al-Salat ala Rasul Allah - صلى الله عليه وسلم - Fadluha wa Manaha wa Kayfiyyatuha wa Mawadiuha wa al-Tahdhir min Tarkiha
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Maktabat Dār al-ʻUlūm
al-Salat 'ala Rasul Allah - Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa-Alihi wa-Sallam - Fadluha wa-Ma'naha wa-Kayfiyyatuha wa-Mawadi'uha wa-al-Tahdhir min Tarkiha (Arabic: الصلاة على رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم - فضلها ومعناها وكيفيتها ومواضعها والتحذير من تركها, "Invoking Blessings upon the Messenger of God: Its Virtue, Meaning, Manner, Occasions, and Warning against Neglecting It") is a contemporary Islamic treatise compiled by the Egyptian author Shehata Saqr focusing on the legal rulings, prophetic formulations, and theological dimensions of invoking blessings and peace upon the Prophet Muhammad .
Sources and Methodology
In the introduction to the work, the compiler explains that his contribution is confined to compiling and organizing the material (jam' wa-tartib) . The core text draws primarily from Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's classical treatise Jala' al-Afham fi Fadl al-Salat wa-al-Salam 'ala Khayr al-Anam . For hadith authentication and verification, the author relies systematically on the evaluations of modern scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani .
Contents and Themes
The book presents a structured overview of invoking blessings upon the Prophet across several thematic areas:
- The Divine Command and Its Meaning: Explaining verse 56 of Surat al-Ahzab ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا , "Indeed, Allah and His angels confer blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace"), the work cites classical exegetical views regarding the nature of God's blessings—such as Abu al-Aliya's view that God's salat signifies His praise of the Prophet in the presence of the angels, while the angels' prayer is supplication, alongside interpretations transmitted from Ibn Abbas and Sufyan al-Thawri .
- Legal Rulings: The work surveys scholarly opinions regarding the obligation (wujub) of sending blessings upon the Prophet, noting positions that hold it obligatory once in a lifetime, obligatory in general without numerical restriction, obligatory whenever the Prophet's name is uttered, obligatory in the final tashahhud of each prayer, or recommended (mustahabb) .
- Prescribed Occasions (Mawadi'): The text outlines the specific instances where invoking blessings is established in the Sunnah, such as during the final tashahhud of ritual prayer, after the second takbir in funeral prayers (salat al-janazah), on Fridays, and upon hearing the call to prayer (adhan) .
- Formulations (Kayfiyyah): The compiler notes that while blessings can be uttered in any sound phrasing, the superior formulation is the Abrahamic prayer (al-Salat al-Ibrahimiyyah) taught directly by the Prophet to his Companions .
- Warnings and Critiques of Innovations: The author warns against practices he characterizes as unsubstantiated additions, such as callers to prayer (mu'adhdhins) raising their voices over minarets to recite blessings aloud immediately after the adhan, pointing out that no such practice was transmitted from Bilal, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, or early jurists . He also addresses the belief regarding the life of prophets in their graves (barzakh), maintaining that it is an intermediate state of the unseen rather than a continuation of worldly physical life .
Publication
The work was published in Egypt by Maktabat Dar al-'Ulum (مكتبة دار العلوم), based in Abu Hummus, Beheira Governorate .
Answer updated