What Did Muhammad Look Like?

Sunni reports describe Muhammad as a man of medium height, with a rosy color that was neither absolutely white nor deep brown, and hair that was neither completely curly nor quite lank. Al-Bara says he once saw him in a red cloak. The Qur’an does not give that physical list. Christians do not draw him, and they do not follow him as a prophet.

Key Points

• Sahih al-Bukhari 3547Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Rabi`a bin Abi `Abdur-Rahman: I heard Anas bin Malik describing the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "He was of medium height amongst the people, neither tall nor short; he had a rosy color, neither absolutely white nor deep brown; his hair was neither completely curly nor quite lank. Divine Inspiration was revealed to him when he was forty years old. He stayed ten years in Mecca receiving the Divine Inspiration, and stayed in Medina for ten more years. When he expired, he had scarcely twenty white hairs in his head and beard." Rabi`a said, "I saw some of his hairs and it was red. When I asked about that, I was told that it turned red because of scent. "Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source (Muhammad Muhsin Khan) says he was of medium height, rosy, neither absolutely white nor deep brown, and that his hair was neither completely curly nor quite lank.
• Sahih al-Bukhari 3551Sahih al-Bukhari 3551 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Al-Bara: The Prophet (ﷺ) was of moderate height having broad shoulders (long) hair reaching his ear-lobes. Once I saw him in a red cloak and I had never seen a more handsome than him."Sahih al-Bukhari 3551 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source and Sahih Muslim 2337aSahih Muslim 2337a · Abdul Hamid SiddiquiAl-Bara' reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was of medium height, having broad shoulders, with his hair hanging down on the lobes of his ears. He put on a red mantle over him, and never have I seen anyone more handsome than Allah's Apostle (ﷺ).Sahih Muslim 2337a · Abdul Hamid SiddiquiOpen source add broad shoulders, hair to the ear-lobes, and a red cloak or mantle. These are Sunni hadith. Which Muslims Accept Which Hadith?
• Sahih al-Bukhari 3326Sahih al-Bukhari 3326 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall. When He created him, He said to him, "Go and greet that group of angels, and listen to their reply, for it will be your greeting (salutation) and the greeting (salutations of your offspring." So, Adam said (to the angels), As-Salamu Alaikum (i.e. Peace be upon you). The angels said, "As-salamu Alaika wa Rahmatu-l-lahi" (i.e. Peace and Allah's Mercy be upon you). Thus the angels added to Adam's salutation the expression, 'Wa Rahmatu-l-lahi,' Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure). People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation.Sahih al-Bukhari 3326 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source says God created Adam sixty cubits tall, and that people have been decreasing in stature since Adam. That report is about Adam, not a claim that Muhammad was the tallest prophet.
• Sahih al-Bukhari 3547Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Rabi`a bin Abi `Abdur-Rahman: I heard Anas bin Malik describing the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "He was of medium height amongst the people, neither tall nor short; he had a rosy color, neither absolutely white nor deep brown; his hair was neither completely curly nor quite lank. Divine Inspiration was revealed to him when he was forty years old. He stayed ten years in Mecca receiving the Divine Inspiration, and stayed in Medina for ten more years. When he expired, he had scarcely twenty white hairs in his head and beard." Rabi`a said, "I saw some of his hairs and it was red. When I asked about that, I was told that it turned red because of scent. "Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source mentions scent only as what turned some of his hairs red. It does not say his body smelled like musk.
• Sahih al-Bukhari 5954Sahih al-Bukhari 5954 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated `Aisha: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) returned from a journey when I had placed a curtain of mine having pictures over (the door of) a chamber of mine. When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saw it, he tore it and said, "The people who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection will be those who try to make the like of Allah's creations." So we turned it (i.e., the curtain) into one or two cushions.Sahih al-Bukhari 5954 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source condemns people who try to make the like of God’s creations. That is a report about pictures of living things. It is not a verse that says “do not draw Muhammad.”
• Christians confess Jesus as God in John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source. A description of Muhammad’s height is not that confession. Who Was Muhammad?

