, he was able to humble himself in front of the Prophet ﷺ.

There is no personality in deen that can be a compromise to our faith. Every one of our personalities fits within the inclusive shamā'il of the Prophet ﷺ. No person can be so soft that they simply ignore the commandments of Allah. And no person should be so harsh that their harshness becomes oppression. There should be a balance between both. And that's why we have the shamā'il.

There were times the Prophet ﷺ became angry — why did he become angry? There were times the Prophet ﷺ remained silent — why did he remain silent? This is what the shamā'il is for us.

Insha'Allah, we will cover selected chapters and qualities over the next five or six days. We will also have our dear Shaykh, Shaykh Yahya Rudis, coming from Pennsylvania to do an entire reading of the book of shamā'il — from the beginning all the way till the end. Because shamā'il is not a token; it's supposed to be taught independently as well. So insha'Allah, for the first time we'll be covering the entire book that was written by Imam Tirmidhi, who is amongst the six authors of the books titled al-Ṣiḥāḥ al-Sittah — the accepted authentic books of hadith.

Three Reasons Why We Love Someone

Imam Ghazali would say there are three reasons why someone is beloved to us — three reasons why we love someone. When a person has these three qualities, there is a natural level of rationality behind your love for them. Because emotional love is there even for your children — you don't need a rational reason to love your children, you don't need a rational reason to love your parents. These are relationships that are beyond the realm of rationality.

Similarly, we don't necessarily need rationale on why we love the Prophet ﷺ. But through this lens, what Imam Ghazali is proving is that even if we were to use the most rational reasons on why we love, there would be no one that we should love more than the Prophet ﷺ. When the Prophet ﷺ said that no one is a believer until they love him more than they love themselves — this is not something we are bound to merely because of an emotional attachment. It actually makes sense. And how does it make sense? He proves it through these three qualities.

Reason One: Physical Beauty

The first reason we love someone is because of their physical attractiveness — their physical qualities. If I want to buy a house or a car, something as simple as that — if it looks bad from the outside, we're not going to say, "Oh, but the inside is very nice." The physical look of it does make a difference. Those that say "don't judge the book by its cover" — it's true. But we cannot ignore the cover.

When someone says deen is only internal, that's not true. The depth of deen is internal. If deen was only internal, we would not be told to pray salah in jama'ah. Why do we get more reward for praying in jama'ah? If deen was only internal, the most blessed days of our entire year would not be days where the entirety of the Muslims are celebrating. The most blessed day of the Muslim calendar is the day of Arafah — and the reason for that is because everyone is showing their deen and representing their deen. The most rewarding day during the week is the day of Jumu'ah, because once again, we're showing and representing our deen.

Sincerity is internal. Taqwa is internal. Salah has two components: one is called khushū' and one is called khudū'. Khushū' means what depth and what level of concentration do I have in my salah — what am I thinking about when I say اللهُ أَكْبَر? No one can tell except for you and Allah. But then you also have khudū', which has to do with all of our physical movements — do I perform rukū' correctly? Do I do sajdah correctly? If deen was all internal, then why do we have khudū'?

And Imam Suyuti says: the best way to bring khushū' into our life is to have good khudū'. Meaning, if we want to increase our level of devotion inside of prayer, we should better our movements in prayer — make sure every movement is done correctly, and then our concentration will also increase.

Reason Two: Internal Qualities

The second reason is a person's internal beauty — their internal qualities. The car could be very nice from the outside, but the engine is shot — no one will buy that car. The person could look very nice from the outside, but they're devilish from the inside. Their external is beautiful, but internally they're filled with vices, evil feelings, ḥasad, arrogance. No one wants to be around that person.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 1961)

A generous person will always be close to people, and that person will also be close to Allah. Whereas a stingy person will be far from people, and they'll be far from Allah. Internal qualities do attract. A person that is kind to me, I will love them more. A person that shows me love, I will also love them.

Reason Three: Sacrifice and What They Do for Us

The third reason is based upon how much that person does for us, and how much that person sacrifices for us — how much that person puts themselves on the line for us. If a person doesn't do that and I still love them, that's not rational. That's emotional. That's called junūn — that's called craze. That I keep calling this person and they don't call me back. That's not true love. Because love at a rational level — no person will continue investing in a relationship when the other person has absolutely no feelings for you.

