Ibn al-Qayyim [may Allaah have Mercy on
him] writes over forty benefits in supplicating by sending the Peace and
Blessings of Allaah upon the Prophet:
1 - It is acting upon the Command of
Allaah (cf. 33:56).
2 - Allaah, the Most High, Himself
Sends His Peace and Blessings upon him, explemifying great praise that Allaah
has for him.
3 - The angels supplicate for the Peace
and Blessings of Allaah to be upon the Prophet also, so by supplicating for him
we are supplicating along side the angels.
4 - For every supplication of Peace and
Blessings of Allaah, Allaah Sends Peace and Blessings from Himself upon the
supplicator by tenfold.
5 - This supplication raises a person
up by ten ranks.
6 - For each supplication, ten like are
written for him.
7 - For each supplication, ten sins are
forgiven.
8 - When a person makes Dua’a to
Allaah, but begins his supplication by sending the Peace and Blessings of
Allaah upon the Prophet and ends his Dua’a with it, then this action carries
his Dua’a up to Allaah, the Lord of all creation. Thus it is a means for ones
Dua’a to be accepted.
9 - Increasing in sending the Peace and
Blessings of Allaah upon him is a cause for one to receive the Prophets
intercession on the Day of Judgment.
10 - Increasing in sending the Peace
and Blessings of Allaah upon the Prophet is a means in which ones sins are
forgiven.
11 – By increasing in supplicating for
Peace and Blessings of Allaah to be upon the Prophet, it is a cause for Allaah
making the affairs easy for His Servant.
12 – It is a means for which a person
gains closeness to the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] on
the Day of Judegment.
13 – It is a good word which one utters
or reminds others of in times of hardship.
14 – It is a means in which the needs
of a person are brought about.
15 – By increasing in sending Peace and
Blessings of Allaah upon him, Allaah and His Angels in turn send Peace and Blessings
upon the person.
16 – It is cause of gaining
purification from sins and cleansing of the heart.
17 – It is a means in which a person
could gain the glad tidings of Jannah before his death. This was stated by
Haafidh Aboo Moosa and he qouted narrations supporting this.
18 – It is a means in which he avoids
any hardship on the Day of Judgement.
19 – It is a means in which one can
gain the supplication of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon
him] in response, as his soul is restored in order to respond.
20 – It is a means in which a person
may be reminded of something he may have forgotten.
21 – Send the Peace and Blessings of
Allaah upon the Prophet beautifies gatherings. It is not something that a
person will regret in saying on the Day of Judgement (unlike other statements
that may be uttered in their gatherings).
22 – Through it poverty may be lifted.
23 – It removes the label of
“stinginess”. The Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] described
true stinginess as those who do not send peace and blessings upon him when his
name is mentioned.
24 – Success is through making this
supplication because the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him]
also described that the one who doesn’t send peace and blessings of Allaah upon
him when his name is mentioned will be destroyed.
25 – Sending Peace and Blessings of
Allaah upon the Prophet is a path that leads to Jannah and the one who abandons
it is led astray from this path.
26 – It removes foulness that may be
present in gatherings between Muslims. Gatherings which do not have the Praise
of Allaah or the Sending of Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon His Messenger in
them.
27 – All speech is perfected if it
begins with Praising Allaah and Sending the Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon
the Prophet.
28 – It is a cause in which the Correct
Path is illuminated for him.
29 – It removes coarseness from a
person.
30 – It is a means in which Allaah
constantly Praises His Slave. If a person continuously sends the Peace and
Blessings of Allaah upon His Prophet, then Allaah Praises that person and such
a praise is filled between the heavens and the earths. This is because the
person who sends the Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon His Prophet is
supplicating to Allaah that He Praises the Prophet, and that He Honours him and
Gives him nobleness. A principle known the Shareeah is “الجزاء
من جنس العمل” meaning that a
person receives the recompense according to the action that has been put forth
– therefore if the person supplicates for the Prophet, then it is befitting
that part of that supplication is also given to him.
31 – It a means in which the life and
actions of a person becomes blessed. So this one supplication (i.e. sending
peace and blessings of Allaah upon the Prophet) brings about great good,
because if one prays for the Prophet and his family to be blessed, then the
person supplicating will also receive a portion of that supplication for
himself.
32 - Sending Peace and Blessings of
Allaah upon the Prophet is a cause for the one who sends it to receive the
Mercy of Allaah.
