Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said:
"If people sit in an assembly in which they do not remember Allah nor invoke a blessing on the Prophet, it will be a cause of grief for them on the Day of Judgment."
[at-Tirmidhi, who graded it hasan]
Sending prayers on the Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) is important, as the hadith above shows. Allah (subhanahu wa Ta'ala) says, "Those that (who?) believe in him, honor him, support him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him: they are the successful" [7:157]. In a hadith narrated by Ibn Mas’ud (radiAllahu anhu), the Messenger of Allah, (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said, 'Verily the nearest of people to me on the Day of Judgment will be those who recited much prayers on me'
[at-Tirmidhi].
A sad tendency in Muslims today, unfortunately is to neglect and de-emphasize the importance of our beloved Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam). Perhaps this comes from a misunderstanding of the hadith: 'Do not praise me as the Christians praised the son of Mary. Indeed, I am a slave of Allah. So say, ‘the slave of Allah and His Messenger’'
[Sahih al-Bukhari].
But it is a well-known fact that devotion to the Apostle of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) is one of the essential duties of a believer. Devotion to him should actually exceed the love we have for our property, kin and kith, and progeny. Devotion to the Prophet is evidence of true faith. This devotion entails, among other things, sending blessings on him to show him gratitude and acknowledge his many favors, as befits his standing. Our Guardian Lord was the first to send His benediction on the Prophet, and He has urged His servants to follow suit.
Allah sent and continues to send His blessings on the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) and the believers. His blessings are countless and they come in numerous ways. We should pray to Allah to send more and more blessings on Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam).
Through our salah or prayers we try to come closer to Allah with submission and surrender. Allah also draws near to His Prophet and the believers through His blessings.
The invocation of Blessings on the Holy Prophet is styled in Arabic as "Salawat", or "salah ala al-nabi", in Persian as "Durud", and in Urdu as "Salawat-o-Salaam".
Shower blessings on the Prophet.
O Believers!
send blessings upon him
and salute him
with a worthy salutation.."
[surah al-Ahzab; 33:56]
There are also a number of Hadith-sayings which mention the rewards to be earned for sending benediction on the Prophet: for instance, he who sends blessings on the Prophet shall be blessed ten times in requital.
Narrated Anas ibn Malik (radiAllahu anhu) that Allah's Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said:
He who invokes one blessings upon me, Allah will shower ten blessings upon him and obliterate ten sins (of his) and elevate him by ten ranks.
[Nasa'i; Hadith No. 922 of Mishkat al-Masabih.]
Abu al-Darda (radiAllahu anhu) relates that the Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said, 'Whoever sends blessings on me ten times in the morning and ten in the evening will have my intercession on Judgment Day'
[Tabarani].
In al-Qawl al-Badi’ fi al-salat ‘ala al-Habib al-Shafi’, Imam al-Sakhawi mentions these benefits of sending blessings on the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam): attaining the pleasure of Allah Most High and His mercy, protection from His anger, being shaded by Allah’s throne on Judgment Day, purification of the heart from hypocrisy, and seeing our Beloved Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) in one’s sleep. The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), said about the last point, "The one that has seen me in one’s dream, has really seen me, for the Shaitan cannot impersonate me."
This and a number of other similar versions of salah aln Nabi are mentioned in many authentic Hadiths:
Whenever someone seeks Allah’s blessings for me, Allah returns the soul to my body until I reply to his salutation.
[Abu-Dawud]
Those who are most deserving of my intercession on the Day of Judgment are those who used to increasingly seek Allah’s Blessing for me.
[at-Tirmidhi]
Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (RadiAllahu anhu); 'We said, "O Allah's Apostle! This is (i.e. we know) the greeting to you; will you tell us how to send Salat on you?" He said,
"Say: 'Allahumma Salli 'ala Muhammadin 'abdika wa rasulika kama sal-laita 'ala Ibrahima wa barik 'ala Muhammadin wa all Muhammadin kama barakta 'ala Ibrahima wa Ali Ibrahim.' "
[Sahih al-Bukhari; Vol 8:#369]
Narrated Abu Humaid As-Sa'idi (radiAllahu anhu); The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! How shall we (ask Allah to) send blessings on you?" Allah's Apostle (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) replied,
"Say: O Allah! Send Your Mercy on Muhammad and on his wives and on his offspring, as You sent Your Mercy on Abraham's family; and send Your Blessings on Muhammad and on his offspring, as You sent Your Blessings on Abraham's family, for You are the Most Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious.
