We used to say during the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "Peace be upon you, O Prophet," but when he died, we said, "Peace be upon the Prophet." This was an exercise of independent legal reasoning by him (may Allah be pleased with him).

The Shaykh : This was an exercise of independent legal reasoning by him (may Allah be pleased with him), but it was an exercise that deviated from the truth. The truth is that we say what the Messenger commanded us to say, so we say, "Peace be upon you, O Prophet." He did not say, "Except when he dies," nor did he make an exception. Then, Imam Malik narrated in al-Muwatta with a sound chain that he delivered this sermon during his caliphate after the death of the Messenger (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him). 'Umar was more knowledgeable than Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said it in the presence of the Companions, and no one objected to him. Thus, the statement of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: is from the category of independent legal reasoning that he exercised (may Allah be pleased with him), but the truth is what the hadith indicated and what the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), stated: "Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings." Here, the Prophet specified "the Prophet" and meant by it the Prophet who is a Messenger, because Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is a Prophet and a Messenger. Do you know from where we know that he is a Prophet and a Messenger? From other clear proofs that he is a Prophet and that he is a Messenger. Therefore, we see that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) uses the description "Prophet" for one who is a Prophet and a Messenger. There are many examples. If someone asks: What do you say about the hadith of al-Bara' ibn 'Azib (may Allah be pleased with him), in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him what to say when he goes to his bed, which includes: The answer to this is from two angles. The first angle: The indication of messengership to prophethood is an indication of commitment, because it is not possible for one to be a Messenger unless he is a Prophet. And combining prophethood with messengership is an indication of correspondence, because he described him with both descriptions: the Prophet and the one who was sent. The second angle: If he says, "And your Messenger whom you sent," this does not exclude the angelic messenger, such as Jibril, because Jibril is a messenger whom Allah sent. But if he says, "Your Prophet whom you sent," the angelic messenger is excluded, and it becomes necessary that the intended Messenger is from the human beings, namely Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Three gifts for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), are they for us or not? For everyone. We invoke peace, mercy, and blessings for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Mercy is that by which the desired goal is achieved; the mercy of Allah achieves the desired goal. Blessing is that by which the desired goal and goodness spread. You invoke for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) with mercy and with blessing, and the blessing includes blessing upon him and upon his effects and his Sunnah (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him). And this is the reality, meaning that Allah has answered the supplication, but we invoke with it to realize the future. For the message of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the most blessed of messages, the most comprehensive, and the most inclusive. Millions upon millions of humans, all of them are for him, and its blessings are many and known to those who follow history. Our right has come to us, but the right of Allah is prior to our right, and the right of the Messenger is prior to our right, and then our right comes after that. So the right of the Messenger of Allah upon us is greater than the right of ourselves upon us, and the right of Allah is above that. And look at the goodness of this teaching. When the general supplication, not specific to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), came, we were commanded to start with ourselves: "Upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah." Here, he said "upon us" in the plural. The station of supplication is a station of humility and submission, and "na" indicates magnification. How did it come in the form of magnification? We say: It came in the form of magnification because the intended meaning is "upon us, O people of the Ummah of Muhammad," by the context of his saying: And he is sent to the Ummah, so the meaning is "Peace be upon us, O people of this Ummah that follows whom? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." So the pronoun of the plural here is not for magnification, but the actual plural is intended. It was also said that the intended meaning is "Peace be upon us, O people of the praying congregation," and this is correct if we are in a congregation, but if we are not in a congregation, it is not correct. And on this basis, the first meaning is more correct. The intended meaning of "servants" here is the servitude of lawful humility and submission, because our servitude to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is of two types: servitude that includes cosmic humility and submission, and this is general for humans, animals, and everything, even the disbeliever is a servant of Allah. And servitude of lawful humility and submission, and this is specific to the believers. Therefore, it was qualified by his saying: And the righteous one is the one whose affair is sound and no corruption has overtaken him. If his deed is pure for Allah, following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and this includes that this servant fulfills the right of Allah and the right of His servants. Therefore, some of them interpreted "the righteous" as those who fulfilled the right of Allah and the right of His servants. Now, is "servants of Allah" singular or plural? "Servants of Allah" is a plural with a possessive, which indicates generality. And the one who established this rule for us is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who established for us that the plural with a possessive indicates generality. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), because he said: So for generality, there is a form of generality, indeed it has forms, and some of the principles scholars said there is no form for generality, and this is wrong. Indeed, generality has a form. I bear witness. The testimony is by physical sight, meaning by what is perceived by the senses. You say, "I bear witness that so-and-so said such and such, that he did such and such." And here, the intended meaning of testimony is complete certainty, but because it is complete certainty, it became as if it were witnessed. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah. And the saying "that there is no deity but Allah": "Ilah" means "worshipped," meaning there is no worshipped one but Allah. I bear witness that there is no worshipped one but Allah. And it is known that if we took this apparent meaning, it would lead to disbelief. How? Because there are idols that are worshipped and called "gods." So if we say "there is no deity but Allah," it becomes that everything that is worshipped is Allah. Clear or not? Therefore, it is necessary that we say the news of the negating "la" is omitted, and its estimation is "there is no true deity but Allah." This is necessary. So if the news is estimated, the problem disappears, because the deities worshipped besides Allah are false. Now, we saw that some of the scholars estimated it by saying: "There is no existing deity but Allah." And this is wrong. The problem mentioned earlier is refuted against this, is it not? Therefore, we say that this report is wrong, and the truth is what we mentioned: "There is no true deity but Allah." If someone asks: Why did you not make the word of majesty "Allah" the news of "la," because the original is the absence of estimation? We said: This is not correct in wording or meaning. Are you understanding now? Meaning, if someone asks: Why did you not make "Allah" the news, as if you said: "There is no standing one but a man," for example? We said: No, this is not correct, neither in wording nor in meaning. As for it not being correct in wording, the negating "la" does not operate except in indefinite nouns. Ibn Malik said:
"The 'in' of 'ajal' operates in an indefinite noun".
And if we said that the word of majesty "Allah" is the news, we would make it operate in definite nouns, and this is not correct. The second angle is the semantic one: if we say "there is no deity but Allah," the problem we mentioned first is refuted against us, which is the worshipped idols that are called "gods" to be them Allah, and this does not hold. The word "Muhammad" here is a proper name for Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the Qurayshi, the Hashimite (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him). "His servant and His Messenger." And this servitude is the most specific of servitudes, meaning a specific lawful servitude for Muhammad (may the prayers and blessings of Allah be upon him). Abu Bakr is a servant of Allah, but the servitude of Abu Bakr is not like the servitude of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The servitude of the Prophets is a specific servitude, it is the most specific of servitudes. And "Messenger" means the one sent to the two heavy groups: humans and jinn.