These are three reasons why we love someone. If we were to take these three qualities and objectively look throughout our lives at who possesses them, there is no one that possesses them better than the Prophet ﷺ. No one that has the presence of all three of these than our Ḥabīb ﷺ. Physical beauty — we'll speak about today. Internal qualities — which one does he not have? And the amount that he loves us, where he says:

He says that he would love to visit and meet his brothers and sisters. And the Sahabah say, "Are we not your brothers and sisters?" And he says, "No, you are my companions. My brothers and sisters are those that will come much after — those who believed in me and never saw me."

The Physical Beauty of the Prophet ﷺ

Today we speak about physical beauty. We love because of physical beauty — how beautiful was the Prophet ﷺ? And Imam Tirmidhi starts off his book speaking about his physical beauty. So we will also start off our discussion speaking about this insha'Allah.

The narration is: Hasan ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ, was only six years old when the Prophet ﷺ left this world. So he asks his uncle, Hind ibn Abi Hala, who was the brother of Khadijah رضي الله عنها — so related to the family. He asks him:

(Shamā'il al-Muḥammadiyyah by Imam al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 1)

"Please do me a favor — tell me about the Prophet ﷺ. I want you to describe to me the Prophet of Allah ﷺ in such a manner that I can never forget it." And he notes that Hind ibn Abi Hala was very good at describing people. Some people are very good at it and some people are just horrible. You ask some people how someone looked and they say, "He had eyes, and his nose, two ears." But some people are just very good at explaining how things look while others struggle. He was very good at explaining how people looked.

So Hind ibn Abi Hala begins describing the Prophet ﷺ from what we recognize from the hadith — the greatest of his qualities — and he goes into the rest of his qualities. All of his qualities were great. But he begins off by saying:

(Shamā'il al-Muḥammadiyyah by Imam al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 1)

Fakhmān: Natural Honor

Fakhmān means naturally honorable. He never needed to force himself into a conversation. He never needed to force himself into someone's space. He was someone that naturally was honorable — never needed to ask someone to stand up for him. The Prophet ﷺ never asked companions to stand up for him; however, whenever the Prophet ﷺ walked, companions did stand. He never needed to ask someone to remove from their spot for him. Naturally, Allah gave him a presence and an honor that all the Sahabas recognized. To the extent that if the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was quiet and silent, no one spoke. And if he was speaking, everyone was attentive.

To the extent that when Urwa ibn Mas'ud, during the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, saw how the Sahabas were treating the Prophet ﷺ, he said to the people of Quraysh:

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Shurūṭ, Hadith 2731-2732)

"I have traveled all across the world. I have never seen any human being honor another human the way that I saw these companions honor the Prophet of Allah ﷺ." The way they were acting in front of him, the way they were dealing with him — though they were friends, the formality was never compromised. Though they were close, the respect was never compromised.

A father fears that if he becomes a friend of his son or daughter, the son or daughter will lose their respect for that parent. Because we always blur our lines. The Sahabas understood: the Prophet ﷺ is my friend, but before that —

He is not simply your friend — he is the Prophet of Allah. You speak to him too loud? What does Allah say?

Lower your voice — even though the person that was speaking loud was his best friend. And not even to the Prophet ﷺ directly — even in front of him. You're my friend, but I'm still the Prophet. So fakhmān refers to this natural sense of honor.

Mufakhkhamān: Using Honor to Elevate Others

Mufakhkhamān means a person who can use whatever Allah has endowed them with to raise the level of honor and respect of the people around them. That was the Prophet's ﷺ greatest miracle — where everyone around him increased in their level of value, in their level of respect, in their level of presence.

Deen and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ has never entered into a home and depreciated the value of that home. Every single time it enters into someone's life or into their home, it only adds more value. There is no one who has become more religious and depreciated in their presence in any room in this world. And there has never been a situation where someone has left the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and value has been added in their life.

If we look at the Sahabas, they were also ordinary people before becoming Muslim. What made them extraordinary was not their level of literacy — because only a few of them were lettered. At the time of Hijrah, 33 Sahabas knew how to read and write. It wasn't their finances, it wasn't their lineages. What made them extraordinary was their affiliation — that they were Sahabas. Because deen raised the level of their presence.

Now, when Bilal رضي الله عنه walks into a room, everyone moves out of the way — not because of Bilal alone, it's because of radiyaAllahu 'anhu. It wasn't because of Umar alone, it was Umar radiyaAllahu 'anhu. Similarly for us: the moment we allow deen to be the greatest source of value in our life, it will naturally bring more honor to us. It will elevate who we are. If not to the people of this world, then to those who truly matter — Allah.

