Question:

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah Maulana, can you please elaborate further on the meaning when someone reads “Allahumma salli ala Muhammad” and also when one adds salaam to it, some tashreeh about it so that when we read it we can read it with more profound meaning and understanding and love and devotion and understanding. Also, the virtue is the reciter receives 10 salaat and salaam from Allah swt, can you explain a little more for us laymen what salaat and salaam descending on us means, some commentary about this? Jazakallah

My Reply:

و عليكم السلام و رحمة الله

A full reply could encompass volumes. I shall try my best to be concise, while still conveying pertinent facts. To achieve this, I shall often paraphrase our ʿUlamāʾ in much of this reply, instead of providing direct quotes which will require even further explanations.

I shall also limit my reply to your request for “meaning”. Additional virtues are a different topic and not within the ambit of our discussion.

The terminology should also be clarified at the outset. Some people do not understand, as you do, that these are separate terms, with distinct wording and significance, even though we couple them in practice. Ṣalāh (Salutations) is when we recite ʾAllāhumma ṣalli ʿalā Muḥammad or an equivalent. Salām (peace) is when we recite ʾas-Salāmu ʿalā…. or an equivalent.

To receive the benefits of both, we should be heedful of reciting both. The distinction is clear from the following narration, amongst others:

أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم جاء ذات يوم ، والسرور يرى في وجهه ، فقالوا : يا رسول الله ، إنا لنرى السرور في وجهك . فقال : ” إنه أتاني الملك فقال : يا محمد ، أما يرضيك أن ربك ، عز وجل ، يقول : إنه لا يصلي عليك أحد من أمتك إلا صليت عليه عشرا ، ولا يسلم عليك أحد من أمتك إلا سلمت عليه عشرا ؟ قال : بلى “

Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم) came one day with joy apparent on his face. We asked, “O Rasūlullāh, we see great joy on your face?” He replied, “An angel came to me and said, ‘O Muḥammad, does it not please you that Your Cherishing-Lord Most Mighty and Majestic says, “None amongst your followers salutes you, except that I shower him with ten salutations. None amongst your followers offers you Salām except that I shower him with ten Salām.”’ I replied, ‘Certainly.’”
ʾIbn Kathīr from ʾAḥmad

(For those not familiar with Arabic grammar, (صلى الله عليه و سلم), encompasses both terms).

Ṣalāh ʾalan Nabī (صلى الله عليه و سلم)

The discussion on Ṣalāh is quite extensive. As such I shall focus on the commentaries to it by our ʾAʾimmah ʾIbn Kathīr, ʾIbn Ḥajar, ʾal-Baghawī, ʾal-Qurṭubī, ʾat-Tirmidhī and ʾal-Bukhārī, Allāh’s mercy be upon all six.

The primary basis for Ṣalāh ʿalan Nabī (صلى الله عليه و سلم) is the command of Allāh:
إِنَّ الله وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Indeed Allāh and His angels covey Salutations upon the Nabī. O you who believe, you too convey Salutations upon him and profuse Salām
[ʾal-ʾAḥzāb: 56]

There are three distinct parties here:

Allāh’s salutations is to praise Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم) before the angels and shower him with His raḥmah, i.e. His will for goodness towards him.
The angels’ salutations is to ask Allāh for the above and to seek forgiveness.
The human salutation is an expression of weakness. We cannot salute him as is his right, so we ask Allāh to salute him.

A question might have arisen from point two. How can the angels seek forgiveness for he who is sinless? Does Allāh need to forgive the sinless Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)?

I am inclined to the commentary of ʿAṭāʾ ʾal-Khūrāsānī for its practicality and elegance:

وقال عطاء الخراساني : ) ما تقدم من ذنبك ( يعني ذنب أبويك آدم وحواء ببركتك ) وما تأخر ( ذنوب أمتك بدعوتك
Those sins of before are the errors of your parents ʾĀdam and Ḥawāʾ, forgiven through your blessings. Those sins after are the sins of your followers forgiven through your call.

Hence, although there are more interpretations, a condensed explanation is that when you recite Ṣalāh ʾalan Nabī (صلى الله عليه و سلم), you are in effect saying:

O Allāh, shower Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) with Your well-wishing, worthy of his rank which we ask You to proclaim amongst the angels. May the angels join in this petition of ours, and as they are sinless, may they seek forgiveness for our parents, ʾĀdam and Ḥawāʾ through the intercession of the blessings of Muḥammad. May they seek forgiveness for us, his followers, for we have answered his call.

Ṣalāh on us?

