Invoking blessings upon Prophet Muhammad and not other Prophets
29-6-2003 | IslamWeb
Question:
As I am perusing your Fatwa section, I noticed that you begin all of your responses with, "Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions." In 2:285, the Qur'an says, "The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, as do men of faith. Each one believes in Allah, His angels, His books, and His Messengers. 'We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His Messengers.' And they say: 'we hear, and we obey: (we seek) Your forgiveness, Our Lord, and to You is the end of all journeys.'" Therefore, would it not be incorrect of you to be blessing only Mohammed? What about Jesus? Abraham? And the many, many other prophets that God tells us are all equal. Why do you single out and praise Mohammed? Just curious.
Answer:
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. It is not an error to begin a Fatwa with an invocation of blessings on the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) to the exclusion of other Prophets (Alaihim Salaam). This is because, Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) has the merit of invoking blessings and peace upon him more than other Prophets. Allah Commands us to invoke blessings and peace on him when He Says: {…O you who believe! Send your Salât on (ask Allâh to bless) him (Muhammad SAW), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islâmic way of greeting (salutation i.e. AsSalâmu 'Alaikum).}[33: 56]. However, it should not be inferred from the above that invoking blessings and peace upon other Prophets is not recommended. Rather, the scholars unanimously agree that it is recommended and that doing so brings a great reward. But it is wrong to believe that it is mandatory to invoke blessings on them when we do on Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) because Islamic injunction do not command us to do that. Al-Bukhari reported on the authority of Ka'b bin 'Ujrah who said: "We asked the Messenger of Allah saying: 'Oh Messenger of Allah! How can the blessing be invoked on you, the people of the household, for Allah has taught us how to send peace to you?' He answered: "Say: Allahuma Salli 'alaa Muhammad, wa'alaa aali Muhammad, Kamaa Salayta 'alaa Ibraaheem wa'alaa aali Ibraaheem, innaka Hameedun Majeed. Wabaarik 'alaa Muhammad wa'alaa aali Muhammad, Kamaa Baarakta 'alaa Ibraaheem wa'alaa aali Ibraaheem, innaka Hameedun Majeed". [Meaning: Oh Allah! Bless Muhammad and the household of Muhammad as You did Bless Ibraaheem and the household of Ibraaheem, You are The Praiseworthy, The Great. Oh Allah! Send blessings upon Muhammad and the household of Muhammad as You sent blessings upon Ibraaheem and household of Ibraaheem. You are The Praiseworthy, The Great]" . In the above Hadith, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) commanded that blessings be invoked on him and on his household, and did not command that the blessing be invoked on other Prophets. Al-Tirmizi reported another Hadith on the authority of Ubayy bin Ka'b who said, 'I told the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam): Oh Messenger of Allah! I do invoke many blessings on you. How much of my invocations of blessing should I make for you?' The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) answer, "As much as you like". I said: 'One quarter?' He said, "If you like, but if you increase it, it will be better for you". I said, 'Half?' He said, "If you like, but if you increase it, it will be better for you". I said, 'two thirds?' He said, "If you like but if you increase it, it will be better for you'. I said, 'I make all my invocation of blessing for you alone?' He said, "Then, it will remove your sorrow and make your sins be forgiven" [Reported by Al-Tirmizi ]. The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) in the above Hadith attached rewards to the invocation of blessings made on him and did not do so to that made on other Prophets. There are many other Hadith that imply the same meaning. You can now understand that beginning Fatawa, books and letters with invocation of blessings and peace on the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) in exclusion of other Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) is not an error. It is rather an Islamic symbol practised by the scholars as you can see that in their books and Fatawa. As regards the verse you quoted [2: 285], what it means is the confirmation of the belief of the Messenger and the believers in all Prophets and Messengers, for they made no distinction between them. They believed in them all and they affirmed that all that they brought was from Allah. They disagreed with the Jews who believed in Moses and disbelieved in Jesus , as they disagreed with the Christians who believed in Moses and Jesus and failed to believe in Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam). Allah knows best.