Height, Color, and Hair

Sahih al-Bukhari 3547Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Rabi`a bin Abi `Abdur-Rahman: I heard Anas bin Malik describing the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "He was of medium height amongst the people, neither tall nor short; he had a rosy color, neither absolutely white nor deep brown; his hair was neither completely curly nor quite lank. Divine Inspiration was revealed to him when he was forty years old. He stayed ten years in Mecca receiving the Divine Inspiration, and stayed in Medina for ten more years. When he expired, he had scarcely twenty white hairs in his head and beard." Rabi`a said, "I saw some of his hairs and it was red. When I asked about that, I was told that it turned red because of scent. "Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source (Muhammad Muhsin Khan) reports Anas through Rabi`a:

He was of medium height amongst the people, neither tall nor short; he had a rosy color, neither absolutely white nor deep brown; his hair was neither completely curly nor quite lank.

Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin Khan

Sunni hadith

The same hadith says revelation came at forty, with ten years in Mecca and ten in Medina, and scarcely twenty white hairs at his death. Rabi`a adds that some hairs he saw were red, and that he was told they turned red because of scent. Sahih al-Bukhari 3548Sahih al-Bukhari 3548 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Anas: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was neither very tall nor short, neither absolutely white nor deep brown. His hair was neither curly nor lank. Allah sent him (as an Apostle) when he was forty years old. Afterwards he resided in Mecca for ten years and in Medina for ten more years. When Allah took him unto Him, there was scarcely twenty white hairs in his head and beard.Sahih al-Bukhari 3548 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source is Anas again: neither very tall nor short, neither absolutely white nor deep brown, hair neither curly nor lank. Ash-Shama’il al-Muhammadiyah 1Ash-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyah 1 · sunnah.com EnglishAnas ibn Malik (ra) reports: “Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) was neither very tall of stature, nor short. His skin was neither pale white, nor tawny, and his hair was neither crisply curled, nor lank. Allah (Exalted is He) sent him [to serve as His Messenger] at the end of forty years of life, so he stayed in Mecca for ten years and in Medina for ten years, and Allah took him unto Himself at the end of sixty years, with fewer than twenty white hairs on his head and his beard.”Ash-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyah 1 · sunnah.com EnglishOpen source is the same picture from Anas: not very tall or short, skin neither pale white nor tawny, hair neither crisply curled nor lank.

Sahih al-Bukhari 3549Sahih al-Bukhari 3549 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Al-Bara: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was the handsomest of all the people, and had the best appearance. He was neither very tall nor short.Sahih al-Bukhari 3549 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source has al-Bara call him the handsomest of the people, with the best appearance, neither very tall nor short. That is the narrator’s praise. It is still the same height.

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3638Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3638 · sunnah.com EnglishNarrated Ibrahim bin Muhammad, one of the offspring of 'Ali bin Abi Talib: said: "When 'Ali [may Allah be pleased with him] described the Prophet (ﷺ) he would say: 'He was not extremely tall (Mummaghit), nor was he extremely short (Mutaraddid), and he was of medium height in relation to the people. The wave of his hair was not completely curly (Qatat), nor straight, but it was in between. He did not have a large head, nor a small head (Mukaltham), his face was round and a blended-white color (Mushrab), his eyes were dark black (Ad'aj), his eye-lashes were long (Ahdab). He was big-boned and broad shouldered (Al-Katad), his body hair was well-placed, and he had a Masrubah, his hands and feet were thick (Shathn). When he walked he walked briskly (Taqalla'), he leaned forward as if he was walking on a decline (Sabab). And if he turned his head, his body turned as well, between his two shoulders was the seal of Prophethood, and he was the seal of the Prophets. He was the most generous of people [in hand, and the most big-hearted of them] in breast. He was the most truthful of people in speech, the softest of them in nature, and the most noble of them in his relations ('Ishrah). Whoever saw him for the first time (Badihah) would fear him, and whoever got to know him, loved him. The one who tried to describe him would have to say: 'I have not seen before him or after him anyone who resembles him (ﷺ).'"Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3638 · sunnah.com EnglishOpen source is a longer description placed on Ali: not extremely tall or short, hair between curly and straight, a round face, a blended-white color, and the seal of prophethood between the shoulders. The grade printed on sunnah.com is Da’if (Darussalam), weak. The Bukhari lines above are the reports this page leads with.

