The Meaning of Sending Blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), with a Continuation of the Discussion on Tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and Its Opposite, Which Is Shirk (associating partners with Allah)

The Shaykh : And I want to ask a simple question, brother. Are you a student of knowledge or not?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Okay, go ahead. In every prayer you say, “O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad.” What does “O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad” mean?
The student: ... supplication.

The Shaykh : I mean, what does “O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad” mean? “O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad”! Supplication for what?
The student: For mercy.

The Shaykh : No, rest. What does “O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad” mean?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : [It means] He praises Him in the highest assembly. Well done. Look, this is a phrase that all of us recite, and many people do not know it. “O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad” means: Praise Your servant and mention him with good in the highest assembly, with the angels who are brought near. If you say this, Allah will praise you in the highest assembly. How many times? Ten times. What a blessing! And for this reason, we should increase in sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), especially on Friday.
The important point is that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) does not know the unseen, nor does he possess the power to benefit or harm himself, nor does he possess the power to benefit or harm others. When Allah revealed , he gathered his close relatives and said, among other things: In another narration, he said: And if he cannot benefit his aunt Safiyyah bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib or his daughter Fatimah bint Muhammad, then the rest of the people are even more so.
The thing I am calling my brothers in this blessed mosque to do is that their turning to [Allah] and their supplication should be to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone, and that their repentance should be to Allah alone. They should not attach themselves to anyone other than Him, not to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s prayers and blessings be upon him), nor to any other human being, nor to any other scholar, nor to any other angel, nor to any other person. Their hope, their attachment, and their supplication should be to Allah alone. By that, their needs will be met and their affairs will be made easy.
So, my brothers, the door of Tawhid (the oneness of Allah) is important, very important. And if a person builds his worship on anything other than Tawhid, then Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) will not accept it. Allah the Exalted said: , and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, in what he narrated from his Lord, that He the Exalted said: So, beware of Allah, O brothers, in establishing Tawhid. For by establishing Tawhid, deeds are rectified, conditions become pure, and evil is removed. And by opposing Tawhid, deeds and conditions become corrupt. The important point is that the door of Tawhid is the greatest of the doors of knowledge, and it is obligatory for students of knowledge to pay attention to it and to beware of opposing Tawhid through Shirk (associating partners with Allah), whether minor or major. The door of Shirk is a broad one, and the scholars have divided it into minor Shirk and major Shirk, and manifest Shirk and hidden Shirk. This is known in the books of the scholars of knowledge.