It is mentioned in some books by the imams of the people of the Sunnah the phrase “Ali (peace be upon him)”; what is the ruling on that?

The questioner : The questioner asks and says: We see in some books of the scholars of knowledge ... the Salafi methodology, such as al-Shawkani ... Imam Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) with the phrase “peace be upon him,” as it came in your book “The Rulings on Funerals”; what do you say about that?

The Shaykh : I say that singling out Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to be greeted with “peace be upon him” among the Rightly Guided Caliphas has no evidence. However, using this phrase, even if it is accompanied by the word “salah” (prayer), is permissible for every Muslim, as came in some authentic hadiths that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he visited Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Ansari in his home at his invitation, after he had eaten and left ... Jabir’s wife, and she said: “O Messenger of Allah, invoke Allah for us”, and he (peace be upon him) said: As it also came in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So, prayer (salah) upon a Muslim is a permissible matter from the standpoint of the Shari’ah, but the early custom restricted that to the prophets and messengers. If that is the case, then if a Muslim wants to pray (salah) in the sense of making du'a for a Muslim, the original ruling is that it is permissible, but he should do so in a place or with people among whom the matter will not be confused, especially if they are non-Arabs. However, it is not befitting to single out this permissibility for Ali (peace be upon him), because that is from the practice of those who exaggerate in his status, such as the Shi'ah and their like. If that is found in a book of the people of the Sunnah, then it is a slip of the pen, and it is better to avoid it.