A Shia reader may set Bukhari aside. The physical list is not a Qur’an verse. Qur’an 33:21Qur’an 33:21 · Saheeh InternationalThere has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allāh an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allāh and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allāh often.Qur’an 33:21 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source calls him an excellent pattern and does not say how tall he was.

A Red Cloak

Sahih al-Bukhari 3551Sahih al-Bukhari 3551 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Al-Bara: The Prophet (ﷺ) was of moderate height having broad shoulders (long) hair reaching his ear-lobes. Once I saw him in a red cloak and I had never seen a more handsome than him."Sahih al-Bukhari 3551 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source (Muhammad Muhsin Khan) says he was of moderate height, with broad shoulders and hair reaching his ear-lobes. Al-Bara says he once saw him in a red cloak and had never seen anyone more handsome. Sahih Muslim 2337aSahih Muslim 2337a · Abdul Hamid SiddiquiAl-Bara' reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was of medium height, having broad shoulders, with his hair hanging down on the lobes of his ears. He put on a red mantle over him, and never have I seen anyone more handsome than Allah's Apostle (ﷺ).Sahih Muslim 2337a · Abdul Hamid SiddiquiOpen source (Abdul Hamid Siddiqui) says the same: medium height, broad shoulders, hair on the lobes of the ears, a red mantle.

Sahih Muslim 2344aSahih Muslim 2344a · Abdul Hamid SiddiquiJabir b. Samura was asked about the old age of Allah's Apostle (ﷺ). He said: When he oiled his head nothing was seen (as a mark of old age) and when he did not apply oil something (of the old age) became visible.Sahih Muslim 2344a · Abdul Hamid SiddiquiOpen source says that when he oiled his head, nothing of old age was seen, and that when he did not, something of old age became visible. That is hair and age, not a perfume.

Was He the Tallest Prophet?

Sahih al-Bukhari 3326Sahih al-Bukhari 3326 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall. When He created him, He said to him, "Go and greet that group of angels, and listen to their reply, for it will be your greeting (salutation) and the greeting (salutations of your offspring." So, Adam said (to the angels), As-Salamu Alaikum (i.e. Peace be upon you). The angels said, "As-salamu Alaika wa Rahmatu-l-lahi" (i.e. Peace and Allah's Mercy be upon you). Thus the angels added to Adam's salutation the expression, 'Wa Rahmatu-l-lahi,' Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure). People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation.Sahih al-Bukhari 3326 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source says God created Adam sixty cubits tall, that people who enter Paradise will resemble Adam, and that people have been decreasing in stature since Adam’s creation. The hadith about Muhammad’s own body say medium height, neither very tall nor short. Those two reports do not make Muhammad the tallest prophet. How Many Prophets Are There in Islam?

What About Cats?

Sunan Abi Dawud 75Sunan Abi Dawud 75 · sunnah.com EnglishNarrated AbuQatadah: Kabshah, daughter of Ka'b ibn Malik and wife of Ibn AbuQatadah, reported: AbuQatadah visited (me) and I poured out water for him for ablution. A cat came and drank some of it and he tilted the vessel for it until it drank some of it. Kabshah said: He saw me looking at him; he asked me: Are you surprised, my niece? I said: Yes. He then reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: It is not unclean; it is one of those (males or females) who go round among you.Sunan Abi Dawud 75 · sunnah.com EnglishOpen source, graded Hasan Sahih by al-Albani on that page, says a cat drank from ablution water and that the messenger said it is not unclean, and that it is one of those who go round among you. Sahih al-Bukhari 3318Sahih al-Bukhari 3318 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Ibn `Umar: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A woman entered the (Hell) Fire because of a cat which she had tied, neither giving it food nor setting it free to eat from the vermin of the earth. "Sahih al-Bukhari 3318 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source says a woman entered the Fire because of a cat she tied, neither feeding it nor setting it free to eat. One report calls the cat clean. The other condemns starving a tied cat. Neither report is a doctrine that Muslims love cats.

