“All praise is to Allah. We praise him, we seek His help, His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil within ourselves and of our actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Whomsoever Allah leads astray, none can guide him.
I testify there is no God but Allah alone, without any partners, and that Muhammad, ﷺ, is His servant and messenger.”
Welcome to the Friday Khutbah! A weekly series on the AlMaghrib Journal, based on sermons delivered by our esteemed instructors! We hope you find it beneficial!
The Prophet ﷺ is the one through whom Allah granted us the greatest blessing we experience: the blessing of Islam. We remember the Prophet ﷺ because we love him. A person cannot help but constantly remember the one that they love.
Allah Himself mentions the Prophet ﷺ and praises him continuously, along with the angels. Allah says:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
“Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and greet him with peace.” (Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:56)
What is Allah’s salah upon the Prophet? Ibn Abbas explained that the angels invoke blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn Kathir stated that Allah’s salah upon Rasulullah ﷺ is His praise of the Prophet in the highest company (في الملاء الأعلى).
Allah invites the believers to send their salah upon Rasulullah ﷺ so that the inhabitants of the earth can praise the Prophet in harmony with the inhabitants of the heavens. When sending salah upon the Prophet ﷺ, we join the symphony of the hosts of the heavens as they invoke salah upon him.
Allah says:
وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَىٰ تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
“And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers.” (Surah Adh-Dhariyat, 51:55)
Five Virtues of Sending Salam Upon the Prophet ﷺ
1. It Is Highly Recommended on Friday
Rasulullah ﷺ said in the hadith of Aus ibn Aus:
إِنَّ مِنْ أَفْضَلِ أَيَّامِكُمْ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ فَأَكْثِرُوا عَلَيَّ مِنَ الصَّلَاةِ فِيهِ فَإِنَّ صَلَاتَكُمْ مَعْرُوضَةٌ عَلَيَّ
“The best of your days is Friday, so send a lot of salah upon me on that day, for your salah is presented to me.” (Abu Dawood)
The Companions asked, “Ya Rasulullah, how will it be presented to you when you have passed away?” The Prophet ﷺ replied:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ حَرَّمَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ أَجْسَادَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ
“Allah has prohibited the earth from consuming the flesh of prophets.”
The Prophet ﷺ did not define what “a lot” means, leaving it to each individual. For some, a hundred might be a lot; for others, it could be very little. Some might find 500 a lot, while others consider it little. Everyone is responsible for whatever they are capable of doing, striving to send abundant salah upon the Prophet ﷺ on Friday.
2. It Removes Burdens, Erases Sins, and Solves Problems
Ubayy ibn Ka’ab narrated:
يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنِّي أُكْثِرُ الصَّلَاةَ عَلَيْكَ فَكَمْ أَجْعَلُ لَكَ مِنْ صَلَاتِي
“O Messenger of Allah, I send a lot of salah upon you in my dua. How much of my dua should I dedicate to sending salah upon you?”
The Prophet ﷺ responded, “Whatever you wish.” Ubayy then asked about dedicating a quarter, a third, half, and then two-thirds of his dua to sending salah upon the Prophet, and each time the Prophet replied, “Whatever you wish, but if you increase, it is better for you.”
Finally, Ubayy asked, “Should I make all of my dua sending salah upon you?” The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِذًا تُكْفَى هَمَّكَ وَيُغْفَرْ لَكَ ذَنْبُكَ
“If you do that, your worry will be relieved and your sin will be forgiven.” (At-Tirmidhi)
What is the relationship between sending salah upon the Prophet ﷺ and having problems resolved? The answer lies in another hadith. Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-‘As narrated that Rasulullah ﷺ said:
مَنْ صَلَّى عَلَيَّ صَلَاةً صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ بِهَا عَشْرًا
“Whoever sends one salah upon me, Allah sends ten upon them.” (Muslim)
When Allah cascades ten blessings upon a person for every one salah they send upon the Prophet ﷺ, what problem can exist in the presence of Allah’s peace and blessings being multiplied? Allah’s salah is so great and benevolent that when multiplied, nothing can stand in its way.
