The Shaykh's answer to the questioner asking what is better for the one praying to say: "O Allah, send blessings upon our master Muhammad" or "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad"?
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The Shaykh : Is it better that we say in the prayer, in the tashahhud, "O Allah, send blessings upon our master Muhammad," or do we say "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad" to the end of the known prayers...?
And what drives people to ask such a question is that it is a question of an innovator, and it never occurred to the righteous Salaf at all. The reason is that there was no basis for it; there was no one among the Companions who held that there is a guidance better or more excellent than the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Someone might say, "No one says this even today." We say, "No, in the reality of their lives, people say that there is something better than the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but they do not dare to utter it, because it is clear, manifest misguidance. Why? Because if you say to one of them, 'My brother, do not do such and such,' he says, 'What is wrong with it? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ... said, 'What is wrong with it?' If you stop at the word 'what the Messenger did not do,' then either you prove that the Messenger did it, or you prove that the Messenger commanded it or permitted it, or else you retract your statement. Otherwise, the meaning of your words is that your guidance is better than the guidance of the Messenger, and your guidance is better than the guidance of the Messenger. And this ... there was no one among the Salaf who would say in the prayer, 'O Allah, send blessings upon our master,' because they received the command from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) exactly as it was, and they ... unlike us today. I always say, and I will always say, if the door were opened to adding such words based on people's opinions, the Shari'ah would have changed, and it would have suffered what befell the Shari'ah of the Torah and the Gospel. But the people stopped, and this is a favor of Allah upon us and upon them all, that some of the words ... they did not go out ... So when the words of His Blessed and Exalted Self came down, they said, 'O Messenger of Allah, we know this peace upon you, so how do we send blessings upon you?' He said, 'Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad,' up to the end of the known prayers of blessing. Can you imagine a scholar ... can you imagine a scholar who hears this command directly from the Messenger, who told him, 'Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad,' and then he ... in the tashahhud says, 'O Allah, send blessings upon our master Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon our master Ibrahim and the family of our master Ibrahim ...' and so on. As for the Companions, as for the Tabi'un, as for those who followed them, we consider this impossible for them. As for the later scholars, well, that is a different matter. I used to say that this leads some people to additions ... but they do not do them. For example, 'The greetings are for Allah.' Why do they not say, 'The greetings are for Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He'? For Allah is more worthy of glorification and magnification. Why do they not say, 'The greetings are for Allah, Mighty and Majestic'? Why do they not say, 'The greetings are for Allah, our master and our lord,' when He is the Lord in the original sense? I used to raise this issue to turn them back from that addition, 'our master.' And then I noticed that some of the worshippers in our mosque actually add additions in the tashahhud that I have not heard in my life. They have no standards, they have no limits. 'The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad' in ... they do not have this concept. And it may be, as I feel, that they have some of the inherited jurisprudential study, but in their lifetime they have never heard that 'the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad' means that they should not add to what came in the Sunnah, not even a single letter. And I was pleased with, and I narrated this which I came across recently, a hadith for which I obtained a copy for the first time in my life during my last pilgrimage to the Holy House, a copy of the book *Mu'jam al-Tirmidhi al-Awsat*. I delved into studying it and found in it benefits, some of which I had not found in thousands of manuscripts I had read ... for my friend ... so ... what is the text? It says: Al-Tirmidhi, with his authentic chain, from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud that he was in a gathering teaching one of the people the form of the tashahhud that we all know today. When he reached the phrase, 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger,' what did the student say? 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, having no partner.' What did Ibn Mas'ud answer him? ... It is very nice, as I told you ... we need to learn these manners. He said, 'It is so, but we stop at what we were taught.' I found another phrase, glory to Allah, all from the same school. One of the students of Ibn Mas'ud was ... making another addition in the tashahhud, so he affirmed this meaning to him in the manner of Ibn Mas'ud, but he also told him, 'We stop at what we were taught.' So we Muslims today need this etiquette so that we are truly submissive, truly Muslims to Allah, Lord of the worlds. So the teaching in the prayer was, 'O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad.' Then the one who ... this phrase, they do not realize that this prayer contains a supplication to Allah. We want to send blessings upon the Messenger as He sent blessings upon Ibrahim, and to bless him as He blessed Ibrahim. This equals virtue ... he thinks this ... if the expression is correct, we insert this phrase into these Ibrahimic prayers, meaning this entire supplication is honor and lordship for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and a supplication for increase for him. So why this phrase? This resembles, at that time, if the readers were to notice the Ibrahimic prayer, there is another addition that people say today in response to the mu'adhdhin after that. They say, 'O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the established prayer, grant Muhammad the intercession, the virtue, and the high rank.' This high rank has no basis, and its mention here, given that it has no basis in the hadith, is a redundant result. Why? Because it came in another hadith. If you do not say, 'Grant Muhammad the intercession and the virtue,' what did you add? It is the rank in Paradise, it is the high rank. So this is filler in the speech with no benefit, contrary to the text. No ... if there were an added meaning and a good, beautiful meaning, we would say we prefer ... over the teaching of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because there is nothing after the teaching of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ... And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.