They did not look at his essence, which is the soul that makes him stand out, as Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, tells us about Adam (peace be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning), "So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him the soul which I created for him, fall down in prostration before him." (al-Hijr 15:29)

And Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Nothing kept the people from believing, when guidance came to them, except that they said: Has Allah sent a mere human as a Messenger? Say: If there had been angels on earth, walking about and settled therein, We would surely have sent down to them from heaven an angel as a messenger." (al-Isra’ 17:94)

Al-Khazin said, “Say: If there had been angels on earth, walking about and settled therein that is, settling and residing on the earth, We would surely have sent down to them from heaven an angel as a messenger that is, of their own kind, because each class of being is more inclined to listen to one of its own.”

The messengers are also prepared in a special way to shoulder the burden of prophethood and conveying the message, as Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, said to Musa (peace be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning), "I have chosen you for Myself to convey My message." (Ta-Ha 20:41)

Allah purified and cleansed our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him); He took away from him the abomination of the Shaytan, and removed the Shaytan’s share of him when he was small.

It was narrated from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that Jibril came to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) when he was playing with the other boys. He took hold of him and threw him to the ground, then he opened his chest and took out his heart, from which he removed a clot of blood and said, “This was the Shaytan’s share of you.” Then he washed it in a vessel of gold that was filled with Zamzam. Then he put it back together and returned it to its place. (Muslim)

‘Iyad said, “This clearly indicates that our Prophet was protected from the Shaytan.”

It was narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that he said in the hadith about the Isra’ (night journey), “The roof of my house was opened when I was in Makkah, and Jibril (peace be upon him) came down and split open my chest, then he washed it with Zamzam water. Then he brought a golden basin filled with wisdom and faith and emptied it into my chest. Then he sealed it.” (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

1.2. The implications of the fact that the prophets and messengers were human
The fact that the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) were human dictates that they would have characteristics of which no human can be free.

1.2.1. They ate, drank, slept, got married, had children and experienced everything that humans experience
The prophets and messengers needed what all humans need of food and drink. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "We did not send before you O Muhammad any but men to whom We gave revelation. So O people ask those who have knowledge, if you do not know. We did not give them bodies that needed no food, nor were they immortal." (al-Anbiya’ 21:7-8)

Ibn Kathir said, “Here Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says, responding to those who objected to the sending of messengers who were human: We did not send before you O Muhammad any but men to whom We gave revelation that is, all the messengers who came before were man and human, and there was no angel among them.… That is part of Allah’s perfect blessing that He bestowed upon His creation, as He sent to them messengers from among them, from whom they would be able to receive the message and learn.

The words We did not give them bodies that needed no food mean: rather they were physical beings who ate food… They were humans like other humans, who ate and drank like other people… What was unique about them was the fact that they received revelation from Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.”

They were born as humans are born:
Ibn Hazm said, “All the Prophets, and ‘Isa and Muhammad (peace be upon them), were slaves of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, who were created, humans like all other humans, born from a male and a female, except Adam and ‘Isa’, for Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, created Adam from the dust with His own hand, and he was not born from a male or female; and ‘Isa was created in his mother’s womb, without a male.”

They married and had children:
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "We sent Messengers before you O Muhammad, and gave them wives and children." (al-Ra‘d 13:38) Ibn Jarir said: “That is, We made them human like you, with wives whom they married and children whom they produced, and We did not make them angels who did not eat or drink or get married.”

They were subject to the same physical processes as other humans, so they slept and fell sick, and there came to them that which comes to all humans, namely death:
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "And it is He who feeds me and gives me drink. And when I am ill, it is He who heals me. And who will cause me to die and then bring me to life." (al-Shu‘ara 26:79-81) And Allah said to Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning), "You O Muhammad will surely die, and they too will die." (al-Zumar 39:30)

They also got angry: 

It was narrated from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “O Umm Sulaym, do you not know that I made a condition with my Lord? I said: I am only human; sometimes I am pleased as other human beings are pleased and sometimes I become angry as other human beings become angry. Anyone among my ummah whom I pray against when they do not deserve it, make that a purification for him, and a cleansing (from sin), and a means by which he may draw close to Him on the Day of Resurrection.” (Muslim) Al-Muzhiri said, “‘I am only human’ means: I am human and behave like other humans, such as reviling, striking, and other things that humans do when they get angry.”

