The virtues and benefits of ‘salat’ and ‘salam’ – Part 3

The virtues and benefits of salat and salam

It is impossible to fully enumerate the benefits of this immense and noble act of worship which Allah has commanded us to perform. Nonetheless the Ulema of Islam throughout the centuries have compiled books mentioning some of these benefits. One of the scholars recently did a search to find the books on this topic which are readily available and found over 1,000 titles. This is of course just a portion of the actual number of the books on this topic in Arabic. In reality, if we were to consider the unpublished manuscripts, less famous works and works written in languages other than Arabic, we would find the number of books on this topic is even higher.

In this part we will look at a few of the famous benefits of salawat mentioned in some well-known Hadiths.

Removal of worries and forgiveness of sins

Ubai bin Ka’ab (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:

 ‘O Messenger of Allah, I send prayers (salat) upon you frequently, so how many of my prayers shall I make for you?

He replied, ‘as many as you wish’. 

I said, ‘a quarter of it?’ He said, ‘as many as you wish, but if you were to increase upon this, it would be better for you.’ 

I said, ‘half of it?’ He said, ‘as many as you wish, but if you were to increase upon this, it would be better for you.’ 

I said, ‘two-thirds of it?’ He said again, ‘as many as you wish, but if you were to increase upon this, it would be better for you.’ 

Finally I said, ‘I will dedicate all of my prayers to you.’ 

He said, ‘If you do that, your worries will be removed, and your sins will be forgiven.’

(Narrated by Tirmidhi and Hakim)

Salawat is a confirmed method of removing worries and anxieties. Anybody who has consistently dedicated a portion of their day to reciting salawat will testify to this fact. This is what is known in Islamic terminology as ‘mujarabb’ which means tried and tested. Also it is noteworthy that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave Sayiduna Ubai permission to dedicate all of his time reciting salawat upon him. If anybody had any doubt about the importance of this act, yet alone it’s permissibility, this Hadith is one of the strongest proofs for anybody who desires to take on a regular recitation of salat and salam.

Removal of sins and raising of ranks

Anas bin Malik narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Whoever sends one prayer (salat) upon me, Allah sends ten prayers upon them, removes ten of their sins and raises them by ten ranks.”

(Nasai and Ibn Hibban)

How many acts of worship bring about such immense reward? One simple salat results in ten sins being removed and the reciter of the salat being raised by ten ranks. It is for this reason the Ulema tell us that if someone has spent his life sinning and neglecting acts of worship then he should make salat and salam in abundance. This will go some way in compensating for the years of neglect.

As for the receiving of ten prayers from Allah Most High Himself then we cannot even fathom exactly what that entails in terms of blessings, rewards, protection and assistance from the Divine court!

You will not be considered a miser

Imam al-Hussain (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“The miser is the one whom in front of I am mentioned, and he does not send prayers upon me”

Tirmidhi

A miser is a stingy person. In reality, anyone who is unable to even say ‘sallalahu alayhi wa salam’ upon hearing the name of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is stingy. This is because reciting any short formula of salawat is almost effortless and nobody deserves more respect and veneration from us than the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Yet when we consider the amount of benefit and reward involved in reciting salawat it is even more bewildering that any sound minded person would refrain from it.

Salat and salam is a means to having duas (supplications) answered

Sayiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

‘Verily, supplications are stalled between the heavens and the earth, and are not lifted up until the supplicant invokes blessings upon the Prophet ﷺ’

Tirmidhi

Allah Most High hears and answers all of our prayers and requests in whichever way He chooses. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed us of the etiquettes of dua which if observed, increase the chances of a swift response. One of those etiquettes is to recite salat and salam at the start of the dua and upon the completion of the dua. One of the reasons for this being a means of acceptance is that Allah always accepts salawat from His servants and He is too kind to not accept any dua made in between.

Safety on the day of judgement

Sayiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

‘The closest people to me on the Day of Resurrection will be those who invoked the most blessings upon me.’

Tirmidhi

On the day of judgement, safety will be a much sought after commodity! There is no doubt that the safest location that day will be in the company of the Prophet ﷺ. Nobody will be given permission to speak on that day before al-Mustafa ﷺ (the chosen one) and nobody will be allowed to intercede before him.

