Salāt on the Prophet tends to be a hazy concept, and nearly everyone I’ve met has little idea what it means and what it is for. Yet misplaced sensitivities around the Prophet often provokes irrational reactions. For those unsure what “salāt on the Prophet” refers to, it’s what people commonly understand as saying “peace be upon him” or the Arabic, “Sallalahu alahi wa sallam”.

Now when it comes to God’s final messenger who is most deserving of our allegiance and adoration, some from the laity go to extremes in their assumptions. As the famous Andalusian jurist and exegete Abu Bakr b. al-Arabi (born in Seville) put it: “People ought to consider their faith as they consider their wealth. In trade, they do not accept defective dinars, but only those that are unadulterated and good. Similarly, narrations about the Prophet are not accepted except those with reliable transmissions so that one does not enter into the realm of lying about the Prophet – where a person is after goodness he ends up attaining shortcomings, or perhaps even patent loss!”

Amongst scholars both medieval and modern there are various opinions as to what the salawāt is, some opinions well reasoned, others poorly so. The plethora of opinions, if anything, demonstrates that it hasn’t been patently clear and requires unpicking. This is not a scholarly presentation that deals with all facets of the issue (it’s complex and requires a long attention span!), but in summary, this post is saying is that to salāt on the Prophet is a type of salut which expresses success and support for the legacy of the Prophet. This desire is manifested through heartfelt acknowledgement, supplicating for it, and practically aiding it. For ease, I’ve worded most of this article in Q&A form to unpick the concept.

Does صَلِّ على mean “blessings upon”?

“Salli alā” does not mean “blessings on”, and contrary to popular opinion, salāt is not limited to meaning supplication. The ancient Arabs used the term salāt with the preposition ‘ala (‘on’) as to show someone sympathy, affection and attachment – as al-Zamakhshari, al-Suhaili, Ibn Hishām and others pointed out – where salāt is closely linked to the word silah, meaning a connection.

What was God telling us in the Confederates?

The verse goes: “God and His angels salāt on Prophet. You who believe, salāt on him too and offer abundant sentiment of peace.” (Quran 33:56) God is telling us how He and the angels regard the Prophet and that believers ought to regard the Prophet similarly. Keeping this point in mind, God was telling the companions to advocate for the Prophet, support him, regard him affectionately, care for him, and root for him. Today, believers who aren’t in the company of the Prophet can still support him and root for him by supporting his mission and work to make the Prophet’s legacy endure. To salāt on the Prophet (a verb) is to engage in an action that might be manifested through articulating the sentiment, asking of God, and righteous efforts. Of course, one may express the sentiment through speech, but as the Arabic term works, for us to salāt on the Prophet is not specifically to say a phrase but to feel something which then leads to subsequent speech and action. The verse doesn’t say anything about saying a phrase after every mention. In the context of the passage, the verse is telling the companions to support the Prophet and maintain his welfare, and not engage in speech or behaviour that’s offensive.

Did God command us to say salawāt in the Confederates (chapter 33), and after every mention of the Prophet?

Firstly, the verse doesn’t mention anything about saying something. As I pointed out, salāt on the Prophet is to hold a sentiment towards the Prophet, where God tells us to advocate for the Prophet, support him, regard him affectionately and in high esteem, and root for him, just as God and the angels do. As for saying a phrase after every mention of his name or title, this too isn’t commanded in the verse. This idea is taken from hadith, but I’ll address that separately.

God similarly salāt on the faithful. In 33:43, God says in reference to those who remember God often and glorify Him, “It is He who salāt on you, as do His malak, in order to lead you out of the darkness into the light. He is ever merciful towards the believers.” Here God tells us that He similarly (but of course to a differing degree) shows the righteous Ishmaelites sympathy, affection and attachment (what “salli ‘alā” means) through guidance and support that takes them out of ignorance and falsehood into knowledge and truth – which applies to both their intellectual and political state. Al-Qurtubi relates that Ibn Abbās said: When ‘God and His angels salāt on Prophet’ was revealed, the Emigrants and Helpers said: ‘This specifically applies to you, Messenger of God, we have no part in it!’ God then revealed 33:43.

How should we ask God and what are we asking God for?

