Muhammad the Most Beautiful

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Robert Sievers

As a child, my parents often told me that I should focus more on a person’s inner beauty than their outer beauty. This is an attitude most people would herald as an admirable approach to dealing with others. Does something as mundane as outward physical appearances reveal something about Christianity and Islam, Jesus and Muhammad, or God and Allah?

How does God look upon our personal appearance? Of course God is the creator of us all, and He tells us that He created us in His own image (Gen 1:26). Of course, that is more likely with reference to our spiritual nature rather than our physical qualities. Nevertheless, God as the ultimate creator has made things of intense beauty. My hikes in the mountain west can testify to that fact. Yet as far as how any individual might look, God makes it clear that He judges very differently than we humans do. He doesn’t look on our outward appearances, but sees something much deeper (1 Samuel 16:7). God looks rather on the condition of our hearts. In both Christianity and Islam, looking on who we are on the inside matters greatly. Perhaps this shouldn’t be too surprising, but what do we know about the physical appearance of Jesus and that of Muhammad?

Of course there are not pictures of Muhammad from within Islamic tradition, as portraying him via any artistic rendering is considered to be forbidden. I have discussed the irony of this practice in a previous article. Yet what Muhammad looked like is known from Islamic literature. The Hadith go into specifics about his height, hairstyle, and other personal attributes. What is interesting to note, though, is that he was considered the most handsome man in existence. This particular Hadith is representative of many such descriptions.

Narrated Al-Bara: Allah’s Apostle was the handsomest of all the people, and had the best appearance. He was neither very tall nor short. [i]

There are a variety of similar descriptions of the prophet of Islam. Perhaps this excerpt best exemplifies the manner in which his physical appearance is described as something quite out of the ordinary.

His senses were exceedingly powerful. He could hear from a long way off and see further than anyone. In essence, he had a body formed in perfection and uniqueness, and blessed … Anyone suddenly seeing him would be consumed with love, and anyone speaking with him would feel great love in his heart and soul. [ii]

Not only this, but other Hadith extol Muhammad’s bodily characteristics. For example, one Hadith talks about how Muhammad smelled better than even the best smelling perfume. [iii] It is safe to say Muhammad was considered to be the epitome of human beauty, both to the eye and nose of the beholder.

What about Jesus? What do we know about His personal appearance? We do know that Jesus had some kind of commanding presence, since the early disciples dropped everything to follow Him (Matthew 4:19-20). However, this was not so with regarding His physical stature. What Jesus looked like is unclear, as there have been various renderings of Him throughout the ages. These representations tend to reflect more about the times of their creation rather than any reliance on any historical evidence. As one example, early pictures feature a beardless Jesus, while today Jesus often has a beard. We really don’t know much about what He looked like. However, the Bible does give us a clue. In Isaiah chapter 53, verse 2, the coming Messiah is describe as follows,

He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

When God came to earth as a human, He could have done so in any form and shape. He could have made Himself the most remarkable looking human ever to be in existence. Certainly that would have furthered perceptions in those closest to Him as to His true identity. Yet Jesus was ordinary in His appearance, having no beauty or majesty. This fits perfectly with God’s personality of living out the human life without divine privilege. He never used supernatural means to save Himself (Matthew 26:53), and left His majesty in the heavens while on earth (Philippians 2:6).

When comparing Muhammad and Jesus, we get two diametrically opposing set of facts with regards to their physical properties. Muhammad was reported to be the most handsome and best-smelling human ever. Jesus was ordinary in his stature and appearance. As always, there are completely antithetical perspectives when considering Jesus and Muhammad.

[i] http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=56&translator=1&start=0&number=749#749
[ii] http://www.theprophetmuhammad.org/appearance.html
[iii] http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=31&translator=1&start=0&number=194#194

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The Second Pledge of ‘Aqaba

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Robert Sievers

One topic I tend to avoid on this blog is that of jihad. There are plenty of well qualified and adept authors who catalog political movements within Islam. God has called me to keep a more theological focus. Yet the issue of jihad within Islam, while certainly incentivized by political movements or oppression, derives from a more fundamental theological foundation. It is within this context that I discuss this controversial issue. Specifically, to better understand jihad within Islam and the differences between Islam and Christianity, this article will examine the second pledge of ‘Aqaba.

On a broader note, grasping the history of Islam is essential if a person wants to understand Islam itself. So much of Islamic theology ties back to the actions of Muhammad. Yet the stories of Muhammad’s life as contained within the Hadith are fragmented. Consequently, it is often difficult to get an overarching view of the history of Muhammad’s life rather than bits and pieces of the puzzle that prohibit the entire scene from coming into focus.

With that in mind, today’s blog article is about the second pledge of ‘Aqaba. To provide context, Muhammad was still in Mecca and persecution of the fledgling Muslim community was on the increase. Because of this, many of the early Muslims had already fled to Medina where they were being welcomed. Muhammad was also preparing for an impending departure from Mecca, but his life was in danger from his opponents and his escape would require some clever maneuvering. At the minimum, he would need some followers to provide cover and possibly a much higher level of commitment. While many Muslims had pledged their loyalty to Muhammad at ‘Aqaba the previous year, Muhammad extended that first pledge to include his protection should fighting erupt. [i] As ibn Ishaq reports in his well respected work “Life of Muhammad”,

“When God gave permission to his apostle to fight, the second ‘Aqaba contained conditions involving war which were not in the first act of fealty. Now they bound themselves to war against all and sundry for God and his apostle, while he promised them for faithful service thus the reward of paradise. [ii]

The apostle had not been given permission to fight or allowed to shed blood before the second ‘Aqaba. [iii]

This second pledge of ‘Aqaba introduced the concept of jihad, consequently giving the prophet of Islam the confidence and resources to escape Mecca for Medina. This flight is known as the hijra, and it is the foundational moment of Islamic history. (See unravelingislam’s inaugural article for more info.) The hijra was the pivotal moment in Islam and it occurred soon after this second pledge of ‘Aqaba, and so these two events are highly interrelated.

