The Radiance of His Face and Luminescence of His Countenance 1

Imm Abdallh Sirjuddn al-usayn 2

Of all people, the Prophet had the most beautiful face, and the brightest countenance. All of the Sa ba who described the Messenger of Allh agreed that his face was bright and radiant, and shone with resplendent light, and clear brilliance. Some of them compared the brilliance of his light to the sun, others to the moon. Some of them likened the shining light of his face to the beams of the moon. All of this confirms for us the clear radiance of his face, and his dazzling luminescence . Let us consider the clear evidence for this from the adth: Tirmidhi narrated that Ab Hurayra said : I never saw anything more beautiful than the Messenger of Allh : it was as though the sun was shining from his face.3 Imam Ghazl said: And they used to say: He is as his companion Ab Bakr has described him:

Honest, the chosen one who calls to goodness, Like the light of the moon when it cleaves the darkness.
[Publishers note] Abdallh Sirjuddn al-usayn, Sayyidun Mu ammad Raslullh Shamil al-amda Khilat al-Majda (Maktaba Dr al-Fal , Aleppo) p. 19-24. Preview of the forthcoming English translation by Sunni Publications (www.sunnipubs.com).
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[Publishers note] For a biography of Imm Abdallh Sirjuddn, see: Shaykh Abdallh Sirjuddn,

The Light of Aleppo [http://www.marifah.net/articles/shaykhabdallahsirajuddin-hamoudeh.pdf].

Also narrated by imam A mad, al-Bayhaq, ibn Hibbn, and ibn Saad.

When the Messenger of Allah was in Medina with his companions in the mosque, Amr ibn Slim al-Khuz recited a poem of support for him when Quraysh broke the treaty :

O my Lord ! I implore Muhammad, The oath of our father and his father of old, You were a son, and I was a father, Then I submitted, and never removed my hand, So be victorious, may Allah guide you ! And call the servants of Allah to come in droves, The Messenger of Allah is among them, unique: White as the full moon rising above.

And on the authority of Ab Ubayda ibn Mu ammad ibn Ammr ibn Ysir, who said : I said to Rubayyi bint Muawwidh : Describe to me the Messenger of Allh . She said : "O my son, if you had seen him, you would have seen the sun rising." 4 Tirmidh narrated the adth of Hind ibn Ab Hla, on the authority of al-asan ibn Al , who said : I asked my uncle Hind ibn Ab Hla who was gifted at describing - about the beauty of the Prophet , hoping that he would describe to me something I could hold on to and cherish, and he replied : The Messenger of Allh had great and stately attributes, and was honoured as such by others. His face shone like the light of the full moon as in the adth which will be mentioned later in full. And on the authority of Jbir ibn Samra , who said : I saw the Messenger of Allh on a moonlit night, and he was wearing a red shawl. I began to look from him to the moon, and to me he was more beautiful than the moon.5 And on the authority of Ab Is q al-Sab, who said: A man asked al-Barr ibn zib : was the face of the Messenger of Allh like a sword ? 6 He replied: "No ; it was like the moon. 7 And Muslim related on the authority of Jbira ibn Samra that a man said: Was the face of the Messenger of Allh like a sword ? Jbir said : No ; it was like the sun, and the moon, and it was round. 8 And we find in Bukhrs Sa the narration of Kaab ibn Mlik, who said: When the Messenger of Allh was pleased, his face would light up like a section of the moon. And al-Bayhaq narrated on the authority of Ab Is q al-Hamdan 9, that a woman from Hamdn (whom Ab Is q named) said: I performed Hajj with the Messenger of Allh several times. Once I saw him on a camel of his circumbulating the Kaaba, a staff in his hand, wearing two red robes, his hair reaching almost to his shoulders. When he passed the Black Stone, he saluted it with his staff, then raised it to his lips and kissed it. Ab Is q said: Compare him with something. She said: Light the moon when it is full. I saw neither before nor after him anyone like him. When he arrived in Medina, the people of the city began to sing:

The full moon has risen over us From the valley of Wad Gratitude is incumbent upon us, As long as Allh is called to.

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Narrated by Tirmidhi, al-Bayhaq, and others. Narrated by Tirmidh 6 i.e. in the way it shone and lit up. 7 Narrated by Bukhr and Tirmidh 8 Meaning that his face was bright like the sun, and resplendent like the moon, and that it had some curvature (Shar al-Mawhib). 9 He is al-Sab from the above Hadith. He was a famous Tabi, from whom the six Imams related Hadith.

O you who has been sent among us, You have come with a command that will be obeyed.
His face, radiant with light, overflowing with meanings and secrets, is a clear evidence that he is truly the Messenger of Allh . Abdullh ibn Salm said: When the Messenger of Allh first entered Medina, the people rushed to him, and I was among them. When I saw his face, and examined it, I knew that it was not the face of a liar rather it was the face of the leader of the Messengers. The first thing I heard him say was People! Spread peace and salutations, and feed one another, and maintain your family ties, and pray at night when others sleep and you will enter Paradise in peace. 10 Because of this, Abdullh ibn Raw a said:

If he had no other clear signs with him, His very appearance would be enough to tell you the Message.
isha said: Of all people, the Messenger of Allh had the handsomest face and the lightest colour. Nobody would describe him without comparing his face to the full moon. The beads of sweat on his face were like pearls, and more fragrant than strong musk. 11 On that note, Ab lib said:

Pure is he, that by his face rain-giving clouds are sought. Succour of the orphans, protector of the needy.
Ibn Askir, Ab Nam and al-Kha b narrated with a sound ( asan) chain on the authority of isha , who said : Once I was sitting and spinning thread, and the Prophet was mending his shoe. His forehead began to sweat, and light began to shine from the sweat. I started in amazement, and so he said: What makes you start so ? I replied : Your forehead began to sweat, and the sweat gave off such bright light that if Ab Kabr al-Hudhal had seen you, he would have recognised you as more deserving of the poem in which he said :

And free of any recrudescence of menses, Or corruption of nursing, or dangerous illness. 12 And when you looked at the features of his face, They shone with the radiance of a shimmering cloud
Ibn Ab Khaythima said : The Prophet had a distinctive forehead : if his forehead appeared through his hair, or between the parting of his hair, or at night, or if he turned his face to the people, his forehead would appear as though it were a lighted lamp, shining. They used to say : He is just as his poet assn has said:

When, in the dark night, his forehead appears It shines and gleams like a lamp ignite ;

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Narrated by Tirmidh, who declared it to be rigorously authentic. Narrated by Ab Nam and others. 12 Meaning that the child was not conceived during the end of a menstrual period, and that its mother did not become pregnant again whilst nursing him and so spoil his nursing ( Shar al-Mawhib)

So who ever was, or will be, like Ahmad ? A means to reach the truth; a warner to the heretic.
And the Sunan of al-Draqa n includes the adth of riq ibn Abdullh al-Mu rib, who related that al- ana said : Do not criticise one another, for I have seen the face of a man who would not degrade you ; I have never seen any man whose face was more like the full moon than his, meaning the face of the Messenger of Allh .