Salah on the Prophet peace be upon Him, by Ibn Qayyim

From mercymag.net (Mercy Magazine)

Translated and Forwarded By Michael Dann

Translator’s Introduction

God says in the Qur’an, “God and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O you who believe! Send blessings on him, and salute him with all respect” (33:56) and the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The people nearest to me on the Day of Resurrection are the ones who send the most blessings on me” (related by al-Tirmidhi). If there were no other verse or hadith concerning the virtue of sending blessings (salat) on the Prophet, this verse and hadith would be sufficient encouragement for the people of faith and intellect to dedicate themselves to sending blessings on him. Indeed, doing salat upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is a pillar of Muslim devotional life. Ubayy ibn Ka’b relates that he said to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: “O Messenger of God, I send abundant blessings upon you, but what portion of my supplication should I devote to it?” He said, “As much as you wish.” I said, “One quarter?” He said, “As much as you wish, but if you increase it will be better.” I said, “Half?” He said, “As much as you wish, but if you increase it will be better.” I said, “Two thirds?” He said, “As much as you wish, but if you increase it will be better.” I said, “Should I make all of my supplication for you?” He said, “If you do then God will suffice you your concerns and forgive your sins” (related by al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad and al-Hakim).

Scholars devoted great attention to the subject of salat upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, devoting entire books to the subject, and the saints of this umma sent salat upon him hundreds or thousands of times per day. The following article is composed of excerpts from the book Jala’ al-Afham fi al-Salat wa al-Salam ‘ala Khair al-Anam (Clarity of Understanding Regarding Sending Blessings and Salutations on the Best of Creation) by Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. In this book he dedicates a chapter to discussing the benefits of sending salat on the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, and mentions forty benefits in it. We will mention only a few of them here, asking God that He allow us to be among the true lovers of His Messenger and among those who send abundant blessings upon him.

Love Reigns Supreme

Sending blessings on the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is a reason for the servant’s love of him to abide, increase and multiply, which is one of the necessary components of faith (iman) without which it is incomplete. The reason for this is that the more the servant remembers his beloved, evokes his presence in his heart and recalls his beautiful characteristics and qualities that bring about love for him, the more his love and his longing for him will multiply, until it fills his entire heart. But if he leaves his remembrance, calling his presence to mind and the recollection of his beautiful characteristics in his heart, his love for him will decrease. Nothing is more pleasing to the eye of the lover than the sight of his beloved, and nothing is more pleasing to his heart than the recollection of him and his beautiful characteristics. This recollection increases and decreases in accordance with the increase and decrease of love in the servant’s heart. What we experience in our daily lives bears witness to this. Even some poets have written poetry with this meaning:

I am amazed by the one who says, “I remembered my love.”
How could I forget her, so that I must remember the one I had forgotten?

This lover was amazed by the one who says, “I remembered my beloved,” because remembrance must follow forgetting, and had this person’s love been complete he would not have forgotten his beloved. Another one wrote:

I want to forget her but it is as if
Layla appears before me in every direction

He informs us that his love for her prevents him from forgetting her. And another one wrote:

Some want that this heart would forget you
But the innate nature rejects their desire

He says that his love for these people has become part of his very nature, so it rejects anyone who wants from him other than that. As the famous saying goes, “Whoever loves something remembers it abundantly.” Another one wrote, in a beautiful expression of this most honorable meaning:

If my heart were opened and its midst was viewed
They would see your remembrance and tawhid inscribed therein
Thus is the heart of the believer: the oneness of God and the remembrance of His Messenger are inscribed in it and they cannot be erased or removed

Sending blessings on the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, is also a reason for him to love the servant that does it. Just as it is causes an in increase of love for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in the one who does it, so does it cause the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to love him.

“Are they equal, those who know and those who do not know?”

