Phrases: With You is al-Rahman, Our Ministry is Blessed, and May Allah Keep You Safe

Question:
What is your opinion regarding some phrases that some people say, such as “May the Merciful be with you,” or “Blessing visited us,” or “May Allah keep you alive”?

Answer:
May Allah keep you safe. This is fine; it is a supplication for his longevity. As for “With You is al-Rahman,” this is also fine; it is a supplication for Allah’s companionship, asking that Allah be with him. Allah the Exalted is with those who fear Him and those who do good. This is a special kind of companionship, so he is supplicating for him that Allah be with him through His victory, success, and assistance. This falls under the category of supplication.
As for “Blessing has settled upon us with your arrival” or similar phrases, if one believes—and I do not think a Muslim would believe this, if Allah wills—that this person is a source of blessing, then it is not permissible. However, if one means that your arrival is a cause for blessing because you are a good man and a man of goodness, and your arrival is a cause for the descent of blessing from Allah, this is from the perspective of optimism. Optimism is required; it is fine for a person to have a good opinion and be optimistic about good people. This is from the perspective of optimism. But if one believes that the person himself possesses blessing, that whatever he touches becomes blessed, and that wherever he sits, blessing remains there, this is the belief of the people of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and is not permissible. I do not think a Muslim who practices tawhid (the oneness of Allah) holds this belief; rather, this is the belief of the ignorant.