"Allahumma Salli 'ala- Muhammadin wa azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi kama sal-laita 'ala ali Ibrahim; wa barik 'ala Muhammadin wa azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi kamabarakta 'ala ali Ibrahim innaka hamidun majid."
[Sahih al-Bukhari; Vol 4:#588]
Narrated Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Laila (radiAllahu anhu), that Ka'b bin Ujrah (radiAllahu anhu) met me and said, "Shall I not give you a present I got from the Prophet?" 'Abdur-Rahman said, "Yes, give it to me." I said, "We asked Allah's Apostle saying, 'O Allah's Apostle! How should one (ask Allah to) send blessings on you, the members of the family, for Allah has taught us how to salute you (in the prayer)?'
He said, 'Say: O Allah! Send Your Mercy on Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your Mercy on Ibrahim and on the family of Ibrahim, for You are the Most Praise-worthy, the Most Glorious. O Allah! Send Your Blessings on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent your Blessings on Ibrahim and on the family of Ibrahim, for You are the Most Praise-worthy, the Most Glorious
'Allahumma Salli 'ala Muhammad wa ala 'aali Muhammad, kama sal-laita 'ala Ibrahima wa 'ala 'aali Ibrahima, innaka Hamidun Majeed.
Allahumma Barik 'ala Muhammad wa ala 'aali Muhammadin, kama Barakta ala Ibrahima wa 'ala 'aali Ibrahima, innaka Hamidun Majeed.
[Sahih al-Bukhari; 4:589]
Sending peace and blessings on Fridays has been especially emphasized. Narrated Abu Darda (radiAllahu anahu) that The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: 'Invoke blessings on me abundantly on the day of Jum‘ah (Friday) for it is witnessed. The angels attend it, and none invokes blessings on me but his supplication is presented to me till he stops.' I asked whether that applied also after his death, and he replied, 'Allah has prohibited the Earth from consuming the bodies of the prophets; so Allah's prophets are alive and given provision..'
[Ibn Majah no.1366 Mishkat al-Masabih]
There are also severe warnings for not sending prayers and blessings such as: 'Dust upon the face of the man who does not bless me when I am mentioned in his presence! Dust upon the face of the man who has Ramadan stripped away before he is forgiven! Dust upon the face of the man whose parents reach old age and they are not the cause of him entering the Garden!'
[Tirmidhi].
In Qadi ‘Iyad’s ash-Shifa, it is recorded that the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said, 'The angels will continue to bless anyone who blesses me, as long as he continues to do so, so do a lot or even a little' [Ibn Hanbal, Ibn Majah, and at-Tabbarani].
In another tradition, it is related, 'People will come to me that I only recognize by the abundance of their prayer on me.' And yet in another hadith it is narrated, 'The first among you to be saved from the terrors of the Day of Rising and its places will be the one who did the most prayers on me.'
Narrated Ali ibn Abu Talib (radiAlahu anhu); The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said:
A miser is one who does not invoke blessings upon me when I am mentioned in his presence."
[at-Tirmidhi; No. 933 Mishkat al-Masabih]
Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (radiAllahu anhu); Allah's Messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said:
There is a mobile (squads) of Angels on Earth convey to me the blessings invoked upon me by my Ummah."
[Nasa'i and Darimi No. 924 Mishkat al-Masabih.]
Ubayy ibn Ka`b (radiAllahu anhu) relates: "Once told the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) ‘O Messenger of Allah, I invoke much. What portion of that should be of prayer upon you?’
The Prophet, upon him be peace, replied, ‘However much you wish.’
To this, I said, ‘A fourth?’
He said, ‘If you wish, but should you increase that number, it will be better for you.’
I then said, ‘A third?’
And he said, ‘If you wish, and if you increase it, it is still better for you.’
‘A half?’ I asked.
He replied, ‘If you wish, and if you do more, it is still better for you.’
I then said, ‘Indeed! Then I shall make all of my prayers upon you!’
To this, he responded, ‘If you do that, then you will be freed of anxiety and your wrongs pardoned!’"
[at-Tirmidhi; No. 929 Mishkat al-Masabih.]
