And prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) transmitted, in the context of the hadiths in the chapter on the command to send blessings upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

do not make my grave a place of festivity. But invoke blessings on me, for your blessings reach me wherever you may be.

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: لا تجعلوا قبري عيدًا وصلوا علي، فإن صلاتكم تبلغني حيث كنتم

Sunan Abi Dawud 2042Sahih (Al-Albani)

Abu Dawud narrated it with a sound chain. And from him (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

If any one of you greets me, Allah returns my soul to me and I respond to the greeting.

ما من أحد يسلم علي إلا رد الله علي روحي حتى أرد عليه السلام

Sunan Abi Dawud 2041Hasan (Al-Albani)

Abu Dawud narrated it with a sound chain. And from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:

God’s Messenger as saying, “The niggardly one is the man in whose presence I am mentioned but who does not invoke a blessing on me.”

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: البخيل من ذكرت عنده فلم يصل علي

Mishkat al-Masabih 933

Al-Tirmidhi narrated it and said: It is a good and authentic hadith. And from Fadalah ibn Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) heard some one supplicating after his prayer without praising Allah and without supplicating Allah for the Prophet (ﷺ). With regard to him, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "This man rushed." Then he called him and said, "When any one of you have performed Salat (prayer) and wants to supplicate, let him praise Allah first then glorify Him in the beginning and then he should supplicate Allah for me. Then he may supplicate for whatever he likes."

سمع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم رجلًا يدعو في صلاته لم يمجد الله تعالى ولم يصل على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: عجل هذا، ثم دعاه فقال له أو لغيره: إذا صلى أحدكم فليبدأ بتحميد ربه سبحانه والثناء عليه ثم يصلي على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ثم يدعو بعد بما شاء

Riyad as-Salihin 1404

Abu Dawud and Al-Tirmidhi narrated it, and he said: It is an authentic hadith".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
These four hadiths also contain the command to send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and the virtue of doing so. Among them is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: The meaning is: Do not make the grave a festival where you repeat coming to it once or twice a year or the like. In it is evidence for the prohibition of traveling specifically to visit the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). If a person wants to go to Madinah, he should not intend to travel for the sake of visiting the grave of the Messenger, but rather travel for the sake of praying in his mosque, because prayer in his mosque is better than a thousand prayers anywhere else, except the Sacred Mosque. He said: Likewise, the second hadith states that no Muslim man sends peace upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) but that Allah returns his spirit to him so that he may return the peace to him. So if you send peace upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), Allah returns his spirit to him, and he returns the peace to you. It appears that this applies to one who is near him, such as standing at his grave and saying: "Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings". It is also possible that it is general, and Allah is Able to do all things. Then the author mentioned Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and the hadith of Fadalah ibn Ubayd. In both, there is also encouragement to send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). However, in the hadith of Fadalah ibn Ubayd, it appears that the intended meaning is the tashahhud. This man performed the tashahhud but did not extol Allah the Exalted, did not glorify Him, and did not send blessings upon the Prophet, but he supplicated directly. It is known that the tashahhud includes, first, the praise of Allah by saying: "All praises are for Allah, and all prayers and good things". It also includes sending peace upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and sending blessings upon him, followed by supplication. So the hadith of Fadalah ibn Ubayd is understood to refer to this, meaning that the supplication in prayer is preceded by the praises, then by the peace and blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then by the supplication. And Allah grants success.

The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah bless you. Regarding the sending of blessings and peace, do we say "peace be upon him" only? Or "O Allah, send blessings upon him" only? Or do we combine them? What is the stronger position?