The Meaning of the Ibrahimi Prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Then you say: "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad. O Allah, send blessings upon him." The yaa of the vocative was deleted and replaced with a maa as compensation, and it began with the name of Allah for the sake of seeking good and seeking blessing in Him.
So, "Allah" means "O Allah." "Send blessings upon Muhammad, O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad, send blessings upon Muhammad." What is the meaning of sending blessings upon Muhammad? It means praising him in the highest assembly, meaning praising him among the angels in the presence of Allah. Praising him includes being pleased with him (peace and blessings be upon him) and elevating his mention among creation. So you say: "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad." Who are his family? Some scholars said: "His family are the believers among his relatives". And some of them said: "His family are his followers in his religion". The correct view is that if "his family" is paired with "followers," it means the believers among his relatives, and if it is not paired, the intended meaning is his followers in his religion. Accordingly, you say: "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon everyone who followed him in his religion," because only "the family" is mentioned in this phrase. Keep this meaning in mind when you send blessings upon yourself with this phrase, do you not? How is that? Because you are among his followers in his religion. "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim."
Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and You sent blessings upon his family. So you ask Allah to send blessings upon Muhammad and his family as He sent blessings upon Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. The kaa here, as we have said before, means the cause, not the comparison. And the meaning is: as You have been generous in sending blessings upon Ibrahim and his family, be generous in sending blessings upon Muhammad and his family. This is from the category of seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the actions of Allah in their state. And it has been mentioned before that the categories of seeking nearness to Allah through a means are seven, or is it eight? Yes, we will return to them, and there is no harm.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the names of Allah, general or specific.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by His attributes, general or specific.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by His actions.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by faith in Him.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by righteous deeds.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by what? By the state of the supplicant, by the state of the supplicant.
The seventh: Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the supplication of one whose response is hoped for among the living.
How many are these? Seven. These are seven. And if you wish to expand them, you say: Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the names generally.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the names specifically. Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the attributes generally. Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the attributes specifically.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the actions.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by faith in Allah.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by righteous deeds.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the state of the supplicant.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the supplication of one whose response is hoped for among the living. The total becomes nine.
Good. The important thing is that the prayer of the one praying: "as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim," this is from the category of seeking nearness to Allah through a means. And for this reason we say: the kaa here is for the cause, meaning because You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and his family, send blessings upon Muhammad and his family.
And your saying: "You are the Praiseworthy, the Majestic." Hamid means praised and means the one who praises—pay attention, my brother—Hamid means praised and means the one who praises. So who can give us an example of Hamid meaning that fa'il means maf'ool in the Arabic language? Yes. Good, rest. Qatil means killed, and jarih means wounded. Good. And who can give us an example of fa'il meaning fa'il? Yes. Please.
The student: Sami' means the one who hears.
The Shaykh : Sami' means the one who hears, correct. Rest. Hamid means the one who praises and means praised. How is that? Hamid means the one who praises because He (Mighty and Majestic) praises whoever deserves praise from among creation, so He praises the prophets and the righteous.
So, "Allah" means "O Allah." "Send blessings upon Muhammad, O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad, send blessings upon Muhammad." What is the meaning of sending blessings upon Muhammad? It means praising him in the highest assembly, meaning praising him among the angels in the presence of Allah. Praising him includes being pleased with him (peace and blessings be upon him) and elevating his mention among creation. So you say: "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad." Who are his family? Some scholars said: "His family are the believers among his relatives". And some of them said: "His family are his followers in his religion". The correct view is that if "his family" is paired with "followers," it means the believers among his relatives, and if it is not paired, the intended meaning is his followers in his religion. Accordingly, you say: "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon everyone who followed him in his religion," because only "the family" is mentioned in this phrase. Keep this meaning in mind when you send blessings upon yourself with this phrase, do you not? How is that? Because you are among his followers in his religion. "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim."
Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and You sent blessings upon his family. So you ask Allah to send blessings upon Muhammad and his family as He sent blessings upon Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. The kaa here, as we have said before, means the cause, not the comparison. And the meaning is: as You have been generous in sending blessings upon Ibrahim and his family, be generous in sending blessings upon Muhammad and his family. This is from the category of seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the actions of Allah in their state. And it has been mentioned before that the categories of seeking nearness to Allah through a means are seven, or is it eight? Yes, we will return to them, and there is no harm.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the names of Allah, general or specific.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by His attributes, general or specific.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by His actions.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by faith in Him.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by righteous deeds.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by what? By the state of the supplicant, by the state of the supplicant.
The seventh: Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the supplication of one whose response is hoped for among the living.
How many are these? Seven. These are seven. And if you wish to expand them, you say: Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the names generally.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the names specifically. Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the attributes generally. Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the attributes specifically.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the actions.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by faith in Allah.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by righteous deeds.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the state of the supplicant.
Seeking nearness to Allah through a means by the supplication of one whose response is hoped for among the living. The total becomes nine.
Good. The important thing is that the prayer of the one praying: "as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim," this is from the category of seeking nearness to Allah through a means. And for this reason we say: the kaa here is for the cause, meaning because You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and his family, send blessings upon Muhammad and his family.
And your saying: "You are the Praiseworthy, the Majestic." Hamid means praised and means the one who praises—pay attention, my brother—Hamid means praised and means the one who praises. So who can give us an example of Hamid meaning that fa'il means maf'ool in the Arabic language? Yes. Good, rest. Qatil means killed, and jarih means wounded. Good. And who can give us an example of fa'il meaning fa'il? Yes. Please.
The student: Sami' means the one who hears.
The Shaykh : Sami' means the one who hears, correct. Rest. Hamid means the one who praises and means praised. How is that? Hamid means the one who praises because He (Mighty and Majestic) praises whoever deserves praise from among creation, so He praises the prophets and the righteous.