The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sometimes forgot things:
It was narrated from Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “I am only human, like you; I forget as you forget, so if I forget, then remind me.” (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

‘Ali al-Qari said, “‘I am only human like you’ means in all human affairs, except that I receive revelation.”

Ibn Taymiyah said, “The prophets were vulnerable to sickness, hunger, forgetfulness, and so on, according to scholarly consensus, but it cannot be said that this undermines their status.”

Ibn Qasim said, “It is valid to say, according to both reason and Islamic teachings, that each of the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) could sleep.”

1.2.2. The prophets and messengers could go through trials and troubles
They could be imprisoned, and their peoples could persecute them, make them bleed, drive them from their homelands, expel them, and kill them; and they could be afflicted by sickness. The prophets were not only afflicted by trials; they were the most severely tested of people. 

It was narrated from Mus‘ab ibn Sa‘d that his father said, I said to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), "Which people are most severely tested? He said, 'The prophets, then the next best, then the next best. A man will be tested according to his level of religious commitment.'" (al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad, Ibn Majah. Sahih)

It was narrated that ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "I have never seen any man afflicted with more severe sickness than the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)." (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Ibn Hajar said in Sharh Tarjamat al-Bukhari, “Chapter: The most severely tested of people are the prophets, then the next best, then the next best… The reason being that the test is commensurate with the blessing, so the one who is more blessed by Allah will be tested more severely.”

1.2.3. The prophets and messengers do the same work and tasks as other humans

One of the aspects of the humanity of the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) is that they do the same work and tasks as other humans. One example of that is the fact that the prophets tended sheep. It was narrated from Jabir ibn ‘Abdillah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Sahabah said to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), "Did you used to tend sheep? He said, 'Is there any prophet who did not tend sheep?'" (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Ibn Hajar said, “What the leading scholars said is that the reason why the prophets tended sheep is that it was so that they could learn humility, become accustomed to being alone, and move from taking care of sheep to taking care of nations.”

Dawud (peace be upon him) worked as a blacksmith making chainmail, and he ate from what he earned by working with his hands. It was narrated from al-Miqdam ibn Ma‘diyakrib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “No one ever eats any food better than what he earns by working with his hands. Allah’s Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him) used to eat from what he earned by working with his hands.” (al-Bukhari) Ibn ‘Uthaymin said: “Dawud used to make chainmail… He was a blacksmith.”

1.2.4. The prophets and messengers had no divine qualities
The fact that the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) were human means that they have no divine qualities or attributes at all. Ibn Taymiyah said, “The prophets and other created beings do not deserve to have what Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has of unique divine qualities. Therefore they cannot be associated with Allah, they cannot be relied upon, and help cannot be sought from them as it is to be sought from Allah.” He also said, “Whoever thinks that our Prophet or any of the other prophets has any attributes of divinity or Lordship is more akin to the Christians.”

Ibn ‘Uthaymin said, “The messengers are human, created beings who have no attributes of divinity or Lordship at all. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, said of His Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), who is the leader of the messengers and the greatest of them in status before Allah (interpretation of the meaning), 'Say, 'I have no power either to benefit or harm myself, except as Allah wills. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I would have acquired much good, and no harm would have touched me. I am but a warner and a bringer of glad tidings to people who believe.'"(al-A‘raf 7:188)

1.3. Their human perfection
Introduction
Humans vary greatly in terms of physical makeup, character and abilities. The prophets and messengers represent human perfection at the most refined level, for Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, chose them for Himself. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning, "Allah knows best where to place His message." (al-An ‘am 6:124)

Ibn Kathir said, “That is, He knows best where to place His message and who among His creation is suited to that.”

Al-Sa‘di said, “Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, protected His prophets from anything that could tarnish their reputation and undermine their credibility, and He made them the best of the worlds.” Human perfection has many aspects.

