Salawaat (also referred to as divine blessings) is an Islamic complimentary Arabic phrase, which contains the salutation upon Prophet Muhammad and his pure Household (Ahl al-Bayt). This phrase is usually expressed by the Muslims as part of their five times daily prayers and also when Muhammad’s name is mentioned.
In the Qur’an, Allah says:
“Allah and His Angels send blessings on the Prophet, O you who believe! send your blessings on him, and solute him a thorough salutation” (1).
One of the best ways to know the personality of great men is to study their literature and listen to their words. As Imam Ali states in Nahjul-Balagha: “Man is hidden behind his tongue” meaning by our words we introduce ourselves not with our certificates. Different people according to their job use different jargon. Politicians have their own jargon, as physicians do, as drivers do etc. The jargon of truck drivers is different from professors. Therefore, when people talk you can more or less depending on your skills in this field tell which class of society they belong to.
Today, being the birthday anniversary of Imam Ridha’ (a.s.) I would like to present to you a very fragrant flower from the garden of Imam Ridha’ (a.s), i.e. a word of wisdom from him. The Hadith is regarding the meaning of Salawat, something that we every day offer many times. However, many of us may not know enough if any about the significance of it.
First of all, let’s read the Hadith. Sheikh Sadouq one of our distinguishing scholars who was living in the 4th century AH has written a book named ‘Uyoun-Akhbarul-Ridha’` meaning ‘the fountains of the wise words of Imam Ridha’`. I quote the Hadith under consideration from this book.
Imam Ridha’ (a.s.): “O Allah! send your blessings to the one that Daily Prayers is honoured with having the Salawat on him. Salam and Salawat on the Prophet is an established fact in the Quran. In Surah 33 Ayah 56 we recite: “Allah and His Angels send Salat on the Prophet, O you who believe! send Salat on him, and solute him a thorough salutation”. (2)
As far as I know, sending Salam and Salawat to the Prophet of Islam is one of the distinguishing characteristics of our Prophet, of which the previous prophets were deprived. Muslims across the world from the time the above Ayah has been revealed up to the Day of Great Judgment are bound to send their Salawat to the Prophet of Islam. Muslims five times a day when they call for Adhan and Iqama and even in their daily Prayers send their Salawat to the Prophet of Islam. This is due to the Divine Promise: “And We raised high for you your esteem” (3)
The Etiquette of Presence
When you are in the presence of a highly respected person you use high titles, like His Eminence, Dr, Shaykh etc. However, when he is absent and we are talking about him we may not bother about those titles. In Islamic Erfan the above expression is used firstly for Allah (s.w.t) and then for the 14 Infallible.
Muslim Gnostics believe they are and they should always be in the presence of Allah and the 14 infallible, and hence, they always mention those names with high respect. I don`t ever remember that Imam Khomeini (r.a.) ever mentioned the name of Allah (s.w.t) without any of His Divine Attributes. Salawat on the Prophet and his pure progeny comes in this regard.
The Virtues of Salawaat
1. The most valuable deeds in your Scale
2. An atonement for the sins
“Whoever, can not make an atonement for his sins, then he should repeatedly send Salawat on the Prophet and his Ahlul-Bait, for it destroys the sins thoroughly.”
3. A key to the grant of supplication
There are many Hadiths stating that in order to have your supplication granted start your supplication with Salawat and end it with Salawat. Because Salawat is an absolutely granted supplication and Allah (SWT) is more merciful than to accept the beginning of your supplication and the end of it but does not grant the one in the middle.
4. Remembering the Prophet is equal to remembering Allah
“Whoever remembers God will receive 10 rewards, and whoever remembers the Prophet will receive 10 rewards, for Allah has joined His Messenger to Himself.”
According to a Hadith from Imam Ridha’ (a.s.) Salawat is equal to Tasbih, Tahlil and Takbir.
5. The best Word (Dhikr) in the Holy Mosque
Someone came to Imam Sadiq (a.s.) and said to him that he visited the Holy Mosque in Mecca. During his rituals, he could not remember any other supplication except Salawat. The Imam replied you had remembered the best supplication.
6. Salawat, a treatment for amnesia
It is practically proven that Salawat will treat forgetfulness.
