Al-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyyah

by Sister Asra Adiba

"Listening to Sheikh Muhammad speak about our Master Muhammad, peace be

upon him, invariably and inevitably brings forth an overflowing love for him, the Seal of
prophethood, peace be upon him. This is the secret of sitting beneath the awe of an authentic
scholar, the transmission affects the heart and reverberates in the soul."

All Praise is due to our Lord, Most Glorious is He and Most High and perpetual praises and
salutations on our Master Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Islands are known for their greens, gazebos, warm winds caressing the cheeks and languid days.
The island of New York is known for its grays, garages, cold winds biting the cheeks, and its
blustery hustle and bustle. If nothing else could bring warmth into this maze of a city, hearing
hadith from a monumental man, Sheikh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, raised the heat up to island
level. For the fifth consecutive Ramadhan, New York City, the metropolis, earth’s most intricate
maze for hunting and gathering great wares became for the muslims, a great hunt for knowledge
as Sheikh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, the knight of Knowledge and Gnosis, hailing from Syria,
arrived, setting the moon over Manhattan.

By day, the subject was the Prophet Muhammad, the Preferred, peace be upon him, at the Islamic
Center of New York, on Riverside Dr. By nightfall Sheikh Muhammad headed for the Jami’
masjid on 96th St., just after iftar and the maghrib prayer. He commented on the Surah Yasin,
recited in the morn by the dutiful. In addition, each evening he elaborated on the 99 names of
Allah. The Manhattan air was filled with breathings of remembrance, bringing us closer to our
beloved, insha Allah, as our Lord exhorts, reminders benefit the hearts. These were the days to
live it up on the infamous island, tilting the jealousy to those dwelling on the mainland, who
desired, even if only in Ramadhan, that they had not migrated over the bridge into suburbia.

Fourteen years and fourteen centuries have passed seemingly separating us from the best of all
who traversed this earth, the mercy to all the worlds. Yet this distance, by His permission, is
always erased when sitting beneath the shade of our consummate teacher, Sheikh Muhammad al
Yaqoubi, scholar and sage, austere guide, great Friend of Allah, blessed to be linked to the
Prophet, peace be upon him, by blood and by breath, as a descendant and as a deputy of the
sunnah, may our Lord preserve him.

The years between us and the Noblest of creation, our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,
were almost entirely removed while we sat and listened to our instructor’s impeccable recitation
and commentary on the Shama’il of Imam Tirmidhi [d.279 h] which includes over 400 hadiths,
narrations transmitted by the most pious ones, the best of the ummah by virtue of seeing and
being seen by our Prophet, peace be upon him, his noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with
them all.
Listening to Sheikh Muhammad speak about our Master Muhammad, peace be upon him,
invariably and inevitably brings forth an overflowing love for him, the Seal of prophethood,
peace be upon him. This is the secret of sitting beneath the awe of an authentic scholar, the
transmission affects the heart and reverberates in the soul. For students of Sheikh Muhammad al
Yaqoubi, there are additional bounties. His ancestry to the Prophet, peace be upon him, makes
him the thirty fourth grandson in the link by blood. In his connection by breath to the Prophet,
peace be upon him, i.e., his link through the teachers of sacred knowledge, the ropes of verifiable
trustworthy scholars, each sitting and learning from his/her teacher with the final teacher a
companion who sat with the Prophet, peace be upon him, himself, Sheikh Muhammad’s are the
highest isnads in the world. His teachers and his teachers’ teachers, and so on along the isnads,
were the eldest elite of the ‘ulema in each of their respective generations, such a link is priceless
to the one who knows its value. The teachers that connect us to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
through Sheikh Muhammad, make up the shortest chain on earth. This is one of the secrets
behind the awestruck feeling one gets sitting in his class, the closeness to the Prophet, peace be
upon him, is felt to the bone.