1.3.1. Perfection in physical makeup and appearance
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "O you who believe, do not be like those who maligned Musa, but Allah showed him to be free of what they said. Indeed, he was highly honored before Allah." (al-Ahzab 33:69) The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained that the way in which the Children of Israel maligned Musa (peace be upon him) was by accusing him of having some physical defect.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, 'Musa was a very shy and modest man, and none of his skin was ever seen because he was so modest. Some of the Children of Israel maligned him by saying: ‘He only covers himself in this manner because he has some defect in his skin, either leprosy or a scrotal hernia, or some other defect.’ Allah wanted to demonstrate that he was free of what they said about him. One day, he went away by himself, put his garment on a rock, and washed himself. When he had finished, he went to pick up his garment, and the rock ran away with it. Musa picked up his stick and ran after the rock, saying, ‘My garment, O rock! My garment, O rock!’ Until he reached a group of Israelites who saw him naked and saw that his physical makeup was the best, and thus Allah demonstrated that he was free of what they said about him. Then the rock stopped, so he took his garment and put it on, and began to strike the rock with his stick.'" (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

‘Iyad said, “The prophets were protected from defects in their physical makeup or character, and are free of shortcomings… Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, protected them from that and raised them above all causes of criticism.”

The Prophet's companions described him as follows, “He was of average height, not too tall and not too short, with a bright face, not pale white and not dark. And his hair was neither very curly nor very straight.” (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Al-Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked, "Was the Prophet’s face bright like a sword?" He said, "No; rather it was bright like the moon." (al-Bukhari)

1.3.2. Their perfect manners and attitude
The prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) attained a very high level of manners and attitude, and Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, praised them for that. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Verily, Ibrahim was forbearing, humble in supplication, penitent." (Hud 11:75) "And mention in the Book Isma‘il. Indeed, he was true to his promise, and he was a messenger and a prophet." (Maryam 19:54) Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, said to Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning), "And verily you are of an exalted character." (al-Qalam 68:9)

His character had a great impact on guiding and teaching people:
One example of that is what Safwan ibn Umayyah said: By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gave me what he gave me, and he was the most hated of people to me, but he kept giving to me until he became the most beloved of people to me.

Ibn Kathir said, “The prophets (peace be upon them) attained the highest level of righteousness, sincerity, wisdom, honesty and justice in all that they said and did, and in all that the enjoined and forbade.”

1.3.3. The prophets and messengers are the best of the people in lineage
The prophets and messengers are of noble descent. All the prophets after Nuh (peace be upon him) are descended from him, and all the prophets after Ibrahim (peace be upon him) are descended from him. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "We sent Nuh and Ibrahim, and conferred upon their descendants prophethood and the scriptures." (al-Hadid 57:26)

Al-Qurtubi said, “Here Allah tells us that He sent Nuh and Ibrahim, and caused all the later prophets to be descended from them.” It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “I was selected from the best generation of the sons of Adam, generation after generation, until I was born in the generation in which I was born.” (al-Bukhari) Al-‘Ayni said, “That is, I was selected from the best of generations and my ancestry was chosen from beginning to end.”

1.3.4. They were free and were never enslaved
One of the attributes of perfection is that the prophets and messengers were never slaves. Al-Safarini said, “Slavery is demeaning and is not appropriate to the station of prophethood. A prophet would call people night and day, and being enslaved would have prevented him from doing that. Moreover, enslavement is demeaning, and people would refuse to follow someone like that, and it would not be possible for him to be a leader or an example to them.”

1.3.5. They are unique in their talents and abilities
The prophets and messengers (peace be upon them) were given sound reason, great intelligence, clarity in speech, the ability to understand and think quickly, and other talents and abilities that are essential to receiving the message then conveying it, and following up with those who accept the message in order to guide and educate them.

