How was the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) like the Quran?

We all know about the famous saying of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) when she was asked about the character of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). But does anyone know the full narration?



Yazid ibn Babnus came to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked, "O' Mother of the believers; how was the character of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)? She said, "The character of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the Quran." Then she asked, "Do you recite the Believers?" (The Quranic chapter)


We said, "Yes."


She said, "Recite."


"Successful indeed are the believers; Who are humble in their prayers..." Until we reached, "Those who pay heed to their prayers." Then she said, "That is how the character of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was."




(Ibn Kathir in Shamail relating from Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Hakim in Mastadarak 2/613, Imam Ahmed 6/54 from Imam Baghawi's Anwar fi Shamail An-Nabi Al-Mukhar p.164-5)




The full passages of that section is as follows:



The Believers 23:1-10


"Successful indeed are the believers;


Who are humble in their prayers;


And who shun vain conversation;


And who are payers of the poor-due;


And who guard their modesty -Save from their wives or the (slaves) that their right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy;


But whoso craveth beyond that, such are transgressors - and who are shepherds of their pledge and their covenant,


And who pay heed to their prayers."

Umar ibn Al-Khattab said when revelation come to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) the sound of bees could be heard from him; so we paused for a moment then he faced the prayer direction; raised his hands and said, "O' Allah increase us and do not decrease us; honour us and do not dishonour; give us and do not deprive us; let us effect and not be effected; make us happy with you and you happy with us." Then he said, "Ten passages were sent to me; whoever practices them enters paradise." Then he recited, "Successful indeed are the Believers..." Until he reached the tenth passage. Narrated At-Tirmidhi and An-Nisa'i.

The main point of the passages are: humbleness, avoiding vain speech, paying zakat, only having conjugational affairs with wedded partner (s) or servant and keeping up the prayer.

So the important point here is that he practiced the points mentioned (and many more besides) in the passages and this was what his character was like. His character was based on practicing the Quran and that is why his character is great, because he practiced what was send to him.

We are hoping to post something more about this and in sha Allah we will soon, keep visiting!