Whilst salāt on the Prophet is a sentiment to be held, a key expression of that sentiment is to beseech God with it, asking Him to support the Prophet’s mission as it continues today, uplift his reputation, and to protect his legacy. Invariably, when the Prophet was amongst his companions their supplication would have also related to ongoing challenges the Prophet was facing, but as the following hadith shows, beseeching God for His salāt on the Prophet remains relevant for us. Ka’b b. Ujrah relates that when God revealed “You who believe, salāt on him too and offer abundant greetings of peace” a man came to the Prophet asking: “We already know how to express to you (alluding to prayer), but how are we meant to salāt on you?” The Prophet encouraged them to express the sentiment through supplication in prayer, telling him: “Say: God, salāt on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as you did so on Abraham and the family of Abraham; You are most praiseworthy and glorified. God, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as you blessed Abraham and the family of Abraham; You are most praiseworthy and glorified.” (al-Bukhari and Muslim) In the narration of Abu Humaid, “his family” is replaced with “his wives and offspring”.

What does Abraham have to do with it?

The supplication to God for His salāt and blessings (barakah) on Muhammad and his family just like Abraham and his family (known as Salawāt Ibrahimiyyah in Arabic), is extremely significant and informative in what salawāt means and what it is for. If we look to the story of Abraham, God showed Abraham sympathy, affection and attachment, as well as supporting him against his enemies, aiding his mission, upholding his name for thousands of years and ensuring that his legacy endured through the ages. When we make this supplication, we are asking for the final Prophet to be bestowed the same privileges granted to Abraham, the first to whom was revealed the civilisational Law.

Where does “sallalahu alahi wa sallam” or “peace be upon him” come into it?

As noted, the verse doesn’t demand a particular format of expressing the heartfelt sentiment, whilst the hadith offers us the Salawat Ibrahimiyyah which state salawāt and barakah (blessings), but not salām (peace). Ibn Hajr noted that the vast majority of scholars viewed it that “any wording that conveys the intended sentiment is valid.” Now these phrases are simply verbal expressions of the sentiment. “Sallalahu alahi wa sallam” is a condensed articulation of the sentiment of salāt and salām, whilst the term “peace be upon him” only incorporates the sentiment of peace. Interestingly, many English-speaking laymen argue that one must send salawāt on the Prophet by saying “peace be upon him”, yet ironically there’s no mention of salāt in this English expression! (That’s not to mention that the idea of sending it doesn’t make sense.) Of course, “peace be upon him” is perfectly legitimate, but as Ibn Hajr sensibly points out in his opus Fat’h al-Bāri, “It is disliked that a person sticks to mentioning salāt without salām, or mentions salām all the time without salāt. As for joining the two, or mentioning salāt sometimes and salām sometimes, then that is to conform to the verse (33:56)…”

Now I’ll move on to explore how to understand hadith on salawāt and unpick some views around its practice, based on the brief explanation given so far. There are quite a few hadith on the virtues of salāt on the Prophet, the reliability of many narrations are questionable, but of course many are also sound. Given the explanation presented above, here I address a few of the common and acceptable hadith people refer to:

“The people closest to me on the Day of Judgement are those who salāt on me the most.”

They are those who support the Prophet’s mission and follow in his ways, uplift his reputation, and exert efforts to protect his legacy and spread God’s Law and Way. A similar statement is made about Abraham in the Quran, “and the people closest to him are those who truly follow his ways; this Prophet and those who have faith…” (3:68) So being the closest to a Prophet comprises allegiance, affection and attachment, all aspects of salāt on them, and practically for us following them is part of that. An assumption people make, which comes from a mentality of empty ritualism, is to repetitively recite litanies that they don’t understand – they do it with God, and in the context of salawāt, they do the same in matters related to the Prophet.

“Increase salāt on me (on Fridays)”

This statement tells us that Friday is not only a day when the community gathers to listen to a sermon that incites practical godliness in our personal and social affairs, but it is also a day in which we ought to contemplate our own advocacy for the Prophet’s cause, his mission, and how to uphold his legacy of Abrahamic monotheism and God’s Law. Friday is about citizenship of the godly community and godly responsibility, and salāt-ing on the Prophet on Fridays is about increased contemplation of the above in a holistic fashion.

“Whoever salāts on me once, God shall salāt upon him tenfold.”

Clearly this isn’t about saying a phrase once as an empty ritual where God then says it ten times to us! What the Prophet is telling us is that due to a person’s sentiment, God will show him/her sympathy, affection, closeness and help – ten times more intense than his/her emotion to support the Prophet’s mission as it continues today. This point resides in the verse, “God is sure to help those who help His cause” (22:40) where God will manifest the sentiment to aid His sincere subjects ten times as much as the sentiment they show towards God and His messenger’s cause.