How does all this relate to Christianity? To find the analogous event, we need to backtrack to what happened just prior to the pivotal moment in Christian history, and note the contrasts. Of course the pinnacle events in the life of Jesus are the crucifixion (Romans 5:6) and the resurrection (Acts 17:31). As we move backwards from this climactic moment, we find an analogous moment for Jesus’ disciples. Just as Muhammad’s followers are forced to decide whether to pledge their lives for the prophet of Islam, so too Jesus’ disciples are put in a corresponding position. The mob had come to arrest Jesus, and the time to defend Him from physical harm had arrived. Luke 22:49-51 gives the details,

49 When those who were around Him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.

The disciples were ready to fight for Jesus. In fact one did so even before waiting for the answer to the question of whether or not they should fight! Yet Jesus turns everything upside down. He doesn’t ask His followers to fight for His safety. He tells them to stop and lay down their arms. Jesus makes it clear that loyalty toward Him means something very different from fighting to defend His physical safety because He is a different kind of king (John 18:36).

Both Christianity and Islam have a defining event. In each religion, the followers have a chance to show their loyalty just before that event. In Islam, that loyalty is shown by agreeing to fight to protect Muhammad at the second pledge of ‘Aqaba. In Christianity, that loyalty is shown by putting down swords and agreeing not to fight in the garden of Gethsemane.

[i] http://www.musalla.org/articles/The_pledges_at_Aqabah41.html

[ii] Ishaq, M. i. (1955). Sirat Rasul Allah. (A. Guillaume, Trans.) Karachi: Oxford University Press, p208.

[iii] ibid, p 212

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The Creator and the Creation

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Robert Sievers

The entirety of this blog is to focus on those items that distinguish Islam from Christianity and vice versa. Some of these articles are ironic and others thought-provoking. Yet perhaps none is more foundational than that of the relation between the Creator and His creation.

In both Christianity and Islam, adherents testify that they worship the creator of the heavens and the earth. This foundational concept is so basic that it needs little explanation. The Bible begins with God’s creation (Genesis 1:1), and He gives frequent and majestic testimony to His creative power in a number of places such as Isaiah 44:24 and Job 38:4-6. So too in the Qur’an, Allah claims to be the creator of the heavens and the earth,

[6.73] And He it is Who has created the heavens and the earth with truth, and on the day He says: Be, it is. His word is the truth, and His is the kingdom on the day when the trumpet shall be blown; the Knower of the unseen and the seen; and He is the Wise, the Aware.

Some people conclude that since both Christians and Muslims worship the creator, they must be directing that worship to one and the same God. However, a critical difference emerges when examining how the God of the Bible and Allah of the Qur’an interact with their creation.

In Islam, Allah is viewed as being completely above all of creation. Muslims believe that Allah cannot be seen, heard, or experienced by any of our five senses. While the Qur’an doesn’t directly address this question, verses such as 29:6 say that Allah is “above the creation” which is frequently interpreted to mean that Allah cannot exist within His creation. As one Islamic author states, “Allah Most High is transcendent above any quality of His creation, including existing within time or space, as that would entail being limited.” [i] Allah is considered too unique and too majestic to ever be contained in any way by the universe. This doesn’t just include the earth, but the heavens as well. As one Islamic author puts it,

We would like to point out that, in saying that Allah is in the heavens, we do not mean that He is present within the heavens. What we mean is that Allah is above the heavens. He is High above His creation, not connected to them, and that His Ascendancy is that of Being, Position, Honor, and Force; indeed, it is one of His Essential Attributes. [ii]

In other words, part of Allah’s very essence is that He exists beyond the physical realm of heavens or earth.

This brings us to the God of the Bible. As in Islam, God created all that is in existence. However, in Christianity, God does have the capacity to enter the created order. He appeared to Adam in the garden (Genesis 3:8), to Moses on the mountain (Exodus 19:3), and to all Israel at the dedication of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:11). Yet most importantly, the pinnacle of God’s redeeming work was to enter our world as a human. He came in the most unusual of circumstances, (Matthew 1:18) and yet was born and grew up as any other child. Whereas Islam states that Allah cannot be sensed, the disciples make it clear that that is exactly what happened with respect to Jesus. God showed up in the midst of the universe that He Himself created. He interacted with His disciples who saw Him, heard Him, and experienced His entrance into our physical realm. In fact, Thomas wanted to make sure that he actually felt the wounds with his own hands (John 20:25). This idea is expounded upon in full detail in 1 John 1:1-2

1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

Muslims would say that Allah is too powerful to be able to enter the creation which he created. However, this shows a limitation. If Allah is too powerful to enter creation, then this illustrates something that he cannot do, thus by definition, admitting a limitation. Being “too powerful” to accomplish something is equivalent to not being able to do it. Yet God is powerful enough to not be limited in such a way; He can do whatever He wants, including entering creation in a form that is able to interact with us. In Christianity, this is exactly what Jesus did.

Once again, the God of the Bible and Allah of the Qur’an show exactly opposite abilities.

[i] http://seekersguidance.org/ans-blog/2013/05/27/allahs-relationship-with-time-and-space/

[ii] http://knowingallah.com/index.php/en/articles/article/5024

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