Physical appearance of Prophet's wives

5-1-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

What was the physical appearence of the wives of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam? Should a man try to marry a woman who looks like one of the wives of the prophet?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. 

The wives of the Prophet were different in their physical appearance; some of them were tall and some were short; some were fat and some were thin; and they were of different beauty. So there were differences in their physical traits.

A man is not required to choose wives like the wives of the Prophet regarding their physique, but he should be keen to choose religious women who have a good moral conduct to marry, as was urged by the Prophet .

Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet said, “A woman is married for four reasons: her wealth, her family lineage, her beauty, and her religion. So choose the religious one, and you will prosper.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

There is nothing wrong for a man to choose in a woman, along with religion and good moral conduct, other qualities that would motivate him to marry her, such as beauty, good family lineage, and wealth; as this would lead him to be more affectionate towards her and consequently lead to a lasting marital relationship.

Ibn Qudaamah said, “A man chooses a beautiful wife because he feels more pleased with her; this makes him lower his gaze and perfects his affection for her.”

Allah knows best.