33 – It is through increasing in
sending the Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon the Prophet that one gains in
their love for him. Loving the Prophet is a pillar of Emaan that which Emaan
cannot be completed without it. The more the Muslim focuses his heart in this
supplication and the more he increases in it, the greater attachment he will
have for the one who he is supplicating for. His love for the Prophet
intensifies and multiplies. He develops a yearning to be like him and to meet
him. His heart is then penetrated with love for him. The greater the impact the
Prophet has on one’s life, the more complete the heart becomes. The lesser the
impact, the weaker the heart gets. The zeal the believer has in wanting to see
the Prophet is immense, so the with the greater the yearning, the more the
believer will follow his teachings, and the more he follows his teachings the
greater the praise and remembrance of the Prophet will be on his tongue. All of
this depends on the reverence one has for the Prophet in his heart – the
greater the love, then the greater the actions and praise on his tongue, the
weaker the love then the lesser the actions and praise. This point is quite
obvious and this is why the poet said:
I am surprised by those who claim that they remember their
loved ones
Does the one who loves another ever forget them?
Meaning, it is surprising that one
claims to love another yet needs reminding to follow and remember them.
In fact the more someone loves
something the more they would want to follow them. Whoever claims to love but
contradicts their example then they are actually stating that they refuse to
follow them. And as the saying goes, “Whoever loves something, then they will
be constantly talking about that thing.”
So with these examples, we can apply
them to what requires out utmost love.
As the poet said:
If
you were to split my heart open you would find
That
my love for Tawheed of Allaah would be at separate to the love of the creation
This is the heart of the believer:
Tawheed in Allaah and the mentioning of the Messenger are engraved in the heart
of the believer, nothing can cause them to erode.
The more you talk about something, the
more you will gain love of it. Forgetting the thing you claim you love will
inevitably lead to one losing their love for it or at least causing weakness in
it.
Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted,
is the One who deserves this love and remembrance the most, and the most
deserved of complete reverence within the heart of the slave.
Rather, the kind of Shirk that can
never be forgiven is the type of Shirk in which a person shares their love of
Allaah to the creation, and shares their reverence to Him with the creation.
Allaah, the Most High, Says:
“And of
mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to
Allah). They love them as they love Allah. But those who believe, love Allah
more (than anything else). ” [al-Baqarah 2:165]
Here, Allaah, the Glorified and the
Exalted, Informs us that the Mushirk (the one who does Shirk) competes their
love of Allaah with their love for the creation. However, the believer is the
one who is exceeds in his love for Allaah.
The people of the fire will say:
“By Allah, we
were truly in a manifest error. When We held you (false gods) as
equals (in worship) with the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind,
jinns and all that exists)”
[ash-Shura’aa 26:97-98]
In this Aayah, the people of the fire
are regretful because they created equals to Allaah in their love for their
false gods, and this is something well-known, because no person who practices
Shirk can ever claim that their idols or deities are exactly the same as the
Lord of the Creation in relation to His Names, Attributes, Actions, His Power
in Creating,
Maintaining the Heavens and the Earth and in the of man. Rather
this Aayah indicates that they will be casted into the fire because of creating
equals to Allaah in their love.
Even more misguided than them are those
equal the whole of creation to Allaah, claiming that Allaah is omnipresent in
everything (like the belief of the Jahmees, some Matrudis and the extreme
Soofees). They make his presence within the creation as an attribute of
completeness, whilst at the same time as a deficiency for Him (by mixing Him
within the creation).
So if Allaah has chastised those who
equate partners to Him in love alone via their idols, then how severe is the
sin for those who believe that Allaah and the creation are intertwined into one
existence (like the Soofee belief that their scholars reach when attaining a
certain degree of piety)?
The point is that the more one
remembers or makes Dhikr of something then this is a cause for one to increase
in their love for the thing they constantly remember. Allaah, the Most High, is
the One Who is most deserved of this – our love, reverence and our worship to Him.
So remembering Him aplenty will be extremely beneficial for the slave. His
enemy (Iblees) is hunting for this connection to be removed. For this reason,
Allaah, the Most High, has Ordered His Slaves to Remember Him much and reciting
the Quraan, as these are sources of their success. Allaah, the Most High, Says:
“And
remember Allah much, that you may be successful” [al-Jumu’ah 62:10]
And Allaah, the Most High, Says:
“O you who
believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance.” [Al-Ahzaab 33:41]
And Allaah, the Most High, Says:
“And the men and the women who remember Allah
much with their hearts and tongues” [al-Ahzaab 33:35]
And Allaah, the Most High, Says:
“O you who believe! Let not your properties or
your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whosoever does
that, then they are the losers.” [Al-Munaafiqoon 63:9]
And Allaah, the Most High, Says:
“Therefore remember Me (by praying,
glorifying, etc.). I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless
Favours on you) and never be ungrateful to Me.” [al-Baqarah 2:152]
The Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, “The
Mufaridoon have proceeded.” They asked, “Who are the Mufaridoon?” He replied,
“Those who remember Allaah much.” [Reported by Muslim (2676)]
It is also reported that Mu’aadh bin Jabal [may Allaah be Pleased with
him] said, “There is no action that the Son of Aadam that can be more of a
saviour for him from the fire than the remembrance of Allaah.” [Reported by
at-Tirmidhee (1/95), Ibn Abee Shaybah (10/300) and at-Tabaraanee (352)]
Remembering the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] is a
consequence of remembering Allaah much.
