The Prophet (may Allah bless and grant him peace) said, “The religion is based on cleanliness.” He was himself blessed by Allah with the extra special quality of being free from all forms of uncleanliness and bodily defects. These qualities were special to him asno one else has ever been privileged with them.
When the Prophet was born, he was already circumcised and his umbilical cord cut. His mother Lady Amina, peace be to her, tells us, “He was clean when he was born and there was no trace of impurity upon him.”
The Prophet ﷺwas adorned with the sweetest of fragrances, as was his perspiration. Anas commented, “I have never smelled amber, musk or any other (perfume) more fragrant than the aroma of the Messenger of Allah.”
One day, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless and grant him peace) touched the cheek of Jabir, Samura’s son, and Jabir said, “I felt a cool sensation and his hand was fragrant, it was as if he had withdrawn it from a sachet of perfume.
Jabir also said, “When the Prophet walked down a road, anyone who happened to pass along the same road knew he had been there on account of his fragrance.”
On another occasion, Jabir rode behind the Prophet ﷺand put his mouth upon the seal of his prophecy between his shoulders and its fragrance spread over him like musk.
It was also reported that even if he had perfumed his hand or not, if he shook the hand of a man, the fragrance would remain for the rest of the day. When the Prophet ﷺplaced his hand on the head of a child, the child was recognizable from amongst other children by its fragrance.
The Prophet (may Allah bless and grant him peace) visited the house of Anas and fell asleep on a rug and perspired. When Anas’s mother noticed the perspiration, she fetched a long-necked bottle into which she collected the drops of perspiration. Later, the Messenger of Allah inquired about it, whereupon she replied, “We mixed it with our perfume and it is the most fragrant of scents.”
Even when the Prophet relieved himself, it is reported that the earth would split open and swallow his discharge and there remained a fragrant aroma. Lady Ayesha, Mother of Believers, may Allah be pleased with her, said to the Prophet, “When you return after relieving yourself, there is nothing offensive about you.” He replied, “O Ayesha, don’t you know that the earth swallows up what is discharged from the prophets so that nothing is seen?”
When the Prophet died, Ali, son of Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, washed his body and said, “I washed the Prophet, and looked for the normal discharge from a deceased person but found nothing, whereupon I said, ‘You were pure during your life and pure in death.’” He added, “A sweet aroma exuded from him, the like of which I have never experienced.”
Upon kissing the Prophet after his death, Abu Bakr also mentioned the sweetness of his aroma.
On the day of Uhud the Prophet (may Allah bless and grant him peace) suffered a slight injury, whereupon he permitted Malik Sinan’s son to remove the blood which he then swallowed. The Prophet told him, “The Fire will not touch you.”
The Prophet (may Allah bless and grant him peace) asked Ali, son of Talib, to ensure that no one other than himself should wash him (his covered body after his death). He told him, “No one has ever seen me naked, and if it were to happen he would become blind.”
Abdullah, son of Abbas, said that as the Prophet, praise and peace be to him, slept, he heard him breathing deeply. He woke up to pray but did not make an ablution.
Ikrima said, “That was because he was protected by Allah and when he slept, his eyes were closed but his heart and internal being were not in the status of sleep. Therefore he would make an ablution only when it was needed. The Prophet (may Allah bless and grant him peace) said, “My eyes sleep but my heart doesn’t.”