These were people who were living on this earth, but their footsteps were heard in Jannah. When the Prophet ﷺ was taking a tour of Jannah, and he heard footsteps, he said to Jibreel, "Whose footsteps are these?" And Jibreel said to him, "These are the footsteps of Bilal." He was walking on the earth, but his footsteps were being heard in Jannah. The Prophet ﷺ descends from the heavens, and he comes to Bilal رضي الله عنه, and he says, "O Bilal, what is it that you do? When I was walking in Jannah during my journey of Mi'raj, I heard your footsteps — like you were living here, but I heard you all the way there."

We're worried about buying real estate in this world, and these people already had reserved real estate in the Ākhirah. They weren't worried about the competition of this world. They understood:

Bilal رضي الله عنه said, "Ya Rasulullah, it could be one of two things. One — before I sleep, I forgive everyone; my heart is completely cleansed. And two — there has not been a single night that after I fall asleep, I make an intention to wake up for Tahajjud and I pray two raka'ah."

The Prophet ﷺ in his journey of Mi'raj also came across a palace, and it was said: lishābin min Quraysh — it belongs to a youngster from Quraysh. The Prophet ﷺ thought it was for him and started walking forward, and Jibreel said, "No, no — this palace doesn't belong to you. This belongs to Umar رضي الله عنه." The Prophet ﷺ stopped and did not walk in. He came down and said, "Ya Umar, I saw your palace in Jannah. I was about to walk in, but I thought of your ghayrah." And Umar رضي الله عنه said, "Ya Rasulullah, you could have walked into that house — my house is your house." The Prophet ﷺ said, "No, I understand who you are. Even I recognize your level of ghayrah." My point is — the Prophet ﷺ added that value.

The value that was given to the Sahabas was because the Prophet ﷺ was amongst them. And the value that is given to our Ummah — let us not be deceived — is because the Prophet ﷺ was our Prophet. It's not because we came and we're the greatest nation. Why would we be the greatest nation? If we take an objective view of our Ummah, we're not the strongest — Qawm-e-Ād was much stronger than us. We don't live the longest. We don't necessarily have the greatest level of architecture and intelligence — Qawm-e-Thamūd had that. We don't have the finances like Qawm-e-Qārūn. So why would we be the greatest nation? We're the greatest nation because we have the greatest Prophet ﷺ. And if we ignore the ā'dāt, the personality, the life of this man, what allows us to still say that we are the greatest people? Because we've removed the affiliation of what makes us great.

Our honor comes from affiliations. Naturally. So if I work at a certain company, the way I walk is different. There is no affiliation that can bring more honor into our life than the one that we were born with — or, if we reverted, that we were given — that we are ummatis of the Prophet ﷺ.

Mufakhkhamān means that. That he was always looking to see how his presence could bring benefit to the people around him. Whereas in a consumer society of capitalism, we're always sitting in a relationship thinking about how we can take benefit from a person. If we think to ourselves right now — how many relationships have I invested in the last year where I am not a beneficiary? Where the other person benefits from me, but I don't benefit from them? Because of our system of capitalism, even our handshakes are calculated. The person I invite to my wedding is not because they're close to me — it's because I can benefit from them. And therefore, relationships don't last. Even in a marriage, if both are always looking to do the bare minimum, that relationship doesn't last.

The Prophet ﷺ was always looking to see how his presence could bring benefit to the other person. That's mufakhkhamān. And we're the opposite for the most part — everything is about us.

The Five Rights of a Believer Upon Another Believer

The Prophet ﷺ speaks about the five rights that believers have upon believers — five ḥuqūq. And when we say ḥaq, it means farḍ — it's an obligation. Not a sunnah. Not just a good thing to do. Like praying Fajr — you have no choice.

1. Radd al-Salām — Responding to the Greeting

Number one: radd al-salām. Someone says salām to us — you have to respond. To respond to their salām makes you equal. To respond in a manner which is better gives you more reward. The person says Assalamu alaykum — you say wa rahmatullah. They say wa rahmatullah — you say wa barakatuh. That's one layer. Imam Ghazali says the second layer is: someone says the whole thing, and you can still do better — you smile at them, you shake their hand with more passion and love, the way you look at them changes.

The Prophet ﷺ would look at people, and just by looking at them, that person's entire life would change — because that person knew: the Prophet ﷺ loves me. There were more than 40 people — Imam Sultan rahimahullah says 40 people, others say 70 people according to Ibn Hajar — who became Muslim just by seeing the Prophet of Allah ﷺ. Just by seeing him and the way he was.