The point is to reinforce the fact that the more one remembers something
the more love they have for them.
Remembering or Dhikr in one’s heart is like
water the ground that reaps harvest. Even stronger, it is like the water that
the fish needs to survive.
Remembering of Allaah is of types:
-Learning
and remembering His Names, Attributes and Actions and Praising Him for them.
-Glorifying
Him (saying Subhaanallah), Praising Him (saying Alhumdulilah), Extoling His
Greatness (saying Allaahu Akbar), proclaiming His Oneness (saying La ilaha ila
Allaah) and this is what is commonly known as Dhikr today.
-Dhikr
or remembrance of Allaah in His Rulings, His Commands and His Prohibitions and
this form of Dhikr is only for the learned. Rather, the learned are the only
ones of the Ummah which engage in all three types of Dhikr mentioned above.
From the greatest forms of Dhikr is the
remember Allaah with His Own Words – the Quraan.
Allaah, the Most High, Says:
“"But
whosoever turns away from My Reminder (i.e. neither believes in this Qur'an nor
acts on its orders, etc.) verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall
raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection."” [Taa-Haa 20:124]
This Aayah refers to the Quraan that
was revealed to His Messenger.
And He, the Most High, also Said:
“Those
who believe (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism), and whose hearts
find rest in the remembrance of Allah, Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do
hearts find rest.” [ar-Ra’d 13:28]
This Aayah refers supplication, seeking
forgiveness and humility to Him.
So this summarises the five types of
Dhikr.
34 - Sending Peace and Blessings upon the Prophet is a cause for
an increase of love – us gaining the love of the Prophet and our love for him.
35 – It is means for which the guidance of the slave and the
guidance that he receives in his heart is increased. Every time he sends the
Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon him, his heart becomes filled with love for
the Prophet. Thus, there remaining no contradiction in his heart against his
teachings. There remaining no doubt in that which he came with. Rather, the
person will find that the more he supplicates for him, the more he finds his
heart conforming to his traditions – reading from his Sunnah constantly, taking
from the light of his message, succeeded with the various disciplines and
sciences that he taught. The more he increases in this, the more wisdom he
gains for himself, and his intelligence and ability to understand exceeds.
For this reason, the People of Knowledge, those who are
well-informed of the Sunnah and its guidance, are the first to follow it. This
shows the difference between the way they send Peace and Blessings of Allaah
upon the Messenger and the way the common-folk do. You often see laymen raising
their voices in supplicating for the Prophet, showing physical love and energy
for him but they are ignorant, unlike the scholar who sends Peace and Blessings
of Allaah upon him, knowing what the Prophet came with and following his
Sunnah. Their supplication for the Prophet is completely of another
level. The more they send Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon the Prophet, the
more they increase in knowledge, love and by doing this, the more they increase
in actualising the very supplication they are making for him, asking Allaah to
have Mercy on him and protect him (and his teachings).
This is just like the Dhikr of Allaah. The more the slave knows
about Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted, the more he obeys Him, loves Him
and his Dhikr of Him is not based on an empty heart of mind which is filled
with negligence.
This point (point 35) is something well-known in the texts of the
Sharee'ah and is something that can be clearly observed; there is a huge
difference between the one who knows and loves and then does Dhikr and the one
who doesn’t.
If a person knows the Names and Attributes of Allaah, then he
increases in love for Allaah. His heart then becomes a slave to this love for
his Master. His Praises Him and Extols His Majesty. As opposed to the one who
does Dhikr of Allaah which his tongue alone. He has no idea of what he is
uttering. His actions don’t implement what he is saying (in the Dhikr).
So true Dhikr is to know and implement what the Prophet [Peace and
Blessings of Allaah be upon him] came with. This is true life and the soul of
it.