One example of that is how they dumbfounded their opponents who opposed the call of truth. Ibrahim (peace be upon him) silenced his opponents, as Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, told us, commenting on Ibrahim’s debate with the king who claimed to have the power of life and death (interpretation of the meaning), "Thus the one who disbelieved was dumbfounded. Allah does not guide people who are given to wrongdoing." (al-Baqarah 2:253)

Ibn Qasim said, “When Allah sent messengers, He usually did not send as a prophet or messenger anyone except a man who was free and strong, of the best lineage in his nation, in good physical condition and with a good character, so that he would be able to put up with people, and who was one of the most noble individuals, with perfect reason, intelligent, smart and mature in thinking.”

1.3.6. Perfection in attaining true servitude (‘ubudiyyah) to Allah
This is another type of perfection which Allah enabled His messengers and prophets (peace be upon them) to attain, and they were foremost in that regard. The higher the level of servitude to Allah that a person attains, the higher the level of human perfection he achieves. The further he is from attaining true servitude to Allah, the lower his station will be.

Ibn Taymiyah said, “True servitude to Allah is the ultimate purpose which Allah loves and is pleased with, for the sake of which he created creation, as He Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me." (al-Dhariyat 51:56) 

Hud, Salih, Shu‘ayb and others gave the same message to their people… Allah made that obligatory for His Messenger until death, as He said (interpretation of the meaning), "And worship your Lord until that which is certain namely, death comes to you." (al-Hijr 15:99) Allah’s angels and prophets are also described as being His true slaves, as He Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "To Him belong all those who are in the heavens and on earth, and those who are with Him are not too proud to worship Him, nor do they ever grow weary." (al-Anbiya’ 21:19) Allah describes the elite of His creation as being true slaves to Him, as He Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "The true slaves of the Most Gracious are those who walk humbly and with dignity on the earth and, when the ignorant address them, they say words of peace; those who spend the night prostrating and standing before their Lord; And who say: Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of hell, for verily its punishment is unrelenting." (al-Furqan 25:63-65) Allah says of the Messiah, who the people claimed was divine and the son of God (interpretation of the meaning), "He was but a slave whom We blessed, and We made him a sign for the Children of Israel." (al-Zukhruf 43:59)

Hence the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said in the sahih hadith, "Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the son of Maryam; I am only His slave, so say, 'The slave of Allah and His Messenger.'"

Allah described him as being His slave when he was granted the greatest honor, as He says in al-Isra’ (interpretation of the meaning), "Glory be to Him Who took His slave for a journey by night …" (al-Isra’ 17:1) And He said in the context of revelation being sent to him (interpretation of the meaning), "Then he revealed to Allah’s slave what he had to reveal." (al-Najm 53:10) And He said in the context of supplication (interpretation of the meaning), "When the slave of Allah stood up to call upon Him alone and called others to do likewise, almost all of them banded together to oppose him." (al-Jinn 72:19) And He said, challenging the people to produce something like the Qur’an (interpretation of the meaning), "And if you are in doubt concerning what We have revealed to Our slave, then produce a surah like it." (al-Baqarah 2:23)

1.3.7. Being male         
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, chose all of His prophets and messengers from among men, not women. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "We did not send before you O Muhammad any but men to whom We gave revelation." (al-Anbiya’ 21:7) Ibn Taymiyah said, “Al-Qadi Abu Bakr, al-Qadi Abu Ya‘la, Abu’l-Ma‘ali others mentioned that there was scholarly consensus on the fact that there was never any female prophet, and this is indicated by the Qur’an and Sunnah.”

There are several reasons why the prophets and messengers were chosen from among men and not women, including the following:
i. The message dictated that the prophet or messenger would become well known and famous for calling people to Allah, and he would address both men and women, meet people in private and in public, travel about in the land, confront deniers and argue and debate with them, prepare and lead armies, and go through the hardship of battle.
ii. The message requires the messenger to be in charge of his followers, for he is the one who issues commands and prohibitions to them. If the one in charge of that was a woman, she would not be able to fulfil that role in a proper manner, and people would refrain from following and obeying her.
iii. A woman goes through that which prevents her from doing many tasks and duties, namely menses, pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum bleeding, which are accompanied by mood swings, pain and sickness. All of that prevents her from taking on the role of a messenger.

