Beauty we can all agree upon

I was in a class today learning about the purification of character. And the teacher said something very beautiful:

"We don't always agree on external beauty. A person who is beautiful to someone is just ok to someone else, and vice versa."

A person could also become more beautiful in our eyes or less beautiful, even though their features remain the same. Their stunning beauty could become less striking as time goes by, even though nothing has changed.

"But the beauty of character is recognized by everyone."

Everyone recognizes kindness. Honesty. Grace. Chivalry. Being considerate. Good character.

And our beloved Prophet ﷺ came to teach us how to perfect our character. He came to teach us true beauty through the worship of Allah. He was known by all as Al-Sadiq al-Ameen - the Honest, the Trustworthy. When we hear stories about him, our hearts soften, and our eyes might even tear up, because our souls recognize the beauty in the way he interacted. We yearn for that.

All the people we look up to and respect had their character flaws. Except our beloved ﷺ. And this is why he is the example for anyone who wants nearness to Allah and is vigilant of the Last Day.

So how do we train ourselves to develop true inner beauty?

It is well known that the more refined sugar we eat, the more we crave it. The less of it we eat, and the more natural whole foods we incorporate, the better we feel in the long-run, such that having something with refined sugar later makes us recognize that what we were eating was, in fact, too much and unnatural.

In the same vein, perhaps this Rabi al-Awwal is an opportunity to re-connect and recognize true beauty - the beauty of character - through the traits and life of the Prophet ﷺ. And perhaps the more our eyes are trained to see this beauty, we can be less influenced by the pressures that want us to conform to a so-called external beauty that can only be achieved by changing what Allah has blessed us with. Or a beauty that is only considered so because it is flaunted and validated by others. Or what is manifestly not beautiful, in the form of crude behavior, meanness, and raunchiness.

Rather, connecting to the beauty of the Prophet ﷺ can remind us of what is truly good for us, in this life and the next. And perhaps then can we truly reflect the light of the one who was sent as a mercy to all the worlds.