Jesus' hair and complexion

Sahih Muslim Book 001, Number 0317:

Abu al-'Aliya reported: Ibn Abbas, the son of your Prophet's uncle, told us that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had observed: On the night of my night journey I passed by Moses b. 'Imran (peace be upon him), a man light brown in complexion, tall. well-built as if he was one of the men of the Shanu'a, and saw Jesus son of Mary as a medium-statured man with white and red complexion and crisp hair, and I was shown Malik the guardian of Fire, and Dajjal amongst the signs which were shown to me by Allah. He (the narrator) observed: Then do not doubt his (i. e. of the Holy Prophet) meeting with him (Moses). Qatada elucidated it thus: Verily the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him), met Moses (peace be upon him).

Sahih Muslim Book 001, Number 0322:

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When I was taken for the night journey I met Moses peace be upon him). The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) gave his description thus: He was a man, I suppose-and he (the narrator) was somewhat doubtful (that the Holy Prophet observed): (Moses) was a man erect in stature with straight hair on his head as it he was one of the men of the Shanu'a; and I met Jesus and the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) described him as one having a medium stature and a red complexion as if he had (just) come out of the bath He observed: I saw Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and amongst his children I have the greatest resemblance with him. He said: There were brought to me two vessels. In one of them was milk and in the other one there was wine. And it was said to me: Select any one you like. So I selected the vessel containing milk and drank it. He (the angel) said: You have been guided on al-fitra or you have attained al-fitra. Had you selected wine, your Ummah would have been misled.

Sahih Muslim Book 001, Number 0325:

It is narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I saw near the Ka'bah a man of fair complexion with straight hair, placing his hands on two persons. Water was flowing from his head or it was trickling from his head. I asked: Who is he? They said: He is Jesus son of Mary or al-Masih son of Mary. The narrator) says: I do not remember which word it was. He (the Holy Prophet) said: And I saw behind him a man with red complexion and thick curly hair, blind in the right eye. I saw in him the greatest resemblance with Ibn Qitan I asked: Who is he? They replied: It is al-Masih al-Dajjal.

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 54, Number 462:

Narrated Ibn Abbas:

The Prophet said, "On the night of my Ascent to the Heaven, I saw Moses who was a tall brown curly-haired man as if he was one of the men of Shan'awa tribe, and I saw Jesus, a man of medium height and moderate complexion inclined to the red and white colors and of lank hair. I also saw Malik, the gate-keeper of the (Hell) Fire and Ad-Dajjal amongst the signs which Allah showed me." (The Prophet then recited the Holy Verse): "So be not you in doubt of meeting him' when you met Moses during the night of Mi'raj over the heavens" (32.23)

Narrated Anas and Abu Bakra: "The Prophet said, "The angels will guard Medina from Ad-Dajjal (who will not be able to enter the city of Medina)."

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 607:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "On the night of my Ascension to Heaven, I saw (the prophet) Moses who was a thin person with lank hair, looking like one of the men of the tribe of Shanua; and I saw Jesus who was of average height with red face as if he had just come out of a bathroom. And I resemble prophet Abraham more than any of his offspring does. Then I was given two cups, one containing milk and the other wine. Gabriel said, 'Drink whichever you like.' I took the milk and drank it. Gabriel said, 'You have accepted what is natural, (True Religion i.e. Islam) and if you had taken the wine, your followers would have gone astray.' "

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 608:

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:

The Prophet said, "One should not say that I am better than Jonah (i.e. Yunus) bin Matta." So, he mentioned his father Matta. The Prophet mentioned the night of his Ascension and said, "The prophet Moses was brown, a tall person as if from the people of the tribe of Shanu'a. Jesus was a curly-haired man of moderate height." He also mentioned Malik, the gate-keeper of the (Hell) Fire, and Ad-Dajjal.

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 648:

Narrated Ibn Umar:

The Prophet said, "I saw Moses, Jesus and Abraham (on the night of my Ascension to the heavens). Jesus was of red complexion, curly hair and a broad chest. Moses was of brown complexion, straight hair and tall stature as if he was from the people of Az-Zutt."

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 649:

Narrated Abdullah:

The Prophet mentioned the Massiah Ad-Dajjal in front of the people saying, Allah is not one eyed while Messsiah, Ad-Dajjal is blind in the right eye and his eye looks like a bulging out grape. While sleeping near the Ka'ba last night, I saw in my dream a man of brown color the best one can see amongst brown color and his hair was long that it fell between his shoulders. His hair was lank and water was dribbling from his head and he was placing his hands on the shoulders of two men while circumambulating the Kaba. I asked, 'Who is this?' They replied, 'This is Jesus, son of Mary.' Behind him I saw a man who had very curly hair and was blind in the right eye, resembling Ibn Qatan (i.e. an infidel) in appearance. He was placing his hands on the shoulders of a person while performing Tawaf around the Ka'ba. I asked, 'Who is this? 'They replied, 'The Masih, Ad-Dajjal.' "

Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 650:

Narrated Salim from his father:

No, By Allah, the Prophet did not tell that Jesus was of red complexion but said, "While I was asleep circumambulating the Ka'ba (in my dream), suddenly I saw a man of brown complexion and lank hair walking between two men, and water was dropping from his head. I asked, 'Who is this?' The people said, 'He is the son of Mary.' Then I looked behind and I saw a red-complexioned, fat, curly-haired man, blind in the right eye which looked like a bulging out grape. I asked, 'Who is this?' They replied, 'He is Ad-Dajjal.' The one who resembled to him among the people, was Ibn Qatar." (Az-Zuhri said, "He (i.e. Ibn Qatan) was a man from the tribe Khuza'a who died in the pre-lslamic period.")

My comments: Clearly, there are some real contradictions with regard to how Jesus looked. Now some might say that this issue is irrelevant, and indeed, for Orthodox Muslims, the way Jesus looked is of no major importance. The only point here is to show that various sahih ahadith contradict one another with regard to what Muhammad saw. Did Jesus have curly hair, or lank hair? Was his skin brown, or red? Did Muhammad even make this claim? Or was it just a popular tradition spread among the Arabs, rooted more in folklore than anything else?

This issue could also be pressed with regard to the looks of Moses. Several ahadith testify that he resembled the people of the Shanu'a tribe (whatever that means), but it seems that it is not even clear what they looked like, as one hadith (Muslim Bk 001, # 0322) says he had straight hair, while another (Bukhari V. 4, Bk 54, # 462) says he had curly hair. What did Muhammad say? How can we actually know? How did these contradictory ahadith even come to be classified as "Sahih"? What does this say about the spurious "isnad science" that is always mentioned by Sunni hadith-thumpers? What does this say about Bukhari's criterion for accepting ahadith?