1.4. Characteristics which are unique to the prophets and were not shared by other humans
1.4.1. Receiving revelation
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), "Say O Muhammad: I am but a human being like yourselves, except that it has been revealed to me that your God is One God." (al-Kahf 18:110)

Al-Sa‘di said, “I am but a human being like yourselves that is, one of the slaves of my Lord except that it has been revealed to me that your God is One God that is, I have been favored over you in that I receive revelation that Allah reveals to me.”

This revelation dictates many things that make the prophets and messengers different to other people, one of which is that Allah spoke directly to some of them, and they communicated with some of the angels.

1.4.2. Their eyes slept but their hearts did not sleep
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “We – the prophets – sleep but our hearts do not sleep.” Al-Khattabi said, “His heart was only prevented from sleeping so that he could understand the revelation when revelation came to him in his dream.”

1.4.3. At the time of death, the prophets were given the choice between remaining in this world and moving on to the hereafter
It was narrated that ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say, “There is no prophet who falls sick but he is given the choice between this world and the hereafter.” (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Qurtubi said, “Allah gave the prophets the choice at the time of death by way of honoring them and raising their status before Him Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, so as to prompt them to express their love and longing for Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and what is with Him.”

1.4.4. The prophets were buried where they died
It was narrated that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say, 'No prophet is buried except in the place where he died.'" (Malik)

Al-Manawi said, “Hence the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was buried in his house in which he died.”

1.4.5. The wealth of a prophet is not to be inherited
It was narrated that Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I heard the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say, 'We (Prophets) are not to be inherited from and whatever we leave behind is charity.'" (al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Ibn Kathir said, “One of the unique characteristics of the prophets is that they are not inherited from, and that is only because worldly accumulation is too insignificant in their view to be passed on to those they leave behind, and because their trust in Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and their confidence that He will take care of their progeny is too great, too strong and too certain to need them to leave wealth for their heirs after them that they keep in exclusion to the people.”

Al-Manawi said, “The reason for that is so that the heir will not hope for the death of a prophet and thus be doomed, and so that no one will think of the prophet that he cared for worldly gain so that he could leave it for his heirs, and thus be doomed for thinking that way. … Regarding the verse in which Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning), Sulayman inherited from Dawud al-Naml 27:16, what is meant is that he inherited knowledge.”

1.4.6. The prophets are alive in their graves
One of the beliefs of Ahmad ibn Hanbal is that he used to say, “The prophets are alive in their graves, praying.” Al-Suyuti said, “We are certain that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is alive in his grave, he and all the other prophets, because of the evidence we have for that and because of the mutawatir reports which speak of that.”

It was narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “Allah has angels who travel about the earth and convey to me the salaams of my ummah.” (Ahmad)

Ibn Baz said, “Many of Ahl al-Sunnah have stated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is alive in his grave in the realm of al-barzakh. No one knows the nature of that life and how it is except Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, but it is not like the life of the people of this world.”

1.4.7. Is it something unique to the prophets that the earth does not consume their bodies?
One of the ways in which Allah honors His prophets and messengers is that the earth does not consume their bodies. So no matter how much time goes by, their bodies remain intact and do not decay. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, “Indeed Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the prophets.” (Abu Dawud, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah. Da‘if)

Al-Sakhawi said, “We believe and affirm that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is alive and receiving provision in his grave, and that his blessed body is not consumed by the earth; there is scholarly consensus on that.”

Ibn Baz said, “It was narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) by the authors of al-Sunan that he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, ‘… Allah has prohibited the earth to consume the bodies of the prophets.’ This was narrated by the authors of al-Sunan. But its isnad is not very strong; some scholars found fault with it. However, what is well known to the scholars is that this report is sound; its isnad is hasan and there is nothing wrong with it. This indicates that the bodies of the prophets are not consumed by the earth; rather they remain intact… This is not only for the prophets; rather that may also happen to some of the righteous. People have witnessed such things and it is known to people both in the past and in modern times that the bodies of some of the righteous and good people, martyrs and otherwise, that have been buried for hundreds of years have not been consumed by the earth. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has power over all things, and His wisdom is great.”