Very interesting topic. I remember, once a revert sister was saying how she found most wahabis ugly, and the sufi lovers beautiful. Maybe this statement from Ali Al Qari(rahmatullah alayh) has something to do with that: ( Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim) attacked Ahlus-Sunnah for denying, namely the belief that Allaah has a direction and body. They have ugly statements and bad beliefs in this regard that make ears go deaf and are judged as lies and calumnies. May Allaah make them both ugly, and anyone that accepts their saying. (Mirqat al Mafatih, Sharh al Mishqaat al Misabih 8/216)
on handsome people being preferred in imamah, see here. clipped part: If they are equal [in having a lofty character], then the more handsome amongst them, because people like handsome folk [and hence will like] to pray behind them. Some have said: ‘The meaning of the ĥadīth ‘the more beautiful in face’ actually means the person who knows many facets of a particular issue. As the idiom goes, ‘one facet of this particular matter is thus..’ etc. Some others said: [it actually means] that a person who prays supererogatory prayers in the night as it has been reported in the ĥadīth: ‘whosoever multiplied his prayers in the night, his face becomes more radiant in the day’. It is not necessary to find a constrained explanation because the obvious meaning is sufficient as we explained earlier [it is natural for people to be attracted towards handsome folk]. One of the reasons for giving precedence to imāms [in order], is that a better person will be the cause for a bigger congregation, hence [a more handsome person] will be a better a choice.
Allama Shurunbulali in Nur-ul-Idha lays down numerous criteria (about 63+ in number) for selection of an Imam for leading a prayer. One of the secondary criteria (i.e. lower down in the list of criteria, provided all other senior ranking criteria being equal or insufficient) is that the most handsome among the group of people should lead the prayer. Beauty as the yardstick is applied only after other yardsticks of measuring taqwa etc. have failed to decisively determine the suitability for leading the prayer. My fiqh teacher explained that husn or beauty is indeed a bounty from Allah (azza wa'jal) and muqtaddis are likely to derive more benefits by following an Imam who is bestowed with beauty.
ophcourse pious men have beautiful faces, physically beautiful also all created faces are beautiful, also faces turn ugly, also something from the opposite side of the argument: to me among the most beautiful common men in the past century is the "elephant man" he is so so beautiful, Allah u Akbar! If such a person is so beautiful then what about the Creator? Allahu Akbar! Allah is unimaginably beautiful, Allah
inna akramakum 'indAllahi atqakum. Verily the most honoured of you is the most righteous of you. but the most righteous aren't always the most beautiful. could the hadith mean beauty not in the sense of apparent beauty but the noor which comes with taqwa? eg. i have heard sayings that he who misses fajr, the noor is taken from his face. so, though he may be outwardly beautiful, there will be no noor on his face. but, back to what nj said. outward beauty still plays a role. eg. all the anbiya were beautiful. [take a look in the mirror murtad of qadian - ugly mongrel]. i hope someone can provide something to read about explanations of the hadith i originally quoted.
:s1: This could be the start of an interesting discussion. You see I think that Islam, like other traditional, pre-modern, cultures has a special place for Beauty --both physical and spiritual. For example hadiths like, "Allah is Beautifl and He loves beauty", and, "I saw my Lord in the most beautiful form [min ahsanu surati]", "Joseph was beautiful but I am more handsome!", and the many hadith about beauty point to the fact that in human affairs beauty does play a special role. Beautiful people find success more easily in life, they have an unfair advantage! I think it is something primordial in Man that we are drawn towards beautiful things and, of course, the most beautiful of all things is the human form. Thus every culture to some extent worships beauty! "Beauty is truth, truth beauty!" as Keats said!
in Barakātu’l Imdād li Ahli’l Istimdād alaHazrat quotes a Hadith that "seek help from those with beautiful faces". this means that beauty comes with piety or are there other meanings?
