Text copied Link copied

Al-Fatawa – home

﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

Scholar
Search mode

How to send greetings to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the response to the innovated forms of greeting.

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : If someone were to ask: How do we send greetings and how do we pray? How do we send greetings to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and how do we pray?
We said: Praise be to Him. The Qur'an commands, and the Messenger clarified what the Qur'an commands regarding prayer and greetings. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) made this clear. So, in his teaching us how to send greetings, he said:
as-salamu 'alaika ayyuhan-Nabiyyu wa rahmatAllahi wa baraktuhu السلام عليك أيها النبي ورحمة الله وبركاته
Sunan an-Nasa'i 1171Sahih (Darussalam)
This is the best form of greeting the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Leave aside the many forms that contain embellished words, most of which are exaggeration regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). If we were to ask the most knowledgeable people about the form of greeting the Messenger, what would you say? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Is it possible that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) knew a better form than what he taught his Ummah and then concealed it? No, by Allah, because if there were a better form here, the Ummah would have known it to attain its virtue and to increase their greetings to him. But he said:
Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah (SWT) and his blessings قولوا السلام عليك أيها النبي ورحمة الله وبركاته
Sunan an-Nasa'i 1171Sahih (Darussalam)
As for what we see in some books of long greetings, "Peace be upon you, O beloved of Allah," "Peace be upon you, O Prophet of Allah," "Peace be upon you, O intercessor of creation," and the like, why? Are we more knowledgeable about what Allah and His Messenger love, or are Allah and His Messenger more knowledgeable? Allah and His Messenger are more knowledgeable. If that is the case, know that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), out of his complete sincerity, would not withhold a form from you, nor would he give you what is inferior and weaker. That is impossible. So, my Muslim brother, you must adhere to the religion and leave the innovations. Leave aside what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not teach his Ummah. And I do not say this except because I am now informing you, by the grace of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), that our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the most beloved of people to me, and it is not possible for me to withhold from him a form of greeting or prayer that is better than what he said. And in my opinion, this is what you believe, is it not? So, if this is the case, my brother, why do I burden myself with forms of greeting that are not found in the Qur'an or the Sunnah, and which contain things whose defects may be apparent? For example, some people say: "Three of the messengers: Ibrahim, the intimate friend of Allah." Where is the evidence? Please.
The student:
And Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend. واتخذ الله إبراهيم خليلاً
[An-Nisa 4:125]


The Shaykh : Well done. Muhammad, the beloved of Allah; Musa, the one who spoke to Allah. If they say Muhammad is the beloved of Allah.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

Similar fatwas