3. It Brings You Close to the Prophet ﷺ
In a hadith narrated by Ibn Mas’ud, Rasulullah ﷺ said:
أَوْلَى النَّاسِ بِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَكْثَرُهُمْ عَلَيَّ صَلَاةً
“The people most deserving of proximity to me on the Day of Judgment are those who send the most salah upon me.” (At-Tirmidhi)
Those who send the most salah upon the Prophet ﷺ are not only closest to him on the Day of Judgment but also closest to him in this world. Shaykh Muhammad Hassan, the Egyptian scholar, mentioned meeting a sixteen-year-old girl who had seen the Prophet ﷺ in her dreams numerous times. When asked how often she sent salah upon the Prophet, she replied, “Every day, no less than 10,000 times.”
He also mentioned meeting an elderly woman in a poor Egyptian village who did not stop sending salah upon the Prophet ﷺ, her every breath invoking blessings upon Rasulullah. When he offered to bring doctors for her ailment, she declined, saying, “I know my ailment and I know the cure. My ailment is that for the past three nights, I did not see the Prophet ﷺ in a dream.” She was so accustomed to seeing Rasulullah ﷺ in her dreams through her abundant salah that when she didn’t see him for three days, she became distressed.
4. It Is His Right Upon Us
When someone does something for you, Rasulullah ﷺ taught that if you can repay them, you should. If you cannot, at least invoke a prayer for them, saying “Jazakallahu khayran.” If that person has passed away, the least you can do is invoke Allah’s mercy for them.
One scholar of Islam said:
قَبِيحٌ بِكُمْ أَنْ تَنْقُلُوا عَنَّا وَلَا تَتَرَحَّمُوا عَلَيْنَا
“It is very ugly of you that you narrate from us our knowledge and do not invoke mercy upon us.”
People read the books of Imam al-Bukhari and benefit from Imam an-Nawawi without saying “rahimahullah” (may Allah have mercy on him). Imagine someone constantly talking about their parents without ever invoking Allah’s mercy upon them. It’s the smallest gesture, yet so meaningful.
If you understand this, then you can see how serious it is when a person mentions the name of Rasulullah ﷺ and doesn’t move their tongue to say “sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.” The Prophet ﷺ criticized such an individual, saying:
رَغِمَ أَنْفُ رَجُلٍ مَنْ ذُكِرْتُ عِنْدَهُ وَلَمْ يُصَلِّ عَلَيَّ
“May the nose of that person be in dust who I am mentioned in their presence and they don’t send salah upon me.”
In another hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said:
الْبَخِيلُ مَنْ ذُكِرْتُ عِنْدَهُ فَلَمْ يُصَلِّ عَلَيَّ
“The stingy person is the one who I am mentioned in their presence and they don’t send salah upon me.” (At-Tirmidhi)
5. It Is an Etiquette of Dua
When raising hands to Allah, believers want their dua to be accepted. There are etiquettes that make dua more likely to be accepted. At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawood narrated that the Prophet ﷺ heard a man making dua without praising Allah or sending salah upon the Prophet ﷺ. Rasulullah ﷺ said:
عَجِلَ هَذَا
“This person rushed. They were hasty.”
The Prophet then taught:
“If a person makes dua, let them begin by praising Allah and sending salah upon the Prophet ﷺ, and then let them make whatever dua they wish.”
How to Send Salah Upon the Prophet ﷺ
The simple way is to say “Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad” or “sallallahu alayhi wa sallam” when hearing his name. However, when the Companions asked how to send salah upon him, the Prophet ﷺ taught them the complete version recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim:
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
“O Allah, send Your salah upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your salah upon Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy and Glorious. O Allah, send Your blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your blessings upon the family of Ibrahim. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy and Glorious.”
Remember that invoking salah upon the Prophet ﷺ:
- Removes stress and worry
- Forgives sins
- Places a person close to the Prophet ﷺ in this life and the next
- Is most recommended on Friday
We ask Allah to accept our actions and guide us to the best of actions and speech.
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