[Al-Ahzab 33:56] They said“O Messenger of Allah, we have already known this salam to you, so how do we send blessings upon you?”He said, “Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad,” up to the end of the known forms of sending blessings. Is it conceivable that a scholar... is it conceivable that a scholar hears this command directly from the Messenger, who told him, “Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad,” and then in the tashahhud he says, “O Allah, send blessings upon our master Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon our master Ibrahim and upon the family of our master Ibrahim,” and so on? As for the Companions, the Tabi'un, and those who followed them, we consider this impossible for them. As for the later generations, well, that is a different story. I used to say that this leads some people to additions... but they do not do them. For example, “The greetings are for Allah.” Why do they not say, “The greetings are for Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He”? For Allah is more deserving of reverence and magnification. Why do they not say, “The greetings are for Allah, Mighty and Majestic”? Why do they not say, “The greetings are for Allah, our master and our lord,” when He is the Master in the original sense? I used to raise this objection to turn them back from that addition, “our master.” Then I noticed that some of the worshippers in our mosque actually add things to the tashahhud that I have not heard in my life. He has no standards, he has no limits. He says, “The best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad,” in... he does not have this concept. It may be, as I feel, that he has some of the inherited jurisprudential study, but in his life he has never heard that “the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad.” It means he hears, of course, this... but there is absolutely nothing in it. It means do not add to what came in the Sunnah, not even a single letter. And I was delighted and I narrated this which I came upon recently. I obtained a copy for the first time in my life during my last Hajj to the Holy House, a copy of the book *Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat* by al-Tabarani. I devoted myself to studying it and found in it benefits, some of which I had not found in thousands of manuscripts that I had read... for this companion of mine... so... what is the text? It says: Al-Tabarani, with his authentic chain, from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud that he was in a gathering teaching one of the people the form of the tashahhud that we all know today. When he reached the phrase, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger,” what did the student say? “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, having no partner.” What did Ibn Mas'ud answer him? ... It is very nice. We, as I told you... need to learn these manners. He said, “It is so, but we stop at what we were taught.” I found another phrase, glory to Allah, all from the same school. One of the students of Ibn Mas'ud was... making another addition in the tashahhud, so he affirmed for him this meaning in the manner of Ibn Mas'ud, but he also told him, “We stop at what we were taught.” So we Muslims today need this etiquette to be truly submissive, truly Muslims to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The teaching regarding the prayer was, “O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad,” and then the one who... this phrase, they do not realize that this prayer contains a supplication to Allah. We want to send blessings upon the Messenger as He sent blessings upon Ibrahim and to bless him as He blessed Ibrahim. This equals virtue... he thinks this... if the expression is correct, we insert this phrase into these Ibrahimic prayers, meaning this entire supplication is honor and lordship for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and a supplication for increase for him. So why this phrase? This resembles, if the readers were to pay attention to the Ibrahimic prayer, another addition that people say today in response to the mu'adhdhin after that. They say, “O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the established prayer, grant Muhammad the intercession, the virtue, and the high rank.” This high rank has no basis and its mention here, given that it has no basis in the hadith, is a redundant result. Why? Because it came in another hadith: if you do not say, “Grant Muhammad the intercession and the virtue,” what did you add? It is the rank in Paradise, it is the high rank. So this is filler in the speech with no benefit, contrary to the text. No... if there were an added meaning and a good, beautiful meaning, we would say we prefer it... over the teaching of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because there is nothing after the teaching of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that is... And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds."That is indeed so, but we stop at what we were taught."I found another phrase, glory be to Allah, all from the same school. One of the students of Ibn Mas'ud was... an additional addition in the tashahhud, so he affirmed this meaning to him in the manner of Ibn Mas'ud, but he also told him, "We stop at what we have been taught." So we Muslims today are in need of this etiquette so that we are truly submissive, truly Muslims to Allah, Lord of the worlds. So the teaching regarding the prayer was, "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad," and then the one who... these words do not realize that this prayer contains a supplication to Allah. We want to send blessings upon the Messenger as He sent blessings upon Ibrahim, and to bless him as He blessed Ibrahim. This equals excellence... he thinks this... if the expression is correct, we insert this word into these Ibrahimic prayers, meaning this entire supplication is honor and sovereignty for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and a supplication for increase for him thereby. So why this word? This resembles, at that time, if the readers were to pay attention to the Ibrahimic prayer, for this additional addition that people say today in response to the mu'adhdhin. After that, they say, "O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the established prayer, grant Muhammad the wasilah, the excellence, and the high rank." This high rank has no basis, and its mention here, given that it has no basis in the hadith, is a redundant conclusion. Why? Because it came in another hadith... If you do not say, "Grant Muhammad the wasilah (intermediary position) and the fadilah (excellence)," what have you added? It is the degree in Paradise, the high degree. So this is filler in the speech with no benefit beneath it, while contradicting the text. No... If there were an added meaning and a good, beautiful meaning, we would say that we prefer it... to the teaching of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because there is nothing after the teaching of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that is... And this extent is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