Narrated Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Laila (radiAllahu anhu); Ka'b bin 'Ujra met me and said, "Shall I give you a present? Once the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) came to us and we said, 'O Allah's Apostle! We know how to greet you; but how to send Salat upon you? He said, 'Say: Allahumma Sallae ala Muhammadin wa 'ala Ali Muhammadin, kama sal-laita 'ala allae Ibrahima innaka Hamidun Majid. Allahumma barik 'ala Muhammadin wa 'ala allae Muhammadin, kama barakta 'ala allae Ibrahima, innaka Hamidun Majid.'"
[Sahih al-Bukhari; 8:#368]
Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, Allah's messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said, When you hear the Mu'adhdhin, repeat what he says, then invoke a blessing on me, for everyone who invokes a blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah: then beg from Allah al-Wasila for me, which is a rank in Paradise fitting for only one of Allah's Servants, and I hope that I may be that one. If anyone who asks that I be given the Wasila, he will be assured of my intercession.
[Muslim; 0747]
Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn Al-'Aas is reported to have said, “For one who sends blessings upon the Prophet once, Allah and His angels will send seventy-fold blessings"
Ammar bin Yaasir (radiAllahu anhu) reported that Allah's messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said, 'Allah has appointed an angel to my grave, whosoever sends salutations upon me, until the day of judgment his salutation is presented to me along with his name and his father’s name'.
None of you is considered a true believer until he loves me more than his parents and all other people.
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Muslim]
Abu Darda (radiAllahu anhu) reports that Allah's messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said, ‘Whosoever sends salutations upon me, it is presented before me as soon as he finishes.’
‘Is this also the case after death?’ Abu Darda (radiAllahu anhu) asked. Allah's messenger (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) replied: ‘The Earth has been prohibited by Allah to eat the bodies of the Prophets,’
[Ibn Majah]
In another narration, there is an extension, ‘so the Prophets of Allah are alive and are given rizq (food).
The following ahadith are found in the well-known book on prayers and blessings on the prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam): Dalail-i Hayrat (Wa Shawarqi’l Anwar Fi dhikris Salat ala Nabiyil-Mukhtahar) (Guide of Good Deeds (and the Brilliant Burst of Light in the Rememberance of Blessings on the Chosen Prophet saw) by the great Muslim scholar, Imam Muhammad ibn abu-Bakr al-Jazuli (rahimullah):
And it is related that the messenger of Allah, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, came to us with visible signs of good tidings upon his face. He said: "Indeed, Gabriel, peace be upon him, said to me: ‘Are you not pleased, O Muhammad, that whenever one of your nation asks Allah to praise you, Allah will praise him tenfold, and that whenever one of your nation asks Allah to grant you peace, Allah will grant peace tenfold.’"
[Dalail i Khayrat of Imam al-Jazuli]
And he said, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace: “For whosoever asks for blessings upon me in a Book, the angels praise him for as long as my name is in that Book.”
And it is related that he said, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace: "Whosoever asks Allah one hundred times to praise me on a Friday will be forgiven the sins of eighty years.”
And Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, said, ‘For whosoever asks for blessings upon me there is a light on the Bridge (over Hell), and the people of light on the Bridge will not be among the People of the Fire.”
And he said, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace: "Whosoever deliberately neglects to ask for blessings upon me has strayed from the path to the Garden, because the route to the Garden is barred to the neglectful, whereas it is open for whosoever asks for blessings upon me.”
It is related by Abdur Rahman ibn Awf, may Allah be pleased with him, that Prophet Muhammad, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace said: "Gabriel, peace be upon be him, said, “O Muhammad, whenever anyone of your nation asks for blessings upon you, seventy thousands angels praise him, and whosoever is blessed by angels is one of the people of the Garden.”
And he said, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace: "The more you ask for the blessings upon me, the more you will have in the Garden."
It is related that he said, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace: "Whenever someone asks for blessings upon me, extolling my right, Allah, the Mighty, the Sublime creates from His Words an angel with wings that stretch from the east to the west, and with feet that are connected to the nearest part of the seventh earth and a bowed neck beneath the Throne. Allah, the Mighty, the Sublime says to him, “Bless My worshipper as he asks for blessings upon My Prophet” and thereupon the angel will praise him until the Day of Resurrection."
