# Can I say Prophet Yusuf was more handsome than Prophet Muhammad?

*Was Prophet Yusuf more handsome than the Prophet? It is not a competition*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/s/34/
- Date: 2021-01-19 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #198 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (2:34:28–2:36:50)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv-BlBVTr4M&t=9268s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/

**Topics:** Stories of the prophets; Prophethood and miracles

**Question as asked:** I fell in love with the story of Yusuf and told people how amazing he is, but then I came across hadiths about how the Prophet himself said he had a better story than Yusuf.

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Praising Yusuf's beauty takes nothing from the Prophet Muhammad, Mufti Abu Layth says; the prophets are not in a competition.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the prophets are not in a competition, so saying Yusuf was especially handsome does not require insisting the Prophet Muhammad was more handsome.

**Evidence, his words at 2:36:10:** “does it have to mean the prophet was also stronger you know doesn't it's not a competition so if you say yfam was incredibly you know the most uh you know so handsome” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv-BlBVTr4M&t=9370s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth reads a patron's rambling message about falling in love with the story of Yusuf, which he jokes about misreading, and then about hadiths in which the Prophet said he had a better story than Yusuf. He says each prophet has a unique story; Muslims hold the Prophet Muhammad to be the central figure and the greatest prophet because his mission was to all humanity, but that does not mean nothing good can be said of others, citing the Prophet's saying not to call him better than Jonah. It is not a competition, he says: if a prophet was especially strong, or Yusuf especially handsome, one need not insist that the Prophet was more so, and doing so is just insecurity, though Muslims believe the Prophet was incredibly handsome.

## Sources and names cited

- Yusuf (Joseph)
- Yunus (Jonah)
- report: do not say i am better than yunus (unresolved; collection not stated)

## Transcript (machine tier, 2:34:28–2:36:50)

[2:34:27] I'm a gold mine for odd questions you're Doom I fell in love with Yousef story but after a few days I decided to tell people how amazing he is convo lasted 15 seconds all I had to say I was like I was like I was huh I like him a lot to trigger someone I think the smile I had there was Haram or

[2:34:53] something do you what what am I reading I don't know whether or I'm you see now this is where you doubt yourself you think is it is it my dirty mind what am I reading here I don't know it's just my mind is too polluted it's it's all you you you you guys you you haramis polluted my mind so when I got in turn with hadiths about how the prophet himself said he had a better story than youf and he came as a prophet you know as opposed to previous

[2:35:33] prophets um you see I this you see each Prophet is has a unique story it doesn't mean that obviously we as Muslims the central figure is the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam but it doesn't mean that um we somehow uh you know you can't mention anything good in a way the prophet said you know you know don't say I'm better than Jonah the prophet Eunice but obviously

[2:36:10] we understand the prophet to be in that sense because of his mission and everything and who he was for the whole of Humanity as opposed to isolate tribes he was the greatest Prophet but it doesn't mean that let's say if a particular Prophet was incredibly strong let's just say that it means now oh does it have to mean the prophet was also stronger you know doesn't it's not a competition so if you say yfam was incredibly you know the most uh you know so handsome now so we we don't need to think oh my God before we get insec

[2:36:49] let's say but the prophet Sall Ali was was more handsome than I mean the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam we believe was incredibly handsome but I'm not saying that we have to react in an insecure Way by saying that I feel that's just insecurity Salam mu muslima convert you're doing it you're doing it I was wondering if you could talk about the man who was eating with his left hand and the prophet uh told him to eat with his right hand I'm left-handed uh I'm a left-handed convert and people are always telling me it should be easy to switch it drives me nuts cuz I use my right hand for foods you can eat with

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment Hv-BlBVTr4M/s/34. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/hv-blbvtr4m/s/34/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.