Principles & Benefits of Sending Salat and Salam on the Prophet
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Part Eighteen
Fiqh Issue: Does a Person Attending the Juma’ Khutba send Salat upon the Prophet when the Khateeb mentions it?
Translated & Compiled By Abbas Abu Yahya
Contents of this Section
1 – The Opinion that sending Salat upon the Prophet–sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– is done silently during the Khutba
- Shaykh ul-Islaam Ahmad bin AbdulHaleem Ibn Taymeeyah
- Shaykh Rabee al-Madkhali
2 – Remaining Silent During the Juma Khutba
- Shaykh Muhammad Nasir ud-Deen al-Albaani
1 – The opinion that Sending Salat upon the Prophet–sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– is done silently during the Khutba
A – Shaykh ul-Islaam Ahmad bin AbdulHaleem Ibn Taymeeyah (d.728 A.H.) -Rahimahullaah- said:
‘It is possible, that it is foremost in fact, obligatory to send Salat upon the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– in the Khutba. However, it is not obligatory individually due to the statements of Umar and Ali: the Dua’ is suspended between the heavens and the earth until Salat is sent upon your Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam.
Sending Salat upon the Prophet in making Dua’ precedes the supplication due to the obligation of mentioning the Prophet over one’s own self.
The Sunnah for sending Salat is sent upon the Prophet is to send it silently like in Dua’. Raising the voice with sending Salat like some of the Khutaba (those who deliver sermons) do is Makrooh (disliked) or Haraam (prohibited) and the scholars agree upon this.
However, there are those who say: Salat is sent upon the Prophet silently, and there are those who say that: you remain silent.’[1]
B – Shaykh AbdulQadir Junayd researched and clarified the position of Shaykh Rabia’ bin Hadi al-Madkhali and said:
‘The issue is of a person attending the Khutba and sending Salat upon the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– during the Khutba when the Khateeb sends Salat.
The following question was presented to the Shaykh – May Allaah give him security and pardon him: If the Khateeb mentions the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– during his Khutba, do those who attend send Salat or remain silent?
The Shaykh – May Allaah give him success- answered:
‘Salat is sent upon him if the Khateeb mentions the Salat. Some of the people of knowledge say this is obligatory and others say it is recommended. There are many Ahadeeth which mention a threat to and dispraise of the person in whose presence Muhammad –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– is mentioned and he does not send Salat upon him. Even if the person mentioning the Salat says it incorrectly, Salat is still to be sent upon him and he is to say–sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam.
The Shaykh – May Allaah pardon him and give him success – addressed two matters in his answer:
The first point is what a person attending should say if the Khateeb mentions the Messenger of Allaah –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– during his Khutba.
The Shaykh’s – May Allaah grant him security and success – opinion is that a person should send Salat upon the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– and say –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– or something similar.
This opinion and intent of the Shaykh is that it is to be said silently. This opinion which the Shaykh -May Allaah give him success – holds is the opinion of the majority of the people of knowledge, including Malik, Ahmad, Ishaaq, Abu Yusuf, Ibn Hazm, Tahawi and a group of the Shafi’aeeyah, Ibn Taymeeya also chose this opinion, as did Ibn Baz, Ibn Uthaymeen and al-Fawzaan.
The learned scholar Ibn Uthaymeen -Rahimahullaah- said:
‘There is no problem sending Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- when he is mentioned in the Khutba, on the condition that it is not said aloud so that one does not disturb others or prevent them from listening to the Khateeb. Similarly, there is no problem saying ‘Ameen’ without raising voices, because saying ‘Ameen’ is Dua.’
The second issue is mentioning the evidence for the Shaykh’s -May Allaah give him security – opinion. He mentions the evidences for this opinion in this answer.
The general Ahadeeth of the threat and dispraise for the one before whom the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– is mentioned and he does not send Salat upon him. In addition to this are the numerous Ahadeeth about sending Salat upon him –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– when he is mentioned.
These Ahadeeth include; firstly what is established from Abu Hurairah -Radi Allaahu anhu – that the Messenger of Allaah –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– said:
رَغِمَ أَنْفُ رَجُلٍ ذُكِرْتُ عِنْدَهُ فَلَمْ يُصَلِّ عَلَيَّ ورَغِمَ أَنْفُ رَجُلٍ أَدْرَكَ أَبَوَيْهِ عِنْدَ الْكِبَرِ فَلَمْ يُدْخِلَاهُ الْجَنَّةَ ورَغِمَ أَنْفُ رَجُلٍ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ثُمَّ انْسَلَخَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُغفر لَهُ
‘May the nose of a man be covered in dust, he who hears me being mentioned and does not send Salat upon me. May the nose of a man be covered in dust, he who has old parents and he does not enter Paradise [due to not serving them.] May the nose of a man be covered in dust, he whom the month of Ramadan enters upon, but passes him by without him being forgiven.’[2]
This Hadeeth has been authenticated by Ibn Khuzaimah, Ibn Hibban, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzeeyah and al-Albaani –Rahimhumullah. It has many supporting narrations.
Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzeeyah -Rahimullaah- said in his book ‘Jelaa al-Afham’:
‘The statement of the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam–: ‘May the nose of a man be covered in dust’ is a Dua of the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– against that person and dispraise of him.’
Secondly what is affirmed from the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– is that he said:
البخيلُ من ذكِرتُ عنده فلم يصلِّ عليَّ
‘The miserly person is the one who, when I am mentioned does not send Salat upon me.’[3]
This Hadeeth was authenticated by Tirmidhi, Hakim, Ibn Hibban, Dhahabi, Albaani and strengthened by Haythami with supporting narrations.
There is no doubt that being miserly is a dispraised characteristic and not a praiseworthy one.
Thirdly, the saying of the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam: ‘If I am mentioned in front of a person then send Salat upon me.’ And: ‘Whoever sends Salat upon me once, Allaah sends Salat upon him ten times.’
About this Hadeeth, specifically where the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– said: ‘Send Salat upon me’, Ibn Qayyim said: ‘The command here expresses an obligation of sending Salat.’
This Hadeeth was authenticated by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzeeyah, Fayrowzabadi, and Albaani by way of its supporting narrations and its Isnaad was regarded as Jayyid by Nawawi and Zayla’ee. Haythamee said: ‘Its narrators are from among the narrators of Bukhari.’
If it is said that Bukhari and Muslim collected from Abu Hurairah -Radi Allaahu anhu – that the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– said:
“إذا قلت لصاحبك والإمام يخطب يوم الجمعة: أنصت فقد لغوت”
‘If you say to your companion whilst the Imam is delivering the Khutba on the day of Juma’: ‘be quiet’ then indeed you have spoken incorrectly.’
So the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– judged, that telling a person talking, to be quiet while the Imam is reading the Khutba is incorrect speech, even though the one who does it is instructing a person to something which is good for him and for the people. If this is said and used as proof of the permissibility of remaining silent when the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– is mentioned during the Juma Khutba, then we reply to this use of evidence with three points:
The first, that the Ahadeeth of dispraise of the one who does not send Salat upon the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– when he is mentioned, and the Ahadeeth ordering us to send Salat upon the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– when he is mentioned are specific Ahadeeth regarding the issue.
So acting upon the generality of these Ahadeeth precedes saying it during the Khutba and other than the Khutba due to the generality of the Ahadeeth.
Secondly, this command of not ordering a talking person to remain silent during the Khutba disturbs other people present. This is in contrast to sending Salat upon the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– silently since it does not disturb anyone. Furthermore, it is permissible to indicate to a person talking to remain silent, even though it will distract the person from the Khutba who is indicating to a person to remain silent. What shows the permissibility of this indication of remaining silent is what was collected by Ibn Abi Shayba in his ‘Musnad’ with an authentic chain from Ibn Umar –RadhiAllaahu anhumma- that he saw a man talking while the Imam was delivering the Khutba on Juma’, so he threw some pebbles at him. When the man looked at him, Ibn Umar placed his hand on his own mouth to silence him and to indicate to him to be quiet.
Imam Baghawi -Rahimahullaah- said in his book ‘Sharh as-Sunnah’: ‘There is agreement amongst the people of knowledge regarding the dislike of speaking while the Imam is delivering the Khutba and if someone does speak then he should only disapprove of it by gesturing to him.’
Hafidh Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali -Rahimahullaah- said in his book ‘Fath al-Bari’, ‘There is no difference of opinion amongst the scholars about allowing a person to indicate to a person, except that which has only been reported of Tawoos, and it is not authentic. This is because gesturing is allowed in the prayer so it is even more permissible during the Khutba.’
The third point is, that silencing someone during the Khutba could cause the person silencing to miss out something from the Khutba, unlike sending Salat upon the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– silently, which indicates that the person is attentive to the Khateeb with his heart, and that he is paying attention to what he is saying, and this strengthens this point. Since it is a means of paying attention to the Khutba, listening to it, unlike speaking to silence someone talking during the Khutba.
Perhaps a fourth point could be added which is regarding the general Hadeeth of Abu Hurairah: ‘If you tell your companion on Friday to be silent, while the Imam is delivering the Khutba then you have indeed said incorrect speech.’ This hadeeth could be answered by a fourth point which is that the intent of this Hadeeth is stopping a disturbance to the people during the Khutba because a person speaking during the Khutba is outside the ruling of the Khutba, so this proves that a person can speak with the Khateeb and that the Khateeb can speak to him if there is a need, even though this may disturb the order of the Khutba.’[4]
2 Remaining Silent During the Juma’ Khutba
Shaykh Muhammad Nasir ud-Deen Albaani said:
In brief, what is derived from the evidence that speech is prohibited during the Khutba is that this is a general prohibition, but there is a specific allowance where speech does occur (specifically) in the Salatul Tahiyyah (prayer done before sitting down in the Masjid) from the recitation of Qur’aan, Tasbeeh, Tashahhud and Dua’ in prayer.