36 – Sending Peace and Blessing of Allaah upon the Prophet is a
cause for ones name being presented to the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of
Allaah be upon him] as it occurs in the Hadeeth,
“Your saluations for me are presented to me” [Reported byIbn
‘Adayy in al-Kamaal (3/944)]
And he also said [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him]:
“Surely, Allaah has Placed an Angel at
my grave which informs me of the peace and salutations that my Ummah send upon
me.” [Reported an-Nasaa’ee in al-Kubraa (1114)]
It is sufficient as an honour for a
Muslim for his name to be given to the Messenger of Allaah [Peace
and Blessings of Allaah be upon him].
37 – Sending Peace and Blessings upon the Prophet is means in
which ones feet will be made firm on the Siraat (a bridge that everyone must
cross – it lies over the Hellfire and thinner a hair and sharper than a sword)
and will help him cross it with ease. This is based on the Hadeeth of
‘Abdur-Rahmaan bin Samarah [may Allaah be Pleased with him] in which the
Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, “I saw in my dream a
man from my Ummah who was lagging across the Siraat. He was crawling across it
and would frequently pause (and then carrying crawling). Then his good deeds of
sending Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon me came to him, and it helped him
stand upright on his feet and he crossed the Siraat safely.”
38 – Sending the Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon the Messenger
is a small proportion of his right upon you. It is just an aspect of giving
thanks for the favour of Allaah upon sending the Prophet to us as a guide. Despite
you sending Peace and Salutations of Allaah upon him, his rights over you are
far greater – to what extent none can truly enumerate. However Allaah, the
Glorified and the Exalted, from His Generosity over His Slaves, has made it
easy for us to give thanks for this favour and has made it easy for us to
fulfil our rights to the Prophet by sending Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon
him.
39 – Sending Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon the Prophet is a
form of remembering Allaah and giving thanks to Him. The slave shows
recognition of the great Favour of Allaah for Sending upon His Slaves His
Messenger. So the one who sends the Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon the
Prophet is included within those who make Dhikr of Allaah. The person is
supplicating to Allaah by it that He Rewards the Prophet by it. Just as Allaah,
the Most High, has taught us His Names and Attributes and has Guided us a path
which will gain His Pleasure – likewise this supplication also entails the
essence of al-Emaan. Rather, supplicating this supplication for the Prophet
entails both Emaan in Allaah and Emaan in the Prophet, as the person is
repeteadly asking Allaah, supplicating only to Him. It affirms that Allaah
Posseses Knowledge, that He Answers supplications, that He is all-Able, he has
a Will and it conforms all His Complete Names and Attributes. By this
supplication we affirm that He is the One who Sent His Messenger and that we believe
in him and all that he taught us. We love him sincerely and there is no doubt
after realising this that this
supplication encompasses the very essence of al-Emaan. The person who
supplicates for the Peace and Blessings of Allaah to be upon him is recognising
all of this within himself, reaffirming his belief in it and thus from the best
of deeds.
40 – Sending Peace and Blessings of Allaah upon the Prophet is a
Dua’a and making this Dua’a to Allaah is of two types:
-Asking that Allaah fulfils
the needs of the Prophet and makes easy his affairs. This Dua’a is the Dua’a of
asking and pleaing.
-Asking Allaah that He
Praises him, the loved and beloved and that Allaah increases him in honour and
nobility. That Allaah raises his rank and his mention, and there is no doubt
that Allaah, the Most High, Loves His Messenger and His Messenger loves Allaah.
So in this part of his Dua’a the person sending the Peace and Blessings of
Allaah upon the Prophet is sparing making Dua’a for himself and his needs but
instead sacrifices this for the love of Allaah and His Messenger. As a result,
his own needs and wants are in turn fulfilled. Rather, the person who makes
this sacrifice does it out of complete love for Allaah and His Messenger and
does it in order to gain their love. He wants their love more than having his
wants and needs fulfilled. However, Allaah Rewards a deed by reciprocating with
what is similar – so just as he seeks the love of Allaah and His Messenger, he
gains this and much more in return. This is because they display their emmense
love for him by giving precendence to the Prophet as they believe he has a
greater right over themselves than themselves.
If there was no benefit in sending Peace and Blessings of Allaah
upon the Prophet except for this last point, then it would be sufficient for
the believer.
[Jalaa’
al-Afhaam Fee Fadl as-Salaat wa as-Salaam ‘ala Muhammad Khayr al-Anaam (Pg. 515
- 527)]
) and also His angels too (ask Allah to bless and forgive him). O you who believe! Send your Salat on (ask Allah to bless) him (Muhammad 