What did the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ look like?
The companions' descriptions of the Prophet ﷺ are preserved with extraordinary care. Hair, height, gait, expression — each detail is transmitted through chains, because they knew later generations would want to see him.
8 passages from 3 books in the library
According to the page, the companions preserved the Prophet's ﷺ appearance with extraordinary care — his hair, height, gait, and expression — transmitting each detail through chains because they knew later generations would long to picture him. The cited passages draw repeatedly on al-Tirmidhi's Shama'il, including the long description related from Ali ibn Abi Talib and the report of Hind ibn Abi Hala, alongside other collectors such as Abu Dawud, al-Tabarani and Abu Nu'aym. The page is careful to note the strength of each chain, including where a narration is graded weak.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 3 books by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The hadith stating he oiled and combed his hair is found in Al-Tirmidhi's Shama'il, with a weak chain from Anas,"
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"Also in Shama'il, with a good chain from an unnamed companion, stating he occasionally combed."
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"The narration about having a thick beard is recorded by Al-Tirmidhi in Shama'il,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"recorded by al-Tirmidhi in Shama'il from Ali ibn Abi Talib in the long tradition describing him,"
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"by al-Tirmidhi in his Shama'il from the hadith of Hind ibn Abi Hala, where it says that worldly"
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"This was recorded by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi in the Shama'il from the hadith of Abu Sayyid"
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"This was narrated by al-Tirmidhi in the Shama'il, al-Tabarani, and Abu Nu'aym in the Proofs"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Abu Bakr ibn al-Dahak in the Shama'il, both from the path of Abu Dharr al-Harawi from"
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