It is incumbent on the seeker to take care wherefrom he attains his knowledge, thus verifying the
authenticity of his teacher is paramount. Sheikh Muhammad is one of the handful few in the
world who not only transmits authentic knowledge about every subject under the sacred sciences,
but transmits knowledge about the teachers in each of the fourteen centuries of generations of
scholars, which is as rare to find in a scholar as red sulphur. Sheikh Muhammad is a delight to
other scholars around the world when he travels, as he is a punctilious reference on each scholar’s
relation to another through their chains of knowledge. Like every diligent son, he knows his
family tree, but in addition, he knows his teacher tree and knows about others’ trees as well, all of
them leading to the one who is the source of knowledge and light to the world, the one who
passed the Lote tree of the furthest knowledge, our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Remarkably, Sheikh Muhammad’s location on these legacies of knowledge is invariably in line

with two generations above a contemporary scholar because of his dear father’s wisdom in taking
him to meet the eldest scholars and taking their ijaza and narrating from them, all of this, while
sheikh Muhammad was still a young boy. This makes sheikh Muhammad a grand uncle or a great
grand uncle to most other scholars in the knowledge tree, which defies his age. To highlight by
example, a couple of young students, who are in their early twenties, recently attended Sheikh
Muhammad’s lectures. They turned out to be the great grandchildren of one of sheikh
Muhammad’s foremost teachers, May Allah be pleased with him. How could this be? Because
Sheikh Ibrahim, sheikh Muhammad’s father, teacher, and guide, May Allah be pleased with him,
began teaching sheikh Muhammad at the tender age of five, such that he was well on his way to
becoming a great scholar of Sacred Knowledge (a catchphrase he coined to represent the apex of
epistemology) by the age of eleven. With high aspiration and the hallowed men of Allah around
us as His agents, the reason for existence may be reached, Knowing Allah and emulating the way
of His beloved, peace be upon him.

Perfunctory New York was transformed into a palisade of praises on our Prophet Muhammad, the
Preferred, peace be upon him, as we heard from the mouth of one of the most meticulous
muhaddiths of our times, covering the text of Imam Tirmidhi’s (d. 279 h) “Shama’il
Muhammadiya.” The class sessions included the following topics: the Prophet’s physical
appearance and demeanor, his decorum and his dress, character and characteristics, peace be
upon him. We listened to everything from the description of the seal of prophethood, located on
his back between the shoulders, to his glistening dark hair and his gleaming dark eyes. Indeed, the
first few sections of the book about his physical characteristics transported the listener into a state
of adoration of the most beautiful human being. His beauty eclipsed all other beauties, befittingly,
the moon is the preferred metaphor for our Prophet, because its illumination is salient when the
firmament is dark while all else is covered by the black robe of night, just as he, salla Allah alayhi
was salaam was a pillar standing erect two thirds of the opaque hours, illuminating the world with
his devotions, while most others lay reclined in the repose of night.

Sheikh Muhammad demonstrated the walk of the Prophet, peace be upon him, which was fast
paced, as though he was walking downhill. He also simulated the narration which describes how
the Prophet, peace be upon him, ate with the middle finger, index finger and the thumb. Sheikh
Muhammad often emphasizes the fact that if one wishes to follow the Prophet’s sunnah it is not
enough to read about it in texts. It is imperative to live with the heirs of the Prophet, peace be
upon him, and see their way, in order to practice the sunnah precisely. He added that it would be
better to eat with a fork if one does not learn the truly elegant way in which the Prophet ate with
his fingers. In addition, his posture as he ate, was the most humble as he sat with the right leg
folded, knee upward and the left leg folded to the side and his frame leaning forward, this is the
figure of the most Beloved of all mankind. All of these characteristics affirm his lofty rank and
engrave his position as the paladin of chivalry, peace be upon him.

The descriptions continued with our Prophet's possessions, wherein we learned that he, the
Master of Creation had only one of each item he owned, from his cloak to his shoes (a unique
style with two crisscrossed straps topped with a circular cover) his ring (silver) to his pillow
which he would offer to his guest in his unmatched hospitality. We heard about his chain mail
and his mail hood, his turban and his helmet, his sarong and his sword.

All of his traits are arrows pointing to the simplicity in his sublunary life and the sublimity in
matters related to the target of this life, the eternal Other.

