My reply to e-mail I received entitled ‘Drawing of Muhammad’
I received today an e-mail at the UK Lahore Ahmadiyya Jamaat account that I administer, with the subject "Drawing of Muhammad", and it consisted of the following message:
Attached is a drawing of your false prophet Muhammad.
The bolding is his. The sender gave his name, real e-mail and his Facebook address. I am not including these for his privacy (and perhaps other obvious reasons). The image which he attached is that of the head of a man, with beard and moustache, wearing a large turban with the Kalima on its front, and protruding above the turban is a lit fuse of a bomb.
I replied to him as follows:
Dear Mr NS
Thank you for your e-mail.
Whether our Prophet is a true or false prophet is a matter of belief, and discussions about it will go on forever, and people will disagree about it.
Whether your drawing is a true or false picture is a matter that can be determined factually. It doesn't involve any belief. So please provide evidence that it is a drawing correctly showing our Prophet's face. I have always wanted to know what our Prophet looked like. Therefore, if you can prove to me that it is his likeness, I would be very grateful to you. Until then, I will perhaps wonder whether you looked in the mirror and drew your own likeness.
Regards,
Zahid Aziz
Both the N and S in his name are Old Testament names.
From Zahid Aziz:
I have sent him a message to say that I have published his brief e-mail on my blog. As his surname is Samson, I added the following:
"I wonder if you are descended from the Biblical figure and hero Samson. See Book of Judges, ch. 16. He is the Biblical hero who committed suicide by bringing down the pillars of a temple with his mighty strength. I quote:
Do you approve of this killing of thousands of innocent people by one fanatic who committed suicide in the name of his Lord, i.e. the God of the Bible?
Regards,
Zahid Aziz"
From Mohammed Iqbal:
Dear Zahid Sahib, So S is accounted for as Samson. N still remains. Shall i take it as Noah?
From Zahid Aziz:
I was forced to disclose "Samson" because I wanted to show people my second message. "Noah" is not his first name, and I hope people understand why I don't wish to give it.
From ikram:
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the most beloved figure for Muslims. Out of that awe and admiration, it is quite natural to be curious about his human presentation. Khwaja Kamal-ud-din in his book ‘Ideal Prophet’ (link), on pages 11-13 writes the following:
Pen Portrait of the Holy Prophet (Hulyah Mubarak)
In place of photographic likeness of the Prophet, I give herewith a pen portrait of the Holy Prophet Muhammad as I find it outlined in Bukhari [also, in Tirmizi’s Shamdtail, Ibn Hanbal’s Musnad Muslim] the well-authenticated book of the Traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
The Prophet's height was neither too tall nor too short. When he walked by himself, people said he was short-statured; whereas, when he walked with another, the Prophet seemed the taller of the two. The Prophet would say that the medium height was the best.
The Prophet's complexion was white, without being wheat-coloured or too white —the colour that is pure white is free from every mixture of yellow, red or any other colour.
Some have described the Prophet's complexion as being ruddy, and, in order to be consistent, have said that the parts exposed to the air and sun, such as the face, neck and ears, were reddish, while the parts covered by his clothes were pure white.
The Prophet's hair was curly and did not hang straight down; yet it was not too bushy. When the Prophet combed his locks, there was in them a wavy appearance. They say his hair flowed down to his shoulder. It is frequently stated to have reached the lobes of his ears. The Prophet sometimes parted his hair into two locks, one on each side of the ear. Sometimes he would comb his hair above his ears, so that his neck could be seen there. In his beard and head there were only seventeen grey hairs, and never more than that.
His face was more beautiful than that of others; he who described the Prophet's face always compared it with the full moon. And because his skin was fair, the Prophet's anger and cheer could be discerned from his countenance. And the people said of him that he was, even as he is described by his friend Siddiq-i-Akbar in the couplet below:
The forehead of the Prophet was wide, and the eye brows were thin and full. Between the eyebrows there was a silvery lustre. The eyes of the Prophet were large and open, deep and dark with a tint of redness. His eyelashes were tong, and so thick, that they looked as if they were about to meet. His nose sloped downward in just proportion; his teeth were a little interspaced, and, when he laughed, their brilliancy rivalled that of the lightning. His lips were beautiful and fascinating. His cheeks were not soft, but firm. His face was neither long, nor circular, but slightly rounded. His beard was thick, and he would not have it trimmed, but allowed it to grow. His moustache he wore clipped. The neck of the Prophet was more beautiful than that of other men; it was neither long nor short. The part of it, which was exposed to the sun and air looked like an urn of silver chased with gold. His breast, free from all malice, was broad, and no part of it seemed more prominent than the rest. Its surface was even and transparent and smooth. From the thorax to the navel there was a thin line of hair. There were no hairs besides. Both the shoulders of the Prophet were broad and thickly overgrown with hair. His shoulders, ankles and armpits were well-covered with flesh. His back was broad, and near his right shoulder-blade was a mark like a seal, and in it there was a black mole, somewhat yellowish, around which there was some thick hair. Both his hands and arms were fleshy, his wrists long and his palms broad. His hands and feet were broad and wide set. His fingers were as if they were phalanges of silver. His palm was soft, even as velvet, and filled with scent like the palm of a perfumer. His thighs and calves were fleshy. His body was moderately stout, but in his old age it remained muscular and sinewy, as if it were re-born. His gait was firm; his step steadfast. In walking he leaned forward, and kept his paces close together.
The Prophet would say that he was more like Adam than other men, while in morals and disposition he resembled his father Abraham.