By the way — the hadith says: whoever says salām first has stronger belief. A sign of stronger faith is that you say salām first — to a stranger, not to your friend. Because there's no awkwardness in that salām. Strong faith is when it's difficult to say salām. If I say salām to my brother first, that doesn't mean I have more faith. It's about new people — not old affiliations.

2. Ijābat al-Da'wah — Responding to an Invitation

Number two is ijābat al-da'wah — responding to someone's invitation. Responding is a farḍ. Why do we have 99-plus apps made just for RSVP? Because we don't fulfill the ḥaq of that person — we just don't respond. And the Prophet ﷺ said that's a farḍ for us. Now, respond doesn't mean you have to go — respond means at the very least you give an answer to the person: "I apologize, I cannot come for such-and-such reason." And I promise you, if that person was someone you wanted to benefit from, you would respond.

3. Tashmīt al-'Āṭis — Saying Yarhamukallah After a Sneeze

Number three: tashmīt al-'āṭis — saying yarhamukallah when someone sneezes and says alhamdulillah. Yarhamukallah means "May Allah have mercy upon you" — it is a du'ā. So Imam Suyuti says: the third right upon a believer is that you make du'ā for them. Are you making du'ā for yourself? No — you're making du'ā for someone else. They are the beneficiary. We struggle to do these three things for the people we actually love — forget those we don't know.

4. 'Iyādat al-Marīḍ — Visiting the Sick

The fourth one is 'iyādat al-marīḍ — visiting those who are sick. Now how will we visit those who are sick if we don't even recognize their absence? And the reason we don't recognize their absence is because their presence meant so little to us. Someone that you benefit from — if they're not there, you notice right away. You text them: "Is everything okay? You're sick — I'm going to come visit you."

We live in a time — all of us, myself included — where it will be difficult for us to say no to a wedding. And very easy for us to say no to a sick person. A wedding gives to us; visiting a sick person takes from our psychological reserve. It brings you down, but it brings the other person happiness. The other person is a beneficiary — not me. It's harder for us to do.

The Prophet ﷺ recognized the person who used to sweep the masjid — the famous narration. Her name is unknown. She would sweep the masjid at nighttime. The Prophet ﷺ recognized that she wasn't there the next day and asked about her. He recognized her absence only because he appreciated her presence. If we can't appreciate someone's presence — be it our own siblings — we will never appreciate their absence.

We will visit someone who is sick if it means a photo will be taken and it will help our career. But we won't visit someone where there's no one taking a picture. So are we doing it for their benefit or for our benefit? That is 'iyādat al-marīḍ. And if we're young — youngsters — if we know how to visit our friends for different things but we can't visit the elders in our community when they're sick, we have to check our iman. These people who are sick in the community — they are sitting in nursing homes for months and no Muslim visits them. 'Iyādat al-marīḍ — visiting people who are sick — is a farḍ. Forget strangers; our own family members.

5. Ittibā' al-Janā'iz — Following the Funeral

And the fifth — which is the hardest but carries the strongest demand — is ittibā' al-janā'iz: going for janāzahs. When we hear about a janāzah within our masjid or community, going for it and making sure we're there. Now what if we can't go? At the very least, recognize the person's hardship — call them, text them, tell them that you're there for them. That is the least we could do.

Janāzahs — we can count on our hand how many we went to in the last year. Wedding invitations, graduations — we'll need multiple hands to count. Because janāzahs take from us — they take from our day, from our flow, from how we feel. It's hard to do.

Conclusion: The Legacy of Mufakhkhamān

My dear friends — mufakhkhamān means using everything that Allah has given us to also benefit those around us. That's what it means. It means that we are a source of benefit to general people — not only to ourselves. The Prophet ﷺ was able to create Sahabas because he used the talent that Allah gave him to benefit them. What is a talent if it only benefits me and my family? It's not really a talent anymore. One is to be stingy with our wealth — the other is to be stingy with our advice. Why do people who want to go into a program have to beg for advice from our community members? We should be generous with it. If someone wants to start a startup company, we should be generous with our advice for them. That's called mufakhkhamān — using what we have to benefit those around us.

When Hind ibn Abi Hala begins to describe the Prophet ﷺ, he begins with this quality: that he was naturally honorable, but he did not confine his honor to himself. Everything that he had, he used to make others more honorable — to make others such that even when he left this world, they were the greatest men and women in the world. Even when he was gone. And the same is for us till today.

May Allah make us amongst those people that can use whatever we have. First of all, this is the flowchart: we attach ourselves to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, we become more honorable, we become more valuable. And after becoming more valuable and more honorable, we use it to dispense within the people around us. May Allah make us amongst these people. JazakAllah khair.