What is the ruling on sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and adding “and upon his family and his companions” in sermons and lectures?

The Shaykh : I am afraid sleep will overtake you, and you will not sleep while your eyes are closed. I slept. It is a problem. Yes, let us begin with the questions, if Allah wills, and we ask Allah to guide us to the truth. Yes.

The questioner : In the name of Allah, all praise is due to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the best of Allah’s creation.

The Shaykh : I will start with the question you gave me.

The questioner : And upon his family and his companions. A questioner says, “O honorable Shaykh,”

The Shaykh : This is it. Good, fine.

The questioner : He says: “Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. As for what follows: It has been observed, O honorable one, that for more than forty years in your books and sermons, whenever you mentioned the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), you said, ‘May Allah send blessings upon him and upon his family and his companions.’ The same observation applies to the Committee of Senior Scholars; they do the same. However, it has been observed recently that when you mention the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), you say, ‘May Allah send blessings upon him and upon his family and his companions,’ and likewise at the end of your talks. But during the talk, you say only, ‘May Allah send blessings upon him and his family.’ Many scholars have criticized this style because it supports the [Shi‘i] school of thought.”

The Shaykh : Yes, good. In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy, and in Him we seek help. Usually, authors today, when they write the sermon at the beginning of a book, say: “I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. May Allah send blessings upon him and upon his family and his companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.” This is a formula with no harm, because Allah the Exalted says: As for during the speech, I used to say: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,” just as most people say today, and likewise in the books that are written. Then it occurred to me to say: “May Allah send blessings upon him and upon his family and his companions,” because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family and his companions) was asked, “How should we send blessings upon you?” he said: Then he said: “Upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad,” but he repeated the preposition, saying: So I thought that following the text is better. This is one point. Second, I noticed that when I said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,” I would elide the letters, saying: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said.” But when I said “and upon his family,” there was a pause, and it became possible for me to say it without elision. Yes, and I thank this brother the questioner for this question, and I hope that questioners are frank like this man. That is, if a person, for example, criticizes something from me or from someone else, especially a general matter, and addresses it by asking about the reason, that is good. And I am not infallible; I may make a mistake, and some people may point out my error to me. This is the perspective that led me to change to saying “May Allah send blessings upon him and upon his family and his companions.” Yes.