7. Daily Prayers are invalid without Salawat
All of the Maraje agree that Salawat in Tashahod is compulsory and on the condition, it is not mentioned intentionally then the Prayers are invalid. Also, Shafe and Hanbali hold the same opinion for the second Tashahod.
Salawaat in the Universe
The entire universe is asking for blessings for the Prophet. ‘Allah and His Angels are sending blessings to the Prophet`. This is why the Prophet is ‘the blessing for the universe`. Following this natural process, the believers are recommended to send blessings to the Prophet.
As a matter of fact, all of the Islamic rules are harmonious with natural laws. That`s why Islam is called the religion of nature (Fitrat). The universe is constantly asking the blessings for the ‘blessing of the world’ and therefore the believers are also recommended to follow this natural law.
The Meaning of Salawaat
P1: Salawaat is the plural form of Salat which simply means ‘to call` (Du`a). The reality of calling is that the person who calls tries to attract the attention of the one who is called upon. This type of attracting attention, if it comes from a higher source it is called Rahmat (blessing) and if it comes from a lower it is called Du`a (prayer).
P2: It is an established fact in Islamic Irfan that the existence of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w) is the first existence that came from Allah. In other words, his existence is at the peak of the cone of creation. That means the blessing of existence which contains all other blessings comes to the prophet first and then goes to others. The prayer of people to Allah does not reach Him unless through His Messenger, as the blessings of Allah do not reach His creatures unless through His Messenger.
Therefore, the Salawaat of Allah to the Prophet since it comes from Allah the Omnipotent, He is sending constant blessings to His Messenger and hence, the Prophet becomes ‘Rahmatun-Lil Alamin` (blessing for the universe). As the Salawat of people to the Prophet is to pray to God to send His blessings to them through the Prophet who is Rahmatun-Lelalamin.
Salawaat of the Angels: As the Imam (a.s.) stated in the above Hadith, the Salawat of the angels is ‘Tazkeiah`. Tazkeiah means to exonerate and immaculate. What does it mean?
Each one of the angels is resemblance one of the beautiful attributes of God. No angel can ever resemble all Divine beautiful attributes. Whereas, the Prophet, being the most perfect man, held all of the Divine beautiful attributes. This is why his statue is higher than the angels. To this end, the angels are constantly exonerating and immaculating the Prophet in the sense that he is free from their efficiency. This is the meaning of the prostration of the angels before Adam. That means the angels are the servants of the Prophet and his Ahlul-Bayt.
How to perform the Salawaat
What appears in the Quran about the way Salawaat must be conducted is to send it on to the Prophet. There is nothing regarding ‘Aal` (his pure family). To this end, the Shiites will be questioned as to why and on which basis do they add ‘Aal` to the Salawaat. The answer to this question lies down under the circumstances under which the Ayah was revealed.
Most of the interpreters of the Quran have quoted that once the Ayah under consideration was revealed, the companions asked the Prophet of Islam; O Messenger of God! we know how to say Salam to you but how should we send Salawat to you (which was something new for them)? The Prophet (s.a.w.w) replied: Say: ‘Allahuma salle ala Muhammad wa Aale Muhammad Kama Salayta Alaa Ibrahim Ennaka Hamidun Majid.`
Apart from numerous Sunni resources who have quoted the above Hadith, Imam Ridha’ (a.s.) in a debate/meeting with distinguishing Sunni scholars has mentioned the Hadith and all agreed upon its accuracy. Moreover, there are some other Ahadith in which the Prophet has warned people to send an incomplete Salwat to him. When he was asked what did he mean by incomplete Salawat, he replied: that it was to send a Salawat to me and not to join my Aal with me.
It is interesting to quote that Muslim in his Sahih has opened a chapter under the heading: ‘ Chapter of Salat on the Prophet`.
He has mentioned only two Hadith in that chapter about the way the Salawat ought to be conducted. In both, it is mentioned to say: Mohammad and Aal Mohammad. However, it seems Muslim himself or perhaps the publisher has ignored the contents of the chapter and when the top of the chapter the name of the Prophet has been mentioned it is typed in front of it: Sallalahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, the ‘Aal` is omitted. In short, one of the reasons that the Prophet (s.a.w.w) added his ‘Aal` to his name could be the Ayah of Mubahila.
NOTES:
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1. The Holy Quran 33:56
2. The Holy Quran 33:56
3. The Holy Quran 94:4