And what drives people to ask such a question is that it is a question of an innovator, and it never occurred to the righteous Salaf at all. The reason is that there was no basis for it; there was no one among the Companions who held that there is a guidance better or more excellent than the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Someone might say, "No one says this even today." We say, "No, in the reality of their lives, people say that there is something better than the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but they do not dare to utter it, because it is clear, manifest misguidance. Why? Because if you say to one of them, 'My brother, do not do such and such,' he says, 'What is wrong with it? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ... said, 'What is wrong with it?' If you stop at the word 'what the Messenger did not do,' then either you prove that the Messenger did it, or you prove that the Messenger commanded it or permitted it, or else you retract your statement. Otherwise, the meaning of your words is that your guidance is better than the guidance of the Messenger, and your guidance is better than the guidance of the Messenger. And this ... there was no one among the Salaf who would say in the prayer, 'O Allah, send blessings upon our master,' because they received the command from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) exactly as it was, and they ... unlike us today. I always say, and I will always say, if the door were opened to adding such words based on people's opinions, the Shari'ah would have changed, and it would have suffered what befell the Shari'ah of the Torah and the Gospel. But the people stopped, and this is a favor of Allah upon us and upon them all, that some of the words ... they did not go out ... So when the words of His Blessed and Exalted Self came down, they said, 'O Messenger of Allah, we know this peace upon you, so how do we send blessings upon you?' He said, 'Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad,' up to the end of the known prayers of blessing. Can you imagine a scholar ... can you imagine a scholar who hears this command directly from the Messenger, who told him, 'Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad,' and then he ... in the tashahhud says, 'O Allah, send blessings upon our master Muhammad and upon the family of our master Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon our master Ibrahim and the family of our master Ibrahim ...' and so on. As for the Companions, as for the Tabi'un, as for those who followed them, we consider this impossible for them. As for the later scholars, well, that is a different matter. I used to say that this leads some people to additions ... but they do not do them. For example, 'The greetings are for Allah.' Why do they not say, 'The greetings are for Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He'? For Allah is more worthy of glorification and magnification. Why do they not say, 'The greetings are for Allah, Mighty and Majestic'? Why do they not say, 'The greetings are for Allah, our master and our lord,' when He is the Lord in the original sense? I used to raise this issue to turn them back from that addition, 'our master.' And then I noticed that some of the worshippers in our mosque actually add additions in the tashahhud that I have not heard in my life. They have no standards, they have no limits. 'The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad' in ... they do not have this concept. And it may be, as I feel, that they have some of the inherited jurisprudential study, but in their lifetime they have never heard that 'the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad' means that they should not add to what came in the Sunnah, not even a single letter. And I was pleased with, and I narrated this which I came across recently, a hadith for which I obtained a copy for the first time in my life during my last pilgrimage to the Holy House, a copy of the book *Mu'jam al-Tirmidhi al-Awsat*. I delved into studying it and found in it benefits, some of which I had not found in thousands of manuscripts I had read ... for my friend ... so ... what is the text? It says: Al-Tirmidhi, with his authentic chain, from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud that he was in a gathering teaching one of the people the form of the tashahhud that we all know today. When he reached the phrase, 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger,' what did the student say? 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, having no partner.' What did Ibn Mas'ud answer him? ... It is very nice, as I told you ... we need to learn these manners. He said, 'It is so, but we stop at what we were taught.' I found another phrase, glory to Allah, all from the same school. One of the students of Ibn Mas'ud was ... making another addition in the tashahhud, so he affirmed this meaning to him in the manner of Ibn Mas'ud, but he also told him, 'We stop at what we were taught.' So we Muslims today need this etiquette so that we are truly submissive, truly Muslims to Allah, Lord of the worlds. So the teaching in the prayer was, 'O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad.' Then the one who ... this phrase, they do not realize that this prayer contains a supplication to Allah. We want to send blessings upon the Messenger as He sent blessings upon Ibrahim, and to bless him as He blessed Ibrahim. This equals virtue ... he thinks this ... if the expression is correct, we insert this phrase into these Ibrahimic prayers, meaning this entire supplication is honor and lordship for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and a supplication for increase for him. So why this phrase? This resembles, at that time, if the readers were to notice the Ibrahimic prayer, there is another addition that people say today in response to the mu'adhdhin after that. They say, 'O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the established prayer, grant Muhammad the intercession, the virtue, and the high rank.' This high rank has no basis, and its mention here, given that it has no basis in the hadith, is a redundant result. Why? Because it came in another hadith. If you do not say, 'Grant Muhammad the intercession and the virtue,' what did you add? It is the rank in Paradise, it is the high rank. So this is filler in the speech with no benefit, contrary to the text. No ... if there were an added meaning and a good, beautiful meaning, we would say we prefer ... over the teaching of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because there is nothing after the teaching of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ... And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.