Principles & Benefits
of
Sending Salat and Salam on the Prophet
<< Indeed Allaah and His Angels send Salat on the Prophet. O you who believe, Send Salat upon him, and send complete Salam upon him.>>
Part Five
Sending the Salat in the Prayer
By
Abbas Abu Yahya
A series on issues regarding sending the Salat and the Salam upon the Prophet.
Part Five
Sending the Salat in the Prayer
Sending the Salat in the Tashahhud
Contents
Sending the Salat in the Tashahhud. 4
Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in the first Tashahhud. 4
Sending Salat Upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in the Second Tashahhud. 10
Sending Salat Upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in both Tashahhud. 13
In the Prayer
Sending the Salat in the Tashahhud
Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in the first Tashahhud
Shaykh Al-Albaani said:
‘The Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- used to send Salat upon himself in the first Tashahhud and other than it.[1]
He -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- made it a Sunnah for his Ummah; whereby he ordered them to send Salat upon him after having sent Salam upon him.’ (2)
2 – I say (Albaani): So just as it is legislated to send Salam upon him -in the first Tashahhud, it is also legislated to send Salat upon him after every Tashahhud, whether it is in the first sitting or the final sitting, due to the general and unrestricted evidence.
One piece of evidence is that Allaah Ta’ala says: << Indeed Allaah and His Angels send Salat on the Prophet. O you who believe, Send Salat upon him, and send complete Salam upon him.>>[2]
Ibn al-Qayyim said in his valuable book ‘Jelaa al-Afhaam’:
‘This proves that where it is legislated to send Salam upon him it is also legislated to send Salat upon him. This is why his Companions asked him about how to send Salat upon him. They said, ‘We know how to send Salam upon you, so how do we send Salat upon you?’ This, therefore, indicates that sending Salat is connected with sending Salam upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.
It is known that the person praying sends Salam upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in the first Tashahhud – and, similarly, it has been legislated for the person to send Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.’
There are also many Ahadeeth which mention sending Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, and they are of two types:
Restricted to prayer and unrestricted.
The ones in prayer are also of two types:
Those which are restricted to prayer and those which are unrestricted.
As for the first type, there are four Ahadeeth:
1 – From Ibn Mas’ood, from the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam-:
‘When one of you says the Tashahhud in prayer then he should say: ‘Allaahumma Salli ‘alaa Muhammadin……’
[Collected by Hakim and al-Bayhaqi]
2 – Also from Ibn Mas’ood who said:
‘The Messenger of Allaah –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– taught me the Tashahhud like he taught us the Soorahs from the Qur’aan….he mentioned the Tashahhud and in the Tashahhud was ‘Allaahumma Salli ‘alaa Muhammadin……’
[Collected by Tabarani and Daraqutni]
3 – From Ibn Umar similar to what Ibn Mas’ood said.
[Collected by Daraqutni]
4 – From Buraidah from the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam:
‘O Buraidah! When you sit in your prayer, do not leave the Tashahhud and Salat upon me since it is the Zakaat of the prayer.’
[Collected by Daraqutni]
These Ahadeeth, even though their chains are weak, all together are good enough to be used as evidence In-shaa-Allaah, especially since they are supported by the second type of Ahadeeth [which are not restricted to the Tashahhud] and there are three Ahadeeth:
1 – From Ka’ab bin Ujrah from the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- :
‘That he -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- used to say in the prayer: ‘Allaahumma Salli ‘alaa Muhammadin……’
[Collected by Imam Shafia’ee in ‘al-Umm’]
2 – From Abu Hurairah that he said:
‘O Messenger of Allaah, how do we send Salat upon you in the prayer?’
He -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said: ‘Say: ‘Allaahumma Salli ‘alaa Muhammadin……’
[Collected by Shaafia’ee]
3 – From Abu Mas’ood Uqbah bin ‘Amr who said:
‘A man came until he sat in front of the Messenger of Allaah –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– while we were with him. The man said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah! We know how to send Salam upon you, but how do we send Salat upon you when we send Salat upon you in our prayers – May Allaah send Salat upon you?’
Abu Mas’ood said: ‘The Messenger of Allaah –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– remained silent so long that we would have very much preferred that the man had not asked the Messenger –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.’
The Messenger –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– said:
‘If you send Salat upon me, say: ‘Allaahumma Salli ‘alaa Muhammadin……’
[Collected by Abu Dawood, Daraqutni, al-Bayhaqi, Ahmad and Albaani said: and this Isnaad is Hasan and it is connected.]
The meaning of their statement: ‘We know how to send Salam upon you’: This is what the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- taught them in the Tashahhud from when they would say: ‘Assalamu ‘Alayka Ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakatuhu’
(Peace be upon you O Prophet and the Mercy of Allaah and His Blessings).
So, this is clear evidence that sending Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– in the first Tashahhud is also legislated; this is due to sending Salam upon him in that Tashahhud. What supports this point are the preceding Ahadeeth.
This is what Shaafia’ee -Rahimullaah-, Nawawi, al-Wazeer bin Hubayrah al-Hanbali and Ibn Rajab stated.
