Prophet ‘Eesa's hair was described as straight in Hadeeth, not curly

16-4-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

Asalamualaiykum, brother in one hadith i read that prophet Muhammad described isa as having lank hair, and in another saying his hair was not too curly, and not too straight? shaykh which one is it?

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

The Ahaadeeth transmitted in relation to the physical description of Prophet ʻEesa (Jesus)  may  Allaah  exalt  his  mention provide that his hair was Sabt ("straight"), as cited in Saheeh Al-Bukhari on the authority of Ibn ʻUmar  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him and in Saheeh Muslim on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him.

Another Hadeeth in Saheeh Al-Bukhari provides that ʻEesa was Jaʻd ("compact"), of red complexion and had a broad chest. Both descriptions are correct and there is no contradiction between them because the description of Ja‘d ("compact") is of his body and not his hair.

Ibn Hajar  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him reconciled the two Ahaadeeth saying, “The version of the Hadeeth narrated on the authority of Saalim says that ʻEesa had straight hair. The Hadeeth that preceded it described him as being "compact"; the latter refers to his body and not hair. It means he was stocky and sturdy.” [Fat-h Al-Baari]

We could not find any revealed texts indicating that ʻEesa  may  Allaah  exalt  his  mention had very curly hair; rather, this was the description of the Dajjaal. ‘Abdullaah Ibn ʻUmar  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him reported that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “I saw myself (in a dream) near the Kaʻbah at night, and I saw a man of tawny complexion, the finest you may see among men of that complexion, with long hair reaching his earlobes which was the finest hair of its sort, and he had combed his hair and water was dripping from it, and he was circling the Kaʻbah while leaning on two men – or on the shoulders of two men. I asked, "Who is this man?" It was said, "The Messiah, son of Mary." Then I saw another man with very curly hair, and a defective right eye, which looked like a protruding grape. I asked, "Who is this?" and it was said, "The Dajjaal."” [Muslim]

Allaah Knows best.

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