We continued, hearing about his choice of food and drink, (simple and not steady, he ate and
drank what was available) his scent and his speech (clear and succinct) his laugh (a smile) and his
cry: sight sans sound, i.e., only tears, except when praying, the sound was emitted not from his
blessed mouth but from his treasure chest "like a boiling pot.” Indeed, hearing the commentary
from a great man of Allah and a great savant, sheikh Muhammad, made the distance from our
beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, another form of presence.

Just as Imam Tirmidhi begins his book with the Prophet's outward characteristics making the
reader stunned by his physical beauty, the closing chapters detail his character, with anecdotal
evidence pointing to the internal springs that emanated on his form, such as humility, modesty,
compassion, and magnanimity, leaving the reader by the end, speechless. This class imbibed in us
a heightened understanding of the true eminence of the Prophet, peace be upon him, leaving our
hearts in full acquiescence in acknowledging his rank as the best of creation. When a sincere
lover speaks about his beloved, the love spreads like contagion to listeners and to those in his
proximity, and all the more so with the most pristine love, loving the Master of mankind, peace
be upon him. As we heard Sheikh Muhammad speak about the Prophet, peace be upon him, and
recite his words, the hadith, verbatim, we could not help but fall deeper and deeper in love with
him, peace be upon him, cling to him, and cry in longing for him. This class brought his presence,
peace be upon him, vividly into our lives, and one who has his beloved with him, has no woe as
the presence of his beloved is his balm. When true love is found, the lover always laments, “I
knew you before I found you.” Indeed, this is more so for the truest love of all in the created
realm, as our Lord states in the Quran: The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own
selves. [33:6]

The Prophet sallah Allah alayhi was sallam use to request his companions, after the fajr prayer, to
reveal their dreams, since oftentimes they would contain portents for the ummah, for instance, the
call to prayer came to us through a dream of one of the companions. Furthermore, he, peace be
upon him, said that a good dream is one part of forty six parts of prophethood. Indeed, it imports
fresh news from the heavens.

Students attending classes of hadith often report the ecstatic Elysium of having dreams of the
Prophet, sallah Allah alayhi was sallam, towards the conclusion of class. One sister had the
double bounty of a dream with the Prophet, peace be upon him, and Sheikh Muhammad. She
documented the dream just a few days after we completed the “Shama’il.” She saw the Prophet,
peace be upon him, putting his hand on the chest of Sheikh Muhammad, and saying “Allahu
Akbar” (Allah is Great) three times, followed by, “Allahu Shafi” (Allah is the Healer) once, then,
“Yaa Wajhun Nur” (O Face of Light), three times, sealing the supplication with the Ayat al Kursi,
the Verse of the Throne. Finally, the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave Sheikh Muhammad a
prescription: to take some dates with Zam Zam water. Two days later she dreamt that the Prophet
offered him the dates and Zam Zam water.

Most students are not aware that Sheikh Muhammad has chronic asthma, such that in between
long stretches of teaching, his lungs are inflamed, yet he continues teaching with élan for the sake
of Allah and His Messenger and the seekers of Truth. Students who have heard his tireless breath
linger for hours, elaborating on hadith, reciting the Quran, or commenting on various texts, are, of
course, agape in amazement at his fervor, may Allah elongate his life. To hear someone recite the
Fatiha twice in one breath is almost an inconceivable feat, but to hear Sheikh Muhammad do so,
realizing the condition of his lungs, yet still delivering a euphonious elocution, is to submit to the
miracles bestowed on him by our Lord, Glorious is He. During the course of the month, Sheikh
Muhammad’s lungs were tried severely with his teeming schedule and his continuous serenades.
Just after Eid time, (in synchrony with the sister’s dream), Sheikh Muhammad entered a serene
state of succor as those around him noted. Such a heavy schedule would wreak havoc on the body
but for Sheikh Muhammad, may Allah preserve him, it seemed only to wreak heaven. Such
dreams tip a bucket of heaven on earth, this one pouring refreshing news about a charismatic man
of Allah, confirming that he is under the watchful eye of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon
him. The radiant address, “O Face of Light” announces Sheikh Muhammad as an honorable heir
to the throne of the sunnah, prayers and blessings on our Prophet, the height of humanity, as long
as his blessed name is etched on the 'Arsh.