The Ahadeeth which specify this allowance for the prayer are authentic, so there is no option for the one who enters the Masjid during the Khutba except to pray two Rakah Salah for Tahiyyah if he wants to establish this affirmed Sunnah and to fulfil what the evidence point to, since indeed the Messenger –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– ordered Silkiya al-Ghattafaani when he entered the Masjid during the Khutba, sat down and did not pray Tahiyyah to stand up and pray. This indicates that this prayer is an affirmed action; in fact, it is an obligatory action and is altogether from specific issues, [i.e. a specific prayer].
The hadeeth for Salatul Tahiyyah which is ‘Saheeh’:
إذا جاء أحدكم [يوم الجمعة] والإمام يخطب فليصل ركعتين
‘If one of you comes to the Masjid [on the day of Juma’] and the Imam is delivering the Khutba then he must pray two Rakah.’[5]
This is a hadeeth which is Saheeh and includes a text about which there is a difference of opinion.
In terms of those matters other than Salatul Tahiyyah from Adh-Dhkaar (remembrance), supplications and following the Khateeb with sending Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- there is no proof for these actions [from adh-Dhkaar etc.] being specifically allowed as exceptions to the general prohibition.
As for following up with sending Salat upon the Messenger -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- even though there is conclusive evidence that it is allowed in the Sharia, it is more general than the Ahadeeth which prohibit speech during the Khutba from one angle and more specific from another angle.
Therefore, when two general texts conflict, the stronger of the two is sought.
This is if the word ‘al-Laghu’ (incorrect/not valid/ falsehood) as is mentioned in the hadeeth:
“ومن لغا فلا جمعة له”
‘and whosoever spoke [incorrectly] then he has no Juma’.’[6]
Therefore, this includes all types of speech. [The other possibility being] that if the ‘type of speech’ is referring to specific speech, meaning speech which has no benefit in it, then there is nothing which indicates the prohibition of Dhikr and Dua and following up with sending salat upon the Messenger –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam– [during the Khutba].
Muhammad Nasir uddeen, who summarised this, says:
The stronger of these two possibilities is the first one, with the proof of the saying of the Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam:
“إذا قلت لصاحبك والإمام يخطب يوم الجمعة: أنصت فقد لغوت”
‘If you say to your companion whilst the Imam is delivering the Khutba on the day of Juma: ‘be quiet’ then you have spoken incorrectly.’
Collected by Bukhari, Muslim and others.
Indeed the statement of a person: telling someone to be quiet is not regarded as [real] falsehood because [in reality] it is an issue of enjoining the good and forbidding evil, but even so, the Messenger -alayhi As-Salat wa sallam– called it: falsehood/incorrect speech.
So this is not allowed, this issue comes under the issue of the stronger opinion being more important, which is being silent to listen to the admonition of the Khutbah, over and above the importance of enjoining good and forbidding evil during the Khutba. So if this is the case then everything which is at the level of enjoining good is not permissible during the Khutba.
So if the action was of a lower level, there would be no doubt that in this situation the prohibition is foremost and safer and telling someone to be quiet is regarded as incorrect speech according to the Sharia.
As for what the author said:
‘It is possible to say: that the person who said: ‘be quiet’ was not ordered at that moment to say: ‘be quiet’, so him speaking was actually incorrect speech in reality’.
I say, likewise it is the same issue with adhkaar (remembrance), which have also not been commanded to be said at that time [during the Khutba]. They are also falsehood [because we have not been ordered to say them].
And Allaah knows best.
With this, the summary of these issues of ‘good admonition’ come to an end along with what Allaah has made easy in terms of commenting upon. I finished this on Saturday evening 12th of Safar in the year 1382 A.H.
All praise belongs to Allaah Lord of all of the worlds and may the praise of Allaah be upon Muhammad, his family and all of his Companions.
Muhammad Nasir uddeen al-Albaani
[1] Fatawa al-Kubra 5/355 – Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmeeyah 1st print 1408 A.H. – 1987
[2] Albaani said its Isnaad is Saheeh, its narrators are those of Bukhari & it was collected by Tirmidhi & Hakim. From ‘Fadl as-Salat ala Nabi –sallAllaahu alayhi wa Salam–‘ (p.31) (16)] & in Kitab al-Adhkar by Nawawi – p.151 no. 348
[3] Collected by Nisa’ee – Albaani said in ‘Fadl Salat’ p.40: ‘The hadeeth is authentic due to the chains mentioned previously, it was collected by Ahmad, Tirmidhi and authenticated by Ibn Hibban, al-Hakim & Tabraani.’
[4] [Taken from: Silsilah Fiq al-Imam part 5 al-Imam Rabia’ bin Hadi al-Mudkhali, miraath.net]
[5] Collected by Bukhari and Muslim from the hadeeth of Jabir with the wording: ‘He should do Ruku’ and Muslim added extra wording in another narration: ‘he should not lengthen them.’
[6] Collected by Ahmad and Abu Dawood. The hadeeth has many supporting narrations which strengthen it. The explanation of this hadeeth comes in another hadeeth with the wording: ‘Whoever speaks falsehood during the Khutbah and steps over the people then he gets the reward of Dhur prayer and not the excellence of the Juma’ prayer.’