In the name of Allah, the most benevolent to mankind, the most Merciful to all believers. All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds. Peace and prayers be upon Muhammad, his family, his Companions and all those who follow in their footsteps until the last day.
This book contains a depiction of the physical features and character of the best of mankind and the most beloved and favoured by Allāh the Most High. A depiction of the one who knows his Lord the most and the most capable of mankind at fulfilling the rights of servitude. He was the one chosen to be the link between Allāh and His slaves and chosen to be the messenger who calls towards the good and guidance. Al-Hafith ibn Kathīr commented on the ayah: {There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.} by saying, “This ayah is a fundamental principle towards following the example of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) in his statements, actions and conditions.”[4]
The following of his example necessitates learning about his guidance in life, character and physical features. It is for this reason, each Muslim ought to give priority to learning about the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) before learning anything about anyone else.
The benefits of learning the character and physical features of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are many, some of which are:
1. It is from the pillars of imān to believe in the Messenger (peace be upon him) and this cannot happen without acquiring the knowledge about him. That being said, the more a person knows about the Prophet (peace be upon him), the stronger his belief in him becomes.
2. The love of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is an obligation that Allah has dictated upon His slaves and He made his love take precedence over one’s love for his parents, children and all of mankind including one’s own self. The more a person remembers his beloved and knows about his beautiful character, the more a person longs to meet him and feels love for him.
3. Allah has set the Prophet (peace be upon him) as the role model that we need to follow. To be able to do this we need to learn about his life and character.
4. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is more worthy of the believers than their own selves. This is because his mercy and efforts to advise and call people to the truth made him more merciful to them than people are merciful to themselves. Also, his favour upon people is incomparable for every good deed that we carry out happens due to his efforts in calling humanity to Islām. Thus, each person should know his great status and this can be acheived through learning about his character and features.
5. Allāh has made an oath in the Qur’ān in which He testifies to the perfect character of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The ayah says: {And indeed, you are of a great moral character.}[5] His sense of morality was based on the guidance of the Qur’ān, thus his character was described by Aisha as a manifestation of the Qur’ān[6], meaning that he followed all that which is encouraged and made obligatory in the Qur’ān and refrained from all that which is admonished and made forbidden in the Qur’ān.
6. Allāh has ordered us in the Qur’ān to pray to Him to confer His Peace and Blessings upon the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the more we are acquainted with his character and life the more we will be encouraged to do so more often. This is why the people who know the Prophet (peace be upon him) more reflect upon matters differently than those who lack this knowledge, whose prayers are nothing but a sound uttered by their tongues.
7. The description of the characteristics of the Prophet (peace be upon him) provides a lifestyle that should be followed by all Muslims desiring to live the best life in this world and the Hereafter. It is a lifestyle that should be taught to the younger generation so that their upbringing can be sound and to keep them away from deviation, instead of letting their generation aspire to the lifestyles of the low-life ones.
For these reasons, there is only one person whose life should be looked into if one desires to find the perfect manners and best conduct, that is the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and this is why it is needed to study and learn more about his manners, conduct and lifestyle. Sufyān ibn ‘Uyaynah said, “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is the great balance; whatever complies with his conduct, character and guidance is the truth, otherwise it is falsehood.”[7]
This blessed book is from the best and most beneficial books written about the character and depiction of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and its author made it such an excellent work through his structuring of it and the hadiths he included therein. This is the reason why many scholars praise the book and consider it from the best books authored about this topic.