That we receive salutation in return has been shown in the previously quoted narration, and there are others. Moreover Salutations upon ordinary Muslims is established from the Qurʾān:

هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلَائِكَتُهُ لِيُخْرِجَكُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ ۚ وَكَانَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَحِيمًا
It is He and His angels who shower you (plural) with salutations….. [ʾal-ʾAḥzāb: 43]

The commentators seem to give the exact same definitions of salutations in both verses.

Thus the ten salutations we receive from Allāh might be interpreted as:

You are showered ten times with divine well-wishing. Your station has been raised ten times and this has been announced to the angels. You are hence known to them, and they will intercede for you when you supplicate. Your petition to forgive your parents ʾĀdam and Ḥawāʾ is accepted tenfold through the blessings of Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم). Ten of your sins are also forgiven, for you have answered his call.

Salām

Salām means peace and safety. The meaning of greeting Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم) is time dependant.

To convey that Allāh keep him safe from all afflictions while he walked in this world is a distinctive virtue of his beloved Companions. We are not worthy to participate in this meaning. Nevertheless, when Allāh showers us with ten Salām in this world, we can hope that we are included in His safety during our lives. This is but one of the overwhelming evidences of Allāh’s pleasure with the Ṣaḥābah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhum. May the Rawāfiḍ who curse the Companions think over this. If the Rawāfiḍ do not repent, may they choke when they utter their false Ṣalām.
Thereafter the entire ʿUmmah in conveying Salām upon Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم), asks Allāh to save him from any form of grief on the Day of Resurrection. Surely there is no doubt that he will not be afflicted with any divine chastisement. The more probable grief is that of seeing his followers punished. Thus to save Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم) from grief on that day, it is implicit that we pledge to obey him and avoid sins, and repent when we do sin.
Reference to Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم) is not confined to his personality, but includes his Sunnah. This is deduced from ʾan-Nisāʾ: 59 which commands us to refer our affairs to Allāh and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم), which means the Qurʾān and Sunnah in our lifetime. Thus Salām is also asking Allāh to protect the Sunnah, message and legacy of Muḥammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم).

The ten Salām which Allāh showers us with might thus be interpreted as, “You have been granted peace and safety ten times from afflictions in this world. You have been granted peace and safety ten times from grief when you are resurrected. Now walk with peace in path of the Sunnah of the Beloved of Allāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم) whose call you have answered.”

These are my weak interpretations of the writings of those who had greater understanding, and Allāh knows best. May He forgive and accept us.

سليمان الكندي

@Sulayman_Kindi

Appendix A: Continuity

I wish to share two points, not directly related to the brother’s question.

Our scholars point out that in terms of Arabic grammar, ʾal-ʾAḥzāb: 56 indicates that Allāh continuously conveys salutations upon Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم). It is not a once off act. Furthermore ʾIbn Kathīr points out that this was from long before:

عن ابن عباس : أن بني إسرائيل قالوا لموسى عليه السلام : هل يصلي ربك ؟ فناداه ربه : يا موسى ، سألوك : ” هل يصلي ربك ؟ ” فقل : نعم ، إنما أصلي أنا وملائكتي على أنبيائي ورسلي . فأنزل الله عز وجل ، على نبيه صلى الله عليه وسلم : ( إن الله وملائكته يصلون على النبي يا أيها الذين آمنوا صلوا عليه وسلموا تسليما

The Israelites asked Mūsā, peace be upon him, “Does your Cherishing-Lord, convey salutations?” Allāh called out to him, “O Mūsā, they ask if your Cherishing-Lord offers salutations. Tell [them], ‘Yes. I and My angels convey salutations upon My Prophets and Messengers.’” Later Allāh Most Mighty and Majestic revealed to His Nabī (صلى الله عليه و سلم):
إن الله وملائكته يصلون على النبي يا أيها الذين آمنوا صلوا عليه وسلموا تسليما

Appendix B: Tautology

The words which Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم) taught us are complete and perfect, e.g. ʾAllāhumma ṣalli ʿalā Muḥammad. While there is certainly no question of wrongdoing for the layman who additionally says, “ʾAllāhumma ṣalli ʿalā Muḥammad ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam,”, I feel this is not becoming for scholars, especially in publications.

The salutation is complete and not in need of our repetition. Arabic, like English, does not value tautology. More importantly, is the Ḥadīth not perfect? Who am I to extend onto the words of Rasūlullāh (صلى الله عليه و سلم)? For scholars to do so, seems to be an act of lacking attention. Just my view and Allāh knows best.