Ibn al-Qayyim dedicated a specific chapter to Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in the first Tashahhud in which he mentioned the difference of opinion between the scholars regarding it. He presented the evidence of those who allowed it and recommended it. They are some of the Ahadeeth that we presented in the first type of evidence, such as the Hadeeth of Ibn Umar and Buraida. Then Ibn al-Qayyim says:
‘…..and this is general for the first sitting and the second’
After that, Ibn al-Qayyim mentions other pieces of evidences for the two sittings; the Ayaah in the Qur’aan, which we mentioned previously, and what Ibn al-Qayyim said about it. Then he says, ‘And because the first Tashahhud is when the Tashahhud and the Salam upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– should be said, similarly, it is legislated to send Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– in it just as in the final Tashahhud. Because the first Tashahhud is when it is recommended to remember the Messenger –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam–, it is also recommended to send Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in the first Tashahhud because it is a far more complete way of remembering him -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.’[3]
Sending Salat Upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in the Second Tashahhud
Shaykh Al-Albaani said:
‘It is the Sunnah to send Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– in the second Tashahhud, just as it is Sunnah to do so in the first Tashahhud.
The Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- heard a man making Dua’ in his prayer; he had not glorified Allaah the Most-High and had not sent Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam. So the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said: ‘This person has rushed this’ Then the Messenger –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– called him and said to him or to somebody else(1):
‘When one of you prays, he must begin with praising his Lord -The Magnificent and the Almighty- and glorifying (2) Him, then send Salat [and in another narration: he must send Salat](3) upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, then after that he supplicates whatever supplication he wants.’
The Messenger of Allaah –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– heard a man praying and he had glorified Allaah and praised Him and sent Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam. So, the Messenger of Allaah –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– said, ‘Supplicate and you will be responded to. Ask and you will be given.’ (4)[4]
(1) ‘To him or to somebody else’ – Ibn al-Qayyim said: ‘The meaning of the word ‘or’ here is not for choice, but for division. The meaning is that ‘any person praying’ must send Salat, this person praying ‘or’ any other person. It is like when Allaah the Most High says, << neither obey a sinner nor a disbeliever among them>> what is meant here is not that one may choose, but the meaning is, whichever of the type of person, do not obey them, neither this one nor that one.’
(2) ‘…and glorifying Him’ – The Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- meant in the Tashahhud and the evidence is that the only place in the prayer where it is legislated to glorify Allaah the Most High, then send Salat upon His Messenger, then to make Dua’ except in the Tashahhud at the end of the prayer.
Since there is an agreement that this is not legislated in the standing part of the prayer, or in the Rukoo (bowing), or in the Sujood (prostration), be informed that the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– meant by ‘glorifying’ that it is to be done at the end of the prayer while one sits in Tashahhud and this is how it is mentioned in ‘Jelaa’ by Ibn al-Qayyim.
(3) ‘Send Salat’ – this is how it was collected by Abu Dawood and Tahawi. Others said, ‘He must send Salat’ due to it being a command. This has been used as evidence to prove the obligation of sending Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in the final Tashahhud because the command of the Messenger –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– means that it is an obligation.
This was the position of Imam Shaafia’ee as well as that of Ahmad in the last of his two opinions, and Is’haaq in a narration from them. The opinion of sending Salat being an obligation has been conveyed from a group of the Companions and the Successors after them.
It is mentioned in the hadeeth that Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- is said before the Dua’ and it is a means for the Dua’ to be answered. Ali –Radi Allaahu anhu– said: ‘every Dua’ is concealed [not responded to] until one sends Salat upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.’
Collected by Tabraani in ‘al-Awsat’ and its narrators are trustworthy.’
(4) That is from the hadeeth of Fudal-latah bin Ubayd –Radi Allaahu anhu. Collected by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi and Tahawi in ‘al-Mushkill’.
al-Albaani said: ‘Its Sanad is Saheeh and connected’.
Sending Salat Upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- in both Tashahhud
Shaykh AbdulAziz bin Abdullaah Bin Baz was asked about reading the Salat in both the first and second Tashahhud
He answered saying:
‘In the first Tashahhud, it is better that a person sends Salat upon the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- due to general Ahadeeth when the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- was asked: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, Allaah has ordered us to send Salat upon you, so how do we send Salat upon you?’
In another wording: ‘In our prayer.’
The Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said: say:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ [وآل إبراهيم]، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى [إبراهيم و] آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ ، إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
O Allaah send Salat upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You sent Salat upon Ibraheem [and the family of Ibraheem]. Indeed, You are The Praiseworthy The Majestic.
And bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You sent blessings upon [Ibraheem and] the family of Ibraheem. Indeed, You are The Praiseworthy The Majestic.[5] Then he -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said: ‘And the Salam as you have learnt.’ Meaning in his -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- saying: ‘Assalamu Alak ‘Aayuha an-Nabi wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakatuhu.’
This shows that sending Salat is legislated in both Tashahhuds, the first and the last. This is what is correct, and the majority are of the opinion that it is only in the last Tashahhud. The majority of the people of knowledge are of the opinion that it is in the final Tashahhud, however what is correct is that it is recommended in the first Tashahhud due to the general Ahadeeth without elaboration.
In the final Tashahhud, it is undoubtedly legislated. The scholars differed regarding when it is obligatory. Some of the people of knowledge said that Salat upon the Prophet is obligatory in the final Tashahhud, and some of them said it is a Rukn (pillar of the prayer). So it is necessary for the believer to say it continuously and not to leave it out in the final Tashahhud.’[6]
[1] Collected by Abu ‘Awaanah in his Saheeh’ and Nisa’ee.
[2] Soorah Ahzab: 56
[3] From the Original Sifat as-Salah 3/p.904
[4] From Original Sifat 3/p.990 – 997
[5] Shaykh Albaani mentions in the footnotes that this narration is narrated by Talha bin UbaydAllaah and collected by Ahmad, Nisa’ee and Tahawi and the hadeeth is Saheeh upon the conditions of Muslim. [From the Original Sifat as-Salah (3/920)]
[6] [http://Ibnbaz.org/mat/14929]