When it comes to salawāt, in summary I am saying:

  • Salawāt on the Prophet is not inherently a statement but a sentiment towards the final messenger of God as His honoured and noble servant where one advocates the Prophet’s mission, regards him affectionately, and wishes his legacy to endure.
  • That sentiment may then be articulated through a statement such as “May peace be upon him”, a supplication such as “God salute him as You did Abraham”, or an action which aids the Prophet’s cause such as spreading the message, advocating the Law, or resisting the enemies of God and goodness. However, these are all expressions of salāt-ing on the Prophet, to “salli” on the Prophet is inherently to feel sympathy, affection and an attachment to him through really appreciating and respecting what he was about.

So if salawāt is inherently an internalised sentiment, do you have to always say something after his name?

No I don’t believe so. It is a sign of true faith that one feels affinity to the Prophet and his noble cause. As for verbalising it, there are many opinions on the matter:

a) It must be verbalised once in a lifetime
b) It must be said in the five daily prayers after tashahhud
c) It must be said every time he’s mentioned
d) It must be said once in a gathering
e) It must be in every supplication
f) And many more opinions!

As we can see, various groups of scholars have held a wide range of views on the practice of verbalising the salawāt, so once again and very clearly, it’s not exactly a decisive issue that requires enforcement or condemnation. Of course, we’d never discourage verbalisation, but we do challenge insipid and token posturing – such as “I said it but you haven’t, so you don’t respect the Prophet!”

Must it be written every time a mention of the Prophet is recorded?

Well I haven’t done so here so ostensibly I don’t believe so. Not writing acronyms (PBUH) or inserting Arabic symbols doesn’t suggest anything, nor should one feel the need to superficially perform for others. A person’s sentiments towards the final Prophet is between themselves and God,

Is it permissible to refer to the Prophet as “Muhammad”?

Yes, why wouldn’t it be – is that not his noble name that was prophesied to Christ? The bizarre idea that using his name is disrespectful shows how removed people are from the tradition of Abraham – who then find no issue with referring to other Prophets by their name: Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc. So if it’s disrespectful, it’s fine to disrespect all others?!

I hold that referring to the Prophet by his name is to honour him, the prophesied name and the promised one to come – leader of the Ishmaelites and the great monotheistic civilisation after the fallen Israelites. It is to celebrate the name of the man who’s legacy was to build the greatest monotheistic empire the world has ever seen – he is the pride of his forefather Abraham. Not only did he himself direct us to use his name in the salawāt ibrahīmiyyah, his companions would refer to him as Muhammad when speaking about him. The examples are far too numerous to mention here, but arbitrarily sufficing with two:

  • When the Prophet passed away Abu Bakr spoke to the people saying: “Whoever worshipped Muhammad then he has died. But whoever worships God: God is living and never dies.”
  • When Abu Hurairah was challenged by some Companions on an issue to do with sexual impurity and fasting, he said “By the Lord of the Cubed House, I did not say it – Muhammad said it!” (Ibn Majah)

Another point that seems to get confused is that speaking to the Prophet and speaking about him are two very different things. In ancient Arabic custom (and some modern day cultures as well), when directly addressing a person of authority, a title, teknonym or nickname would be used. However, when speaking about a person of authority the norm would include referring to them by name. An example is that of Umar b. al-Khattāb: people would address him as ‘Leader of the Faithful’ but when speaking about him they would simply refer to him as Umar.

Doesn’t saying salawāt mean you’ll be closer to the Prophet?

No, following the Prophet, allegiance to his cause, and feeling a deep fraternity with him is what leads to being with the Prophet on Judgement Day. And don’t forget that close proximity and meeting God ought to be our first and foremost objective just as it was the Prophet’s.

“Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Those who follow him are staunch towards the disbelievers and compassionate towards each other. You see them kneeling and prostrating, seeking God’s bounty and His good pleasure: on their faces they bear the marks of their prostrations. This is how they are pictured in the Torah and the Gospel: like a seed that puts forth its shoot, becomes strong, grows thick, and rises on its stem to the delight of its sowers. So God infuriates the disbelievers through them; God promises forgiveness and a great reward to those who believe and do righteous deeds.” (Quran 48:29)

I ask God the Most High, Lord of all the realms, to salute His most honoured servant, Muhammad the descendant of Abraham, to bless his name and have his legacy endure. May He ennoble us to be raised amongst the righteous and dignified, and grant us the fortune of following in their footsteps and upholding their mission. Peace be on the final messenger of God and the others before him, as well as all those who follow them in righteousness.