Sending blessings on the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is a reason for the servant to be guided and it gives life to his heart. The more that the servant sends salat upon him, the more his love will occupy his heart, until there remains not even the slightest trace of opposition to his commands in the heart, nor any doubt concerning that which he came with. Rather, the Message that he came with becomes inscribed in his heart and he reads it continuously in the various conditions of his life, gaining guidance, success and various types of sciences (‘ulum) from it. The more firm that he becomes in this gnosis (ma’rifa), and the more that it becomes clear to his inner vision, the more his salat upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, will increase.

For this reason, the salat of the people who possess the knowledge of his sunna and his guidance and who follow his path is quite different from the salat of the common people, whose portion of it is merely agitating their limbs and raising their voices. As for his true followers – those who know his sunna and follow what he came with – their salat upon him is of another kind altogether. The more they grow to know him, the more that they increase in their love of him and in their awareness of the reality of the salat that Allah wants them to make upon him.

And thus is the remembrance of God the Exalted: the more that the servant knows Him, obeys Him and is beloved to Him, the more his remembrance differs from that of the heedless and distracted. This is something that can only be understood through experience, and merely hearing about it is not sufficient. There is a difference between one who remembers the Attributes of his Beloved, praises Him and exalts Him with these Attributes while love of Him has possessed his entire heart, and one who merely mentions them as a word on his tongue, without knowing what they mean and without presence of heart. This is like the difference between the mother who cries after losing her son and the woman who is hired to mourn a dead person she does not know. The remembrance of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his message and praising God, may He be exalted, for the blessing of sending him to us – these things are the very spirit and essence of life. It was said in this regard:

The spirit of gatherings is mentioning him and his sayings
In this is guidance for every confused wanderer
If he is not mentioned in a gathering
Then its attendees are as dead, though living

An Honorable Mention

Sending blessings on the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is a reason for the name of the one who does it to be presented to him and mentioned before him, as we mentioned in the sayings of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “Your prayers upon me are presented to me,” and “God has appointed angels to be at my grave and convey the greetings of peace (al-salam) to me on behalf of my nation (umma).” It is a sufficient honor for the servant that his name be mentioned before the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him. It has been said in this regard:

The one who comes to your mind for even a moment
Is worthy of soaring high and advancing

And another poet said:

Oh, welcome for that of which I was so undeserving!
Glad tidings of release after despair
So lay down your load for indeed you have been mentioned
In that sacred place, despite your imperfection

How Could I Ever Repay You?

Sending blessings on him is an attempt to fulfill only an insignificant fraction of his right upon us, and to give thanks for the blessing that God has bestowed upon us through him. This is despite the fact that what he deserves (of rights and thanks) is far too great to even be conceived of, carried out or intended. But God, in His generosity, accepts only a small amount of the thanks and rights due to him from His servants.

A Comprehensive Prayer

The salat upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, contains within it the remembrance of God, thanks to Him, and recognition of His blessing on His servants by sending the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The salat of the one who does it contains the mention of God and His Messenger and the request that God reward him through His salat upon him in the best manner, as he taught us about our Lord and His Names and Attributes, guided us to the way that pleases Him and informed us of what is in store for us after arriving to Him and traveling the path towards Him. Thus, the salat includes all the components of faith (iman) – indeed it includes recognition of the necessity of the existence of the Lord who is being called upon, His Knowledge, His Hearing, His Omnipotence, His Will, His Attributes, His Speech, His sending of His Messenger, belief in all that he informed us of, and complete love of him. There is no doubt that these are the foundations of faith, and the salat upon him includes the servant’s knowledge of all of that, his belief in it and his love of it, and it is thus among the best of deeds.

In Conclusion…

Here is a beautiful, subtle point for the one who teaches the religion of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to his nation (umma), calls them to it, encourages them to follow it and has patience through all of that. This is that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is given reward equal to the reward of all those who follow him, in addition to the reward for his own deeds. So if the one who calls others to his sunna and his religion and teaches good to this nation intends that the reward for all of this go to the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and his intention in calling the creation to God is to draw close to God and to have the reward of those who are obedient to Him go to the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, while they are still given their complete rewards, then the reward for his preaching and teaching will be in accordance with this intention. That is the bounty of God, which He gives to whom He wills, and God is the Possessor of great bounty.