The Messenger of Allah had a normal stature for his townsfolk, not too tall or too short. Al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was medium in height”
(i.e., not too tall and not too short, but medium in height)
“and when I saw him once in a red suit, I had never before seen anything better than him”
related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Al-Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) also described the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), saying,
“There was a wide space between his shoulders”
i.e., he had broad shoulders
related by Muslim.
The hair on his chest was
“long”
related by Ahmed.
Chest hair is the hair that grows from the chest to the navel, it was one line of hair from his (peace be upon him) chest to his navel.
The back of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was
“[His back was] like a piece of shining silver”
related by Ahmed.
“The seal of prophethood was like a button of a tent between his shoulders”
related by Al-Bukhari.
i.e., it was like a pigeon’s egg: rounded.
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had fleshy hands; and I have never seen anything like them since”
related by Al-Bukhari.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to have very soft hands. In one narration, it states about the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that
“His hands and feet were very fleshy”
i.e., they tended to be fleshy and short, which is liked for men, as this means that he can give a firm grasp, but such a feature is not liked for women. And they (his feet) also had
“thin heels”
Meaning: they did not have much flesh on them
related by Ahmed.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was given strength more than others, including strength on the battlefield. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
“When the conflict became fierce, and the two parties met, we used to join the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) [for him to protect us]. And there was no one who was closer to him than us”
related by Ahmed and Al-Hakim.
No one had such a nice smelling scent as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had. If a person walked along a path the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had recently walked, the person would know that the Messenger of Allah had passed there because of the sweet scent. Anas ibn Malik (peace be upon him) said,
“No fly touched the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and silk is not softer than his palms. Furthermore, I have never smelt a nicer scent than the scent of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)”
related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Moreover, it has been narrated about him (peace be upon him) that
“People used to bring a bucket of water to the Messenger of Allah. He (peace be upon him) would take some water from the bucket in his mouth, throw it out into the bucket again, and then pour the water into a well, or he would take some water from the bucket in his mouth and throw it out into a well. As a result, the entire well became fragrant like musk”
related by Ahmed.
The drops of perspiration on the Messenger of Allah’s face looked like pearls, and the smell of his perspiration was sweeter than that of musk. An authentic hadith which was narrated by Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) states,
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) entered upon us on a very hot day, and took a nap, (i.e. slept in the middle of the day) during which he perspired much. So Um Sulaym started to catch (i.e. gather) the perspiration of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in a bottle. The Messenger woke-up and said to her, ‘What are you doing, Um Sulaym?!’ She replied, ‘Oh Messenger of Allah, I am gathering your perspiration, as it smells sweeter than musk [related by Muslim].
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