There are intricate differences between shamail and seerah.Seerah is a timeline of the life of the Prophet SAW, hischallenges, his caretakers, wives, battles, journeys, etc. It is acomplete overview of his life SAW.Shamail is more intimate. It is the inner life of the ProphetSAW. It is about how he would look, smile, and people. It ishow he would smile with others, his habits, and of course,his physical attributes, among other things. Shamail is anintimate interview of the Prophet SAW, which allows us tofall in love with him.

PROPHETICCHARACTERISTICS Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Shamail – Week 1

Shamail is a very specific science that allows us to see theintricate beauty of the Prophet SAW. There are no portraitsor images of the Prophet SAW, but we have an intricateunderstanding of his physical beauty because of hadith.Imam Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) helped startthis science.

1 p.g.

SE

SS

ION

1

E D U C A T I O N | P R E S E R V A T I O N | A P P L I C A T I O N

MIFTAAH ONLINE

Introduction: Comparing Shamail & Seerah

Abu Halah RA was the uncle of Hasan and Husayn RA,both of whom were beloved to the Prophet SAW. He had astrong attachment towards them, although they were onlyseven and six years old when he left this world. Growingup, they asked their uncle for a description of theirgrandfather, the Prophet SAW.Generally, when describing someone, you do it with theirbest quality, however, this is difficult since the ProphetSAW was the most perfect human being. He starts with thefact that he was a man of honor.

2 p.g.

SE

SS

ION

1

E D U C A T I O N | P R E S E R V A T I O N | A P P L I C A T I O N

As humans, we require love and require to be loved. Whatare the qualities that make us love the people we love?Imam Al-Ghazali says it is three:Physical (external) beautyInternal characteristicsHow much they love usThe greatest embodiment of these three reasons are theProphet SAW. He loved us more than anyone else, hewould cry and tear up thinking about us.

1.2.3.

Why do we love?

Hadith #1 The Description of Abu Halah

A Man of Honor (SAW)He was a person of self-respect and others respected him.We should also have self-respect for ourselves since weare believers and we hold imaan in our hearts.

3 p.g.

SE

SS

ION

1

E D U C A T I O N | P R E S E R V A T I O N | A P P L I C A T I O N

He was a naturally honored person; he did not have tocommand others to respect him. Ibn Qayyim tells us theformula to become like this is to respect others and theywill respect you. The Prophet SAW would respect othersand naturally he would be given the same respect.There is no single narration of him telling others to standup for him, rather narrations of him telling people not todo so. Urwa ibn Masood RA related that he had not seenothers honor another human being just as theCompanions loved and honored the Prophet SAW. Hewould give others value and give them a platform. Hewould put himself in their shoes and recognize their lightwithin them.This is known as mukhafama, using our talents to allowothers to progress. This is not have to be money, rather itcan be someone who smiles or someone that speaksnicely. One of the greatest acts a human being can ever dois to make someone feel happy. He was completelyselfless SAW.

He Outshined the Moon SAWAfter describing his honor, he begins to describe his face.His face was radiant and reflected the light of moon, if notmore. Jafar ibn Abi Talib RA compared the full moon (asource of solace because of the heat of Makkah/Medina)to the Prophet SAW and concluded that the Prophet SAWis more beautiful. When arriving in Medina, they wouldremark the white moon has rose over us.

4 p.g.

SE

SS

ION

1

E D U C A T I O N | P R E S E R V A T I O N | A P P L I C A T I O N

Hasan bin Thabit RA was a companion that had thepermission to stand on the minbar of the Prophet SAWand speak poetry. Before he reached this high status,there was a time he was preparing a poem to mock theProphet SAW. Once he saw him (SAW), he recounted:

The moment I saw the Prophet’s face fall upon my eyes,

I took my eyes and covered them,

Out of fear that if I looked any longer, I would lose that sight

He was so beautiful I wanted to look looking at him

In awe and respect, like a necklace of stars full of lightAnas (RA) narrates that: When we were around theprophet (SAW), we would have two conflicting thoughts: Look at the Prophet (SAW) because we don't know howlong we will be able to see his beautiful face.Look down out of awe and honor for him He then said, “Oh owner of beauty, oh leader of mankind,it is from the beauty of your face, that the moon borrowslight from your face.”Ibn hajr (RA) and Ibn Katheer (RA) narrate that 33 peopleaccepted Islam just by seeing the face of the prophet Hassaan bin Thaabit (RA) says: If the Prophet (SAW) wereto be someone who wasn't able to speak and did notreceive or convey Wahi from Allah (SWT), his face would beenough to know that he's someone special.