It is related that he said, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace: "There will come to my pool on the Day of Resurrection nations whom I will only recognize on account of their frequent asking for blessings upon me.”
It is related that he said, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace: "Whosoever supplicates to Allah for blessings upon me, Allah will praise him ten times, and whosoever supplicates for blessings upon me ten times, Allah will praise him one hundred times, and whosoever supplicates to Allah for blessings upon me one hundred times Allah will praise him one thousand times, and whosoever supplicates to Allah for blessings upon me one thousand times, Allah will prohibit the Fire to touch his body. His word on any matter will be made to endure in this world and the next, and he will enter the Garden on the Day of Resurrection at his request because his supplication for blessings upon me will be a light for him on the Bridge (over Hell); a light which is visible at a distance of five hundred years, and for every blessing he supplicated for me Allah will grant him a palace in the Garden, regardless of how many.”
And Prophet Muhammad, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace said: "Whenever a worshipper supplicates for blessings upon me, his request leaves him swiftly and passes over land and sea, through east and west, saying: ‘i am the blessing upon Muhammad, the chosen one, the best of the creation of Allah, supplicated for by so and so’ and everything supplicates for blessings upon me. A bird is created from these blessings with seventy thousand wings, each of which has seventy thousand feathers. Each feather has seventy thousand heads with seventy thousands faces. Each face has seventy thousands mouths and in every mouth there are seventy thousand tongues. Each tongue glorifies Allah, the Exalted in seventy thousand languages and Allah will then write for him the reward for all of that."
Ali ibn Abi Talib (radiAllahu anhu) said: "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, said, ‘For whosoever asks Allah to praise me one hundred times on a Friday, a light will come for him on the Day of Resurrection, a light which, if it were to be divided among them, would be enough for the whole of creation’.”
It is mentioned in the good tidings: "It is written on the leg of the Throne ‘Whosoever yearns for Me, I am merciful to him. Whosoever asks Me, I will grant him his wish. Whosoever draws near to Me, by asking for blessings upon My Beloved Muhammad, I will forgive him, even if his sins were as plentiful as the foam on the surface of the ocean’.”
And it is related by one of the companions (radiAllahu anhu) "A beautiful fragrance rises that reaches the clouds in the sky when a gathering supplicates for blessings upon Muhammad, praise and veneration be upon him, and the angels say, ‘This is a gathering in which blessings upon Muhammad, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, are being requested’.”
Other reports mention that, "The gates of the heavens are opened for a believing worshipper, male or female, who begins by asking for blessings upon Muhammad, and the pavilions are opened as far as the Throne, and all the angels praise Muhammad, may Allah praise and venerate him, and ask for forgiveness for that worshipper for as long as Allah wishes.”
And he said, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, "Whosoever is troubled by any matter should increase his asking for blessings upon me, and his anxieties, sorrows and concerns will be removed, and his provision will increase and his needs will be satisfied.”
And one of the righteous said, "A neigbor of mine who was a scribe, died. I saw him in a vision and asked him how Allah had treated him. He replied, ‘He has forgiven me’. I asked, ‘For what reason did He forgive you?’ and he replied, ‘Whenever I wrote the name of Muhammad, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, in a Book, I asked Allah to praise him and for this my Lord has given me what no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard and what no mortal has ever imagined’.”
And it was said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, "Who are the family of Muhammad whom we are ordered to love and honor, and treat with reverence?" He replied, “The people of purity and fidelity, who sincerely believe in me.” It was said, “What are their signs?" He answered, “The traces of my love are on every lover and their inner life is busy with remembering me and remembering Allah" (In another version the words are, “Their signs are being addicted to remembering me and constantly asking for blessings upon me.”)
It was said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, “Who is he that is strong in his love for you?" He replied, “The one who believes in me without seeing me, for he is a believer in me through yearning and is sincere in his love for me. A sign of this is that he desires a vision of me more than anything he owns (in another version it reads, “…than all the gold in the world") This is a true believer in me, whose love for me is true and sincere.”
It was said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah praise and venerate him and grant him peace, “Are you aware of those who ask for blessings upon you who are not present and will come after you? What is their status?" He replied, “I hear the blessings of the people who love me and I know them, as well as the blessings invoked by those who are not present.”
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