Shamâ´il al-Muhammadiyyah [Part 9] - Physical Characteristics of the Messenger of Allâh

§15. `Abdullâh bin `Abdur-Rahmân narrated to us; Ibrâhîm bin al-Mundhir al-Hizâmî narrated to us; `Abdu-l-`Azîz bin Thâbit az-Zuhrî narrated to us; Ismâ`îl bin Ibrâhîm – the son of the brother of Mûsâ bin `Uqbah – narrated to me; from Mûsâ bin `Uqbah; from Kurayb; from ibn `Abbâs (RAA) who said,

The Messenger of Allâh, ŝallAllâhu `alayhi wa sallam, had a gap between his incisors, when he spoke it was as if light was emanating from between them. [1]

(Q,M) `Abdu-l-`Azîz bin Thâbit az-Zuhrî, he is matrûk: he would narrate from memory after his books were burnt and hence made many mistakes. "The Messenger of Allâh, ŝallAllâhu `alayhi wa sallam, had a gap between his front teeth," (M) al-falaj refers to a gap between the incisors and the molars and al-faraq refers to a gap between the incisors, here al-falaj is employed with the meaning of al-faraq as proven by the context, this was stated by ibn al-Athîr. However in as-Ŝihâh it is mentioned that al-falaj is used to refer to both types of gaps and as such one no longer stands in need of saying that one word has been used in place of another. "When he spoke it was as if light was emanating from between them," (M) Meaning something very white was seen that would glitter like light, this by way of a miracle for him, ŝallAllâhu `alayhi wa sallam.