1.

2.

5 p.g.

SE

SS

ION

1

E D U C A T I O N | P R E S E R V A T I O N | A P P L I C A T I O N

..أطول من المربوع، وأقصر من المشذب،"He was taller than a short person, and shorter than a tall person”

His Physical Features

عر، ..عظيم الهامة، رجل الش“His head was moderately large, His blessed hair was wavy”

ره، ..إن انفرقت عقيقته فرق، وإال فال يجاوز شعره شحمة أذنيه إذا هو وف“If his hair parted naturally in the middle, he would leave it so. Otherwise hewould not habitually make an effort to part his hair in the middle”

His body was taller than a short person and shorter than atall person, so relatively average height. He would look tallin a group because he naturally received honor of thepeople. The reason is that if he was too tall, people wouldstruggle to look at him and if he was too short, they wouldlook down on him.He had a large forehead and his head was moderatelylarge. Having a larger head is generally the sign of anintelligent person. His fair was neither straight nor curly,rather wavy. He would not naturally part his hair, but hewould oil and comb his hair, in which he stressed men totake care of their hair.The Prophet (SAW) had his hair at 3 different pointsthroughout his lifeUntil his earlobesUntil the nape of his neck Until his shoulders

1.2.3.

6 p.g.

SE

SS

ION

1

E D U C A T I O N | P R E S E R V A T I O N | A P P L I C A T I O N

There would be three lengths of his hair: up to hisearlobes, to the back of his neck (nape), and up to hisshoulders, resting upon it. The third would be rare andhappen when he was traveling. The only time he went baldwas for umrah and hajj; he specifically wanted to keep thatfor umrah and hajj.He had a luminous complexion, which was white, but notpale. He had a natural rosiness of his cheek. He had a wideforehead, and fine, dense, and separated eyebrows. Hisnose looked large at first, but it was rather a light onecould see from afar.

..أزج الحواجب، سوابغ في غير قرن، بينهما عرق يدره الغضب،"He had dense and fine hair on his eyebrows, both eyebrows were separateand did not meet in the middle, there was a vein between them whichwould expand when he became angry”

، له أشم ..أقنى العرنين، له نور يعلوه يحسبه من لم يتأم"His nose was prominent, it had a luster which made it look big but afterfocusing on it you would come to realize that it is just the luster that makesit seem large”

He had a vein in the middle of his eyebrows that wouldbecome visible when he was angry. He would also becomea little red. He would not express his anger throughscreaming or shouting.It is also possible for us to have a luminous complexion, asIbn Abbas RA related that one of the effects of good deedsis light on the face.

7 p.g.

SE

SS

ION

1

E D U C A T I O N | P R E S E R V A T I O N | A P P L I C A T I O N

Mufti Abdul Wahab reminded us that noor is not white, itis light. Dhulmat (oppression) is not black, it is dark. It doesnot have anything to do with skin tone, as those withdarker complexions can have immense noor on theirfaces.

Tell Me How He Looked!When making migration, the Prophet SAW stopped by thetent of Ummi ‘Abbad. She was a good-hearted person whowould help people when they were traveling. When theProphet SAW asked if they had any perishables, she saysthey have been hit by a famine and that all they have is agoat that does not give milk, nor does it have much meat.With his miraculous touch, the animal became filled withmilk, enough for all of his companions and all of Ummi‘Abbad’s household. Later when her husband came back,she recounted this story to him, being that it wasmiraculous. With incredible zeal he told her to describehow this person looked.She said that he was a man of striking appearance andthat he did not have a protruding stomach. This would betrue for his whole, even at his death at the age of 63.Even when he was born, he was beautiful. He was createdwithout defects. Hasan bin Thabit recounted that it waslike he was able to tell Allah SWT how to create him.No eyes have seen beauty like the beauty of the ProphetSAW.