If sending just one prayer of peace and blessings upon Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) grants us ten in return from Allah himself, what is our excuse for not filling our time with sending abundantly more?
In this week’s Friday reflection, Imam Yama Niazi, shares the many blessings and benefits of sending Salutations upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Best of Actions for the Best of Days
One of the great scholars remarked, “the best of actions – for the best of days.” This is to send salutations and blessings on our master Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
It is a duty upon us to recognize that Friday is not like any other day, but it is of the best of days, so we should strive to treat it with importance. And of the great actions, we should be oft in reciting on this great day is salutations upon our beloved Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “So send many blessings upon me therein [i.e. Fridays], for indeed your blessings are presented to me.” (Abu Dawud)
“Verily Allah and all of his angels send their blessings upon the prophet Muhammad. Oh you who believe, send your blessings and peace upon him.” (Qur’an, 33:56)
The Happiness of the Prophet
There has come to us a tradition in which the prophet Muhammad came upon the companions and their gathering. They observed him to be extremely happy and very lit up with a big smile. So they asked him, “Oh Rasul Allah, may Allah always keep you so happy, what makes you so happy today?” He said, “How could I not be so joyous and happy when Jibraeel has just left my company and informed me that not one of any of the Muslims of your community; they pray upon you one time except that Allah will send upon his blessings and his peace upon them ten times.”
What Amount of Salutations Should We Recite?
One of the great companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) by the name of Ubay ibn Ka’ab once asked the prophet, “Oh prophet of Allah, how much of my extra time should I pray upon you?” he said, “as you like.” He said, “how about if I commit to a fourth of my time?” He said, “that is good, but if you do more it’s even better for you.” He said, “how about half of my time?” He said, “that is good, but if you do more it’s even better for you.” He said, “how about three-fourths of my time?” He said, “that is good, but if you do more it’s even better for you.” So then he said, “how about if I devote all of my extra time to pray upon you?” The prophet said, “then if you do so, Allah will forgive all of your sins and take care of all of your worries.” and in another narration, “he will take care of all of your worldly matters and your otherworldly matters.”
All praise to Allah, what a gift and mercy to us all. These are opportunities from Allah Most High for us to draw closer to him!
The Virtues of Sending Salutations
The Prophet taught us that whoever prays upon him just once would have 10 good deeds allotted to them, 10 of their sins erased and 10 degrees raised in their degree with Allah Most High.
Furthermore, by praying upon him, we will be the closest to him on the Day of Judgment! The Prophet said in another hadith, “prayer upon me is light in the grave and light on the bridge (sirat).” The bridge (sirat) that everyone will have to cross over through the hellfire to get to paradise. It is at that point that the prayers that you sent upon him will come and benefit and rescue you.
The Action Plan
The recitation of salutations then has many folds of virtue. And all of it comes back in its benefit for ourselves. Every time we recite salutations upon him, we are rewarded, we are forgiven our sins, we are raised in closeness to Allah, our graves are filled with light and we get to be close to our beloved on that day where everyone else will be filled with worry.
Prayers upon the Prophet have an immense amount of good that we cannot enumerate in a short article. The scholars have written many works and volumes of works on the virtues and benefits and reasons for us to recite salutations upon him (peace and blessings be upon him).
The salutations can be recited in any format, whichever of them you may prefer.
But let us commit to starting on these blessed Fridays to take a certain amount of our time to give for the sake of Allah Most High, but ultimately, as an investment for our own good. Regardless of whether it is eighty salawat after the ‘Asr prayer that would erase from you 80 years of your bad deeds, or if it is a hundred or five hundred or a thousand or more. Do take advantage of this blessed day knowing that your prayers and your blessings will be conveyed to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and he will receive it.
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