Physically, Muhammad was a sick man. In his youth, he must have been handsome to Khadijah, a woman 15 years older than him. However in the last years of his life he acquired odd features his companions found strange. Anas narrated, “The Prophet had big hands and feet, and I have not seen anybody like him, neither before nor after him, and his palms were soft.”[1]
In addition to his hands and feet, many of his facial features also grew out of proportion. Imam at-Tirmidhi,[2] in the Book of Merits (manaqib), has collected several hadiths that describe Muhammad’s physical characteristics. A review of them may provide us with clues about his state of health and ailments.
His followers have gone out of their way to describe their prophet superlatively – praising his radiance, describing how his beauty surpassed that of the moon, and how everyone stood in awe of his moon-like beauty and awe inspiring presence, etc. These are subjective descriptions and of little use to us.
The following are some of his followers’ more objective descriptions of him, taken from Tabaqat.[3]
Ali narrates: “The Prophet was neither tall nor short. He has thick-set fingers and toes. He had a large head and joints. He had a long line of thin chest-to-lower-navel hair. When he walked he would literally lean forward, as if descending a slope. I never saw anyone like him before or after him. He was large of head and beard.”
In another hadith the same narrator says: “He was of medium stature. His hair was slightly waved. There was roundness in his face. He was fair with redness in his complexion. His eyes were very black and his eyelashes very long. He had a large back and shoulder-joints. He had thick-set fingers and toes. When he walked he would lift his feet with vigor, as if walking up a slope. When he turned towards a person he would turn with his entire body. His neck seemed (smooth and shiny) like that of a statue molded in silver. His body was stout and muscular, of equal belly and chest (barbell like). He was wide-shouldered, big- jointed. When he disrobed his limbs emanated light (oily skin). There was hair on his arms, shoulders, and upper torso. His forearms were long, his palms wide, his fingers and toes thick-set and extended. His feet were so smooth that water rolled off them.”
Hind ibn Abi Hala, has also reported: “The Prophet… had a large head. His hair was wavy. He had a rosy complexion, a wide forehead, arched dense eyebrows that did not meet in the middle. Between them there was a vein which thickened when he was angry. He had an aquiline nose touched with a light that raised it so that at first sight it seemed higher than it was. He had a thick, dense beard, expanded, not elevated cheeks, a strong mouth with a gap between his front teeth. His neck seemed smooth and shiny like that of a statue molded in silver. His body was well-proportioned, stout and muscular, of equal belly and chest. He was wide-shouldered, big- jointed. His forearms were long, his palms wide, his fingers and toes thick-set and extended. The middle of his soles rose moderately from the ground. His feet were so smooth that water rolled off them.
When he walked he lifted his feet with vigor, leaned slightly forward, and tread gently on the ground. When he turned (to look), he turned his whole body. His gaze was lowered and he looked at the ground more often than he looked at the sky. He glanced at things rather than
References:
[1] Bukhari Volume 7, Book 72, Number 793
[2] Abū ˤĪsā Muħammad ibn ˤĪsā ibn Mūsā ibn ad-Dahhāk as-Sulamī at-Tirmidhī (824-892) was a collector of hadith. His collection, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, is one of the six canonical hadith compilations used in Sunni Islam. The following hadiths are from his collections.
[3] Ibn Sa’d, Persian Tabaqat, v.1, p. 391
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