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Can you explain the Hadith that Joseph was given half of all beauty?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The scholars' opinions differed regarding the interpretation of the phrase "he was given half of beauty" mentioned in the description of Yusuf (peace be upon him):

1. Ibn Al-Qayyim: Yusuf alone was distinguished with half of human beauty, and the rest of humanity shared the other half. 2. Ibn Qutaybah: Allah Almighty has a limit to beauty, and Yusuf took half of this limit. The other half might belong to angels or Houris, and it does not mean that humans took the other half. 3. Ibn Kathir and Al-Suhaili: Yusuf (peace be upon him) was given half of the beauty of Adam (peace be upon him), whom Allah created with His own hand in the most splendid form.

The common point about which there is no disagreement is Yusuf's distinction with an extraordinary beauty that surpassed the beauty of all other people.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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