Sending Blessings Upon The Prophet
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala said:
إِنَّ ٱللهَ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِيِّ ۚ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيۡهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسۡلِيمًا
“Allah sends His blessings on the Prophet, and His angels (ask Allah to bless and forgive him). O you who believe! Send your blessings on him, and (You should) greet (salute) him with the Islamic way of greeting.” (33:56)
The interpretation below is my understanding of the ayat above.
- Allah sends his blessings upon the Prophet (ﷺ) by honoring, blessing and praising him and his works and Allah shows His mercy, and kindness to the Prophet (ﷺ).
- His angels send their blessings upon the Prophet (ﷺ); they pray to Allah to bless and forgive the Prophet and they love and respect him.
- Allah commands us to send Salah (Blessings) and salam (As-Salamu Alaikum) upon the Prophet (ﷺ), we pray to Allah to bless him, to forgive his sins and to grant him Al-wasila. We should love the Prophet (ﷺ) more than ourselves and anything in the world. We adore and praise him; we obey his commands and stay away from what he prohibited us from.
There are several ways to send blessings upon the Prophet (ﷺ) according to the Books of Hadiths. I will only list a few, for more please refer to the Quran and the Books of Hadiths. The supplications below are some of the ways to send our blessings to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and we also used them to send blessings to the Prophet after the first Tashahhud during our prayers and during a funeral prayer after the second Takbir.
Narrated `Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Laila: Ka`b bin 'Ujra met me and said, “Shall I give you a present? Once the Prophet (ﷺ) came to us and we said, ‘O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! We know how to greet you; but how to send ‘Salat’ upon you? He said, Say:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ، اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
“O Allah, bestow Your favor on Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad as You have bestowed Your favor on Ibrahim and on the family of Ibrahim, You are Praiseworthy, Most Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You have blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim, You are Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.”
Another way to send salat to the Prophet (ﷺ) is the supplication below which was narrated in Bukhari:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَأَزْوَاجِهِ وَذُرِّيَّتِهِ، كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، وَبَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَأَزْوَاجِهِ وَذُرِّيَّتِهِ، كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
“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”
Another hadith from Muslim stated the supplication below:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي الْعَالَمِينَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
“O Allah, bless Muhammad and the members of his household as You did bless the members of Ibrahim's household. Grant favors to Muhammad and the members of his household as You didst grant favors to the members of the household of Ibrahim in the world. You are indeed Praiseworthy and Glorious”
Send salam (greetings) and salat (blessings) upon the Prophet (ﷺ), when entering and leaving the masjid
It is narrated in Sunan Ibn Majah to send salutation upon the Prophet (ﷺ) when entering and leaving the masjid before reciting the dua of entering and exiting the masjid.
Narrated Abu Huraira, the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “If any one of you greets me, Allah returns my soul to me and I respond to the greeting.” (Abu Dawud)
Send salat (blessings) upon the Prophet (ﷺ) on Fridays
Narrated Aws ibn Aws: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Among the most excellent of your days is Friday; on it Adam was created, on it he died, on it the last trumpet will be blown, and on it the shout will be made, so invoke more blessings on me that day, for your blessings will be submitted to me. The people asked: Messenger of Allah, how can it be that our blessings will be submitted to you while your body is decayed? He replied: Allah, the Exalted, has prohibited the earth from consuming the bodies of Prophets.” (Abu Dawud)
Send salat (blessings) upon the Prophet after hearing the prophet’s name mentioned
When the prophet's name is mentioned, we should send Salaam to him. It was narrated by Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “May the man before whom I am mentioned and he does not send Salat upon me be humiliated.”(At-Tirmidhi)
Furthermore, it is also narrated in At-Tirmidhi, Ali bin Abi Talib narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “The stingy person is the one before whom I am mentioned, and he does not send Salat upon me.”
When the prophet’s name is mentioned, we say “Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam” (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
Send salat (blessings) upon the Prophet after hearing the Adhan call
It is narrated in Muslim that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) 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.”
اللَّهُـمَّ رَبَّ هَذِهِ الدَّعْـوَةِ التَّـامَّةِ، وَالصَّلَاةِ القَـائِمَة، آتِ مُحَـمَّداً الوَسِيـلَةَ وَالْفَضِـيلَةَ، وَابْعَـثْهُ مَقَـامـاً مَحْـمُوداً الَّذِي وَعَـدْتَهُ
“O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and established prayer. Grant Muhammad the intercession and favor, and raise him to the honored station You have promised him, verily You do not neglect promises.”
another hadith stated in Muslim and Adu Dawud by Abu Huraira that The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “He who blesses me once, Allah would bless him ten times.”
- To ask Allah to grant the prophet al-Wasila after listening to the Adhan for prayer, if you do this, you will receive the intercession of the prophet on the Day of Judgment.
- To send blessings upon the prophet after listening to the Adhan for prayer
- Whoever sends blessings upon the prophet, Allah will send blessings on the person
Send salat (blessings) upon the Prophet (ﷺ) in the morning and evening
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ
‘O Allah, we ask you for peace and blessings upon our prophet Muhammad.” (Ten times)
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Who recites blessings upon me 10 times in the morning and 10 times in the evening will obtain my intercession on the Day of Resurrection”. (Hisnul Muslim chapter 27)
Send salat (blessings) upon the Prophet (ﷺ) when making dua
Amr bin Malik Al-Janbi narrated that he heard Fadalah bin `Ubaid saying:
“The Prophet (ﷺ) heard a man supplicating in his Salat but he did not send Salat upon the Prophet (ﷺ), so the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘This one has rushed.’ Then he called him and said to him, or to someone other than him: ‘When one of you performs Salat, then let him begin by expressing gratitude to Allah and praising Him. Then, let him send Salat upon the Prophet (ﷺ), then let him supplicate after that, whatever he wishes.’” (At-tirmidhi)
Narrated Anas: The Prophet (ﷺ) said “None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.” (Bukhari)
Be mindful of Allah all the time, anywhere or everywhere, increase His remembrance, and seek His forgiveness. Send abundant blessings upon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), ask Allah to forgive his sins and to grant him Al-Wasila, ask Allah to send His Blessings upon him, his family and his companions. Let us increase our love for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and obey his commands and stay away from what he forbade us from.
O Allah make us those who worship You (Alone) and those who believe and follow the sunnah of Your prophet. O Allah increases the love for the prophet in our hearts and makes it easy for us to constantly remember You, to be mindful of You and to send tremendous blessings upon him and to be his companions on the Day of Resurrection.