Are Pictures of Muhammad Forbidden?

Sahih al-Bukhari 5954Sahih al-Bukhari 5954 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated `Aisha: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) returned from a journey when I had placed a curtain of mine having pictures over (the door of) a chamber of mine. When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) saw it, he tore it and said, "The people who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection will be those who try to make the like of Allah's creations." So we turned it (i.e., the curtain) into one or two cushions.Sahih al-Bukhari 5954 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source says he tore a curtain that had pictures and said the people who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection will be those who try to make the like of God’s creations. The report is about pictures of living things. It does not say “this is a portrait of Muhammad.” This site does not depict him. Who Is Allah?

A television cartoon is not a historical report. This page does not describe one, and it does not use a cartoon as evidence of his face.

Race and Skin Color

The appearance reports say rosy, neither absolutely white nor deep brown, and, in the weak Tirmidhi line, blended-white. Who Was Muhammad? places him in Mecca, of Quraysh, in the biography of Ibn Ishaq. Those sentences are the sources. They are not a modern census category.

The Christian Claim

Muslims keep these hadith as a memory of the messenger’s body. Qur’an 33:21Qur’an 33:21 · Saheeh InternationalThere has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allāh an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allāh and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allāh often.Qur’an 33:21 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source is the line they treat as the pattern for life, not the color of his cloak. Christians confess the Word who was God (John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source) and the risen Jesus whom Thomas calls Lord and God (John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source). They do not take Muhammad’s height, color, or cloak as a reason to receive him as a prophet. What Do Christians Believe About Muhammad?

Frequently Asked Questions

What Did Prophet Muhammad Smell Like?

Sahih al-Bukhari 3547Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanNarrated Rabi`a bin Abi `Abdur-Rahman: I heard Anas bin Malik describing the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "He was of medium height amongst the people, neither tall nor short; he had a rosy color, neither absolutely white nor deep brown; his hair was neither completely curly nor quite lank. Divine Inspiration was revealed to him when he was forty years old. He stayed ten years in Mecca receiving the Divine Inspiration, and stayed in Medina for ten more years. When he expired, he had scarcely twenty white hairs in his head and beard." Rabi`a said, "I saw some of his hairs and it was red. When I asked about that, I was told that it turned red because of scent. "Sahih al-Bukhari 3547 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source mentions scent as the reason some hairs turned red. It does not say his sweat was musk. This page does not add a smell the report does not state.

What Was the Skin Color of Prophet Muhammad?

Bukhari 3547 says a rosy color, neither absolutely white nor deep brown. Bukhari 3548 says neither absolutely white nor deep brown. The Tirmidhi wording “blended-white” is graded Da’if on sunnah.com.

What Was Prophet Muhammad’s Race?

The hadith give color and hair. The biography places him among Quraysh in Mecca. They do not use a modern racial label.

Why Do Muslims Love Cats so Much?

Abi Dawud 75 says the cat is not unclean. Bukhari 3318 says a woman was punished for tying a cat without food. Those are the reports. They are not a command to keep cats.

Who Was the Tallest Prophet?

Bukhari 3326 says Adam was made sixty cubits tall and that stature has decreased since then. The reports about Muhammad say medium height.

What Does Muhammad Look Like in South Park?

A cartoon is not a source for his face. The sources on this page are the hadith above.

Keep Reading

• Who Was Muhammad?
• Was Muhammad a Real Person?
• What Does Allah Look Like?
• What Do Christians Believe About Muhammad?