𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 (382)

Supplication for looking at the mirror The questioner asks: Is the supplication when looking at the mirror authentically established? Sheikh Yahya hafidahullah: It has been narrated from Anas ibn Mālik, Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and a group of others regarding this matter, that the Prophet ﷺ used to say when he looked into the mirror: "O Allāh, just as You have perfected my physical form, so perfect my character." However, all of these narrations are extremely weak, and for that reason, we did not include them in Al-Ikhtiyār. As for the supplication itself, it is indeed authentically established, though not specifically linked to looking into the mirror. This supplication is authentically reported. It was recorded by Aḥmad in his Musnad, and from the Musnad of Aḥmad it was extracted by our Shaykh (may Allāh have mercy on him) in Aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Musnad mimma laysa fī As-Ṣaḥīḥayn, on the authority of ʿĀ’ishah, that the Prophet ﷺ used to say: "O Allāh, just as You have perfected my physical form, so perfect my character." This is a great supplication, and a person ought to say it frequently. Allāh, Exalted is He, has perfected your physical form: “Indeed, We created man in the best of stature” [At-Tīn: 4]. “O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your noble Lord, who created you and fashioned you and proportioned you?” [Al-Infiṭār: 6-7]. “And We have certainly honored the children of Ādam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created with [definite] preference” [Al-Isrā’: 70]. This is not exclusive to someone considered beautiful or otherwise; rather, this supplication is to be made by every person, without restriction, and should be recited often. There is no one except that Allāh has perfected their physical creation, and one seeks from Allah that He perfect their character as well: “And none is granted it except those who are patient, and none is granted it except one having a great portion [of good].” [Fuṣṣilat: 35], i.e. These are noble traits. It is authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ, when he was asked about what causes people to enter Paradise the most, that he said: “Taqwā (God-consciousness) and good character,” as narrated in the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah. Also, “The Prophet ﷺ was neither indecent nor lewd in speech,” and he used to say: “The best among you are those who have the best character.” In the ḥadīth of ʿĀ’ishah (may Allāh be pleased with her), the Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed, a servant may reach, through good character, the rank of one who fasts and prays during the night.” It is also authentically reported from Abū al-Dardāʾ (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “There is nothing heavier on the scale of a servant on the Day of Judgment than good character.” In the ḥadīth of Jābir (may Allāh be pleased with him), the Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed, the most beloved of you to me, and the closest of you to me in station on the Day of Judgment, are those of you with the best character; and the most detested of you to me, and the furthest from me in station on the Day of Judgment, are the verbose, the boastful, and the pretentious.” Therefore, it is incumbent upon a person to frequently supplicate for good character, similar to the supplication of the Prophet ﷺ: “O Allāh, grant my soul its piety and purify it, for You are the best to purify it; You are its Guardian and Master.” Part of that purification is that He honours it with good character — that is a purification for the soul. To summarise: this supplication is authentically established and great in merit. It is found in the Musnad of Aḥmad and in As-Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Musnad by our late Shaykh (may Allāh have mercy on him) on the authority of ʿĀ’ishah (may Allāh be pleased with her) that the Prophet ﷺ would supplicate with it: “O Allāh, just as You have perfected my physical form, so perfect my character.”