The Prophet ﷺ receives your salam and responds to you!

The Prophetﷺ  said:

‘Nobody greets me except that Allah returns my soul to me, so that I may return his greeting.’  

Abu Dawud

He ﷺ also said:

‘Whoever sends blessing upon me at my grave, I will hear it, and whoever sends blessings upon me away from it, it will be conveyed to me.’

Bayhaqi

He ﷺ also said:

‘Verily, your best day is Friday, so invoke blessings upon me in abundance on this day, for your invocation is shown to me.’ They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! How can our invocations be shown to you after your bones have turned to dust? He replied ‘Verily, Allah has forbidden the earth from consuming the bodies of the Messengers.’

An-Nasai and Ibn Majah

One of the principles of Sunni Islam is believing that the Prophets are alive in their graves. We also know that they have an expansive and unconfined life in the barzakh (intermediate realm after death) where they are able to pray, travel, communicate and supplicate for the living. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is alive in his grave and he see’s the actions of his Ummah as proven by sound narrations. He knows all of us and he see’s our names as well as the names of our parents whenever we recite salat and salam upon him. He receives our greetings and he replies to us!

Abundant salawat increases your love for the Prophet ﷺ

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his father, his children and all mankind.” 

Bukhari

This Hadith informs us that the more we love the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the stronger our Iman (faith) will be. It is therefore required of every believer to increase his love for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by learning about his life, characteristics, the favours he has done to us and the rights he has upon us. One of the quickest and most effective ways of increasing our love for him is to recite salat and salam upon him in abundance.

It is also vital to remember the difficult times we are living in where attacks against religion in general and Islam in particular are common. It is therefore required for every Muslim parent to ensure that they inculcate love for the Prophet ﷺ inside their children from a young age. The effect of this will be that they will have Iman strong enough to face the confusing and difficult day and age we find ourselves in. It has also been seen that if a child goes down the wrong path or struggles with practising Islam it will only be temporary. They may go astray for a while but the love for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ will not allow them to leave Islam fully. Eventually it will pull them back on to the straight path.

Abundant salawat is a means of seeing the Prophet ﷺ in your dream

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Whoever sees me in a dream has truly seen me, for Satan cannot imitate me.” 

Ibn Majah

He ﷺ also said:

“Whoever sees me in his dream will (soon) see me whilst awake”

Bukhari and Muslim

To see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ should be a goal in life for every believer. One of the blessings of being from the Ummah (nation) of the al-Mustafa ﷺ is that we are able to see him even if we did not physically meet him during his physical life. Multiple Hadiths confirm this and also give us the extra benefit of knowing that the devil (shaytan) cannot take his blessed form. For this reason the Ulema say, if you saw him ﷺ in a vision and you felt it was him, then it surely was. One of the ways of being blessed with the vision of the beloved Prophet ﷺ is by reciting abundant salat and salam on him regularly. If you do this you will see him eventually, even if it takes some time.

As for the Hadith that states that whoever sees the Prophet ﷺ in a dream will eventually see him whilst awake, then according to most of the scholars, it is meant literally. A person who has the honour of this blessed dream will soon have the honour of having the blessed vision whilst awake. Some of the scholars said that it will be right before a person dies. And Allah knows best.

Salat and Salam is a sign of the Sunnis

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed us that various sects would emerge within Islam after his time. He also however gave us the good news that in every generation there would be a group of people manifest on the truth and they would be upon the beliefs which he ﷺ and his companions (Sahaba) were upon. This group is called ahl al-Sunna wa l-jama’ah (for short we say ‘Sunni’) and they are the majority of Muslims. Somebody once asked Imam Zain ul-Abideen, the grandson of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, how to identify the orthodox Muslims when there are so many sects present. He said that:

“The distinguishing feature of Sunnis is their frequent sending of prayers upon the Messenger of Allah”

Imam Zain al Abidin

al-targhib wa al-tarhib

It is therefore no coincidence that you will rarely find a Sunni Muslim, whether a scholar or a layperson, except that they will have a regular litany (wird/wazifa) of salat and salam which they recite each day. Likewise you will not find them neglectful of reciting salawat each time they hear the blessed name of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

In the next part we will mention more benefits of reciting salat and salam, if Allah wills.

Part 4