The virtues and benefits of ‘salat’ and ‘salam’ – Part 5

How to perform Salat and Salam

There is no single way of performing salat and salam. In fact, since the time of the Prophet ﷺ thousands of formulas of salat and salam have been composed. The various formulas of salat and salam include:

1. Formulas taught by the Prophet ﷺ himself
2. Formulas composed by the Sahaba
3. Formulas composed by the Ulema and Awliya after the time of the Sahaba

Formulas taught by the Prophet ﷺ himself

There are a number of formulas of salat and salam which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught to his Sahaba which have been transmitted to us in Hadiths. One of the most famous of these is the aforementioned Ibrahimiyya salat:

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ ❁ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَىٰ اِبْرَاهِيْمَ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ اِبْرَاهِيْمَ ❁ إنَّكَ حَمِيْدٌ مَجِيْدٌ ❁ اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ ❁ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَىٰ اِبْرَاهِيْمَ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ اِبْرَاهِيْمَ ❁ إنَّكَ حَمِيْدٌ مَجِيْدٌ

‘O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad just as You have sent prayers upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim, indeed You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You have blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim, indeed You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious.’

The Ibrahimiya prayer

There are also others. A few examples are below:

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلٰى مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلٰى آلِ مُحمَّدٍ و أَنْزِلْهُ الْمَقْعَدَ الْمُقَرَّبَ عِنْدَكَ

‘O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad and grant him a station of proximity to You.’

Tabarani

أللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلٰى مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدِكَ وَرَسُوْلِكَ وَ صَلِّ عَلَ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ والْمُؤْمِناَتِ وَالْمُسْلِمِيْنَ وَالْمُسْلِمِاَتِ

‘O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad, your slave and your messenger. And send prayers on the believing men and believing women and the Muslim men and Muslim women.’

Ibn Hibban

Formulas composed by the Sahaba

The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ understood that the command from Allah Most High to perform salat and salam was not restricted to any single formula. Rather, they understood that there were many ways to act upon the verse of Quran and we therefore find a number of the Sahaba having formulas of salawat which are attributed to them. The cousin of the Prophet ﷺ, Sayiduna Ibn Masud famously said:

“When you send prayers upon the Prophet, you should beautify the prayer for you do not know, perhaps it will be presented to him.”

Abdullah Ibn Masud (r.a)

The following formula of salawat is attributed to Sayiduna Imam Ali (may Allah ennoble his face):

صَلَواتُ اللهِ تَعَالَى وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَأَنْبِيَائِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَجَمِيعِ خَلْقِهِ عَلَى مُحَمِّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَلْيِهِ وَعَلْيِهِمُ اْلْسَّلَامُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالَى وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Blessings of Allah Almighty, of His Angels, of His Prophets, of His Messengers, and all Creation be upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad; may the Peace and Mercy of Allah Almighty and His Blessings be upon him and upon them. 

The salawat of Imam Ali (r.a)

There are a number of other formulas also which have been attributed to the Sahaba including Sayida Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and her son Imam al-Hasan.

Formulas composed by the Ulema and Awliya after the time of the Sahaba

The Ulema (scholars) and Awliya (friends of Allah) of Islam would also compose formulas of salawat in their own words. They would use verses of Quran, names of Allah Most High, descriptions of the Prophet ﷺ and beautiful supplications to compose unique formulas of salat and salam. Allah Most High would inspire them to do this and in some cases they would see a vision of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who himself would gift them with the new salawat so they could recite and teach it to others.

Arguably the most famous non-sahabi to compose his own formula of salawat was the great Mujtahid scholar, Imam ash-Shafi. He famously wrote the following salat in one of his books:

اللَّهُمَّ صَلَّى عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ عَدَدَ مَا ذَكَرَهُ الذَّاكِرُونَ وَغَفَلَ عَنْ ذِكْرِهِ الْغَافِلونَ

Oh Allah! Bestow Your Mercy and Blessings upon Muhammad whenever he is remembered, and bestow Your Mercy and Blessings upon Muhammad whenever he is not remembered.

The salat of Imam ash-Shafi

The Imam was see in a dream after his death and he was in an excellent state having been forgiven and shown mercy by Allah Most High. He was asked how he achieved such a high rank and he replied that it was on account of this salawat.

Countless other Imam’s have done the same including Hasan al-Basri (the famous student of the Sahaba), Al-Gawth al-A’zam Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, Imam ash-Shadhili and Shaykh Abu Bakr bin Salim (composer of salat at-taj/durood taj). Imam al-Jazuli, the great Moroccan saint famously compiled many of the salawat which were available at his time in his masterpiece ‘dala’il al-khayrat’. This manual of salawat is split into seven sections, one for each day of the week. It has been recited throughout the Muslim world for hundreds of years.

The Mujadid of the 9th century, Imam as-Suyuti transmits the following salat and salam and says if a person recites it every Friday night, he will experience the Prophet ﷺ lowering him into his grave when he is being buried:

اَللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكَ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ الْنَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ الْحَبِيبِ الْعَالِي الْقَدْرِ الْعَظِيمِ الْجَاهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ

O Allah exalt and greet and bless our master Muhammad the Unlettered Prophet, the Beloved of Highest Value, Possessing Immense Status and on his family and companions and send them peace. 

Salat of Imam as-Suyuti

This tradition of composing new formulas of salawat continues till this day and even now we have new formulas being composed, taught and recited. Two giant scholars of our time, Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi and Habib Umar bin Hafiz are examples of this.

اَللّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلٰى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ مَدِيْنَةِ العِلْم وَ سَفِيْنَةِ الحِلْم وَعَلٰى اَلِه وَصَحْبِهِ وَ سَلِّم

O Allāh, bestow prayers and salutations upon our master Muhammad, the city of knowledge, the ship of forbearance and upon his family, his companions.

A prayer from ‘Shifa al-quloob’ by Sheikh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ على سَيِّدِنا مُحَمَّدٍ نُورِكَ السَّارِي وَمَدَدِكَ الجَارِي واجْمَعْنِي بِهِ فِي كُلِّ أَطْوَارِي وعلى آلِهِ وصَحْبِهِ يَانُورْ

O Allah, bestow prayers and peace upon our Master Muhammad, Your light which spreads and Your assistance which flows (throughout creation) and join me with him in all my states, and upon his Family and Companions, O Light!

‘Nurik as-sari’ by Habib Umar

In the final part we will offer some closing advise on how to maintain regular recitation of salat and salam in our lives, if Allah wills.

Part 6