Benedictions & Salutations on the Prophet ﷺ

Benedictions & Salutations on the Prophet ﷺ
Delivered by Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq on Friday 23rd February 2018 at Al Kawthar Academy, Leicester (UK)

“Verily Allah and His angels send their benedictions upon the Prophet ﷺ. O you who believe! Send your benedictions upon him and salute him with a goodly salutation” [Surah 33 : Verse 56]

Allah has instructed the believers to send salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ as he was sent with the message of Islam and will intercede for the believers on the Day of Judgement. 

This talk begins by introducing us to the verse in Surat al-Ahzab, where Allah sends his own salutations to the Prophet ﷺ. It explains the meaning of Allah’s salat and then the meanings and benefits of our sending salat and salam. Allah’s continuous honouring of the Prophet ﷺ is exemplified with how he has legislated salat and salam on many occasions; such as in relation to adhan, when entering and leaving the masjid and on the day of Jum’ah. The uniqueness of sending salutations is also explained, shown by the fact that the Prophet ﷺ said salat and salam himself despite being on the receiving end and how it can be considered a form of dhikr with unique benefits.

Benefits mentioned include; acceptance of du’a’, gaining shafa’ah and proximity to Prophet ﷺ, gaining solace at time of misery, increased love for the Prophet ﷺ and possibly a vision of him in our dreams. It is made clear that we recite salat and salam for our own benefit, without the Prophet ﷺ being in need of it.

The Sahaba are shown to have abundantly recited salat and salam, both in and after the life of the Prophet ﷺ on many occasions – this also being a tradition still practised in many Arab countries. The fact that we cannot over-recite salat and salam is exemplified by the hadith of Ubay ibn Ka’b and how students of hadith benefit from abundant recitation of salat and salam without ever tiring.

Below are some of the timecodes and topics for this talk:

5:00 – The meaning of Allah’s salutations on the Prophet ﷺ
9:14 – Salutations during and after the adhan
17:55 – The salutations of the angels to the Prophet ﷺ
25:12 – Salat and salaam being a form of dhikr
30:45 – The sahabah being careful when quoting the Prophet ﷺ
38:50 – Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal being asked a strange question
47:30 – The reason for the salat of the angels on the Prophet ﷺ and the reward for sending salutations
58:54 – Fiqh ruling of sending salat and salam
1:06:50 – Salutations sent on daily occasions in the Arab world

FREE audio download available on SoundCloud