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 Ka'b ibn Ujrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

It was narrated that Ka'b bin 'Ujrah said: "We said: 'O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), we know about sending salams upon you, but how should we send salah upon you?' He said: "Say: 'Alahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala ali Muhammad, kama sallaita 'ala Ibrahima wa barik 'ala Muhammad kama barakta 'ala ali Ibrahim fil-'alamin, innaka hamidun majid (O Allah, send salah upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent salah upon the family of Ibrahim, and send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You sent blessings upon the family of Ibrahim among the nations. You are indeed Worthy of praise, Full of glory.)'"

خرج علينا النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقلنا: يا رسول الله قد علمنا كيف نسلم عليك فكيف نصلي عليك؟ قال: قولوا: اللهم صل على محمد وعلى آل محمد كما صليت على آل إبراهيم إنك حميد مجيد، اللهم بارك على محمد وعلى آل محمد كما باركت على آل إبراهيم إنك حميد مجيد

Sunan an-Nasa'i 1287Sahih (Darussalam)

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. And from Abu Mas'ud al-Badri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us while we were in the gathering of Sa'd ibn Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), and Bashir ibn Sa'd said to him: O Messenger of Allah, Allah has commanded us to send blessings upon you, so how do we send blessings upon you? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent until we wished he had not asked him, then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim, and send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy and Majestic; and peace as you have already learned.

أتانا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ونحن في مجلس سعد بن عبادة رضي الله عنه فقال له بشير بن سعد: أمرنا الله أن نصلي عليك يا رسول الله فكيف نصلي عليك؟ فسكت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حتى تمنينا أنه لم يسأله، ثم قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قولوا: اللهم صل على محمد وعلى آل محمد كما صليت على إبراهيم، وبارك على محمد وعلى آل محمد كما باركت على إبراهيم إنك حميد مجيد، والسلام كما قد علمتم

Narrated by Muslim. And from Abu Humaid al-Sa'idi (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

They said: O Messenger of Allah, how do we send blessings upon you? He said: Say: O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon his wives and his descendants, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim, and send blessings upon Muhammad and upon his wives and his descendants, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy and Majestic.

قالوا يا رسول الله كيف نصلي عليك؟ قال: قولوا: اللهم صل على محمد وعلى أزواجه وذريته كما صليت على إبراهيم، وبارك على محمد وعلى أزواجه وذريته كما باركت على إبراهيم إنك حميد مجيد

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
These are three hadiths explaining the manner of sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). As for sending blessings, he taught them and said: It has been mentioned previously that the meaning of Allah's sending blessings upon a servant is His praising him in the highest assembly. The intended meaning of "the family of Muhammad" here is all his followers in his religion, for the "family" of a person may refer to his followers in his religion, or it may refer to his relatives. However, in the context of supplication, it should be understood in the general sense, as that is more comprehensive. So the intended meaning of "and upon the family of Muhammad" is all your followers. If someone asks: Does "family" mean followers? We say: Yes. Allah the Exalted said: The scholars said its meaning is: cast his followers into the severest of the Fire, and he is the first of them. As He also said: And His saying: The "kaf" here is for causation, and this is from the category of seeking nearness to Allah through His previous actions to His subsequent actions, meaning: as You bestowed the blessing of sending blessings upon Ibrahim and his family, so bestow the blessing of sending blessings upon Muhammad and his family (peace and blessings be upon him). So it is from the category of causation, not from the category of comparison. With this, the issue raised by some of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) is resolved, where they asked: How can the sending of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) be likened to the sending of blessings upon Ibrahim and his family, when Muhammad is more noble than all the prophets (peace and blessings be upon them)? The answer is that the "kaf" here is not for comparison, but for causation. "Hamid" means Praiseworthy, and "Majid" means Majestic, and majesty is greatness, power, might, and ability, and the like. Likewise, the sending of blessings: you say, O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, meaning: bestow upon them the blessing. And the blessing is abundant, widespread, and permanent good, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim. Indeed, You are Praiseworthy and Majestic. This is the sending of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and this is the most excellent attribute. If you restrict yourself to saying "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad," as the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) did in all their writings when they mentioned the Messenger, they did not say this extended sending of blessings, because this is the complete form. As for the minimum that suffices, it is to say: "O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad". As for the hadith of Abu Mas'ud al-Badri, and Asid, and Abu Humaid al-Sa'idi, they are close to this wording, except that in the hadith of Abu Humaid al-Sa'idi, the wives and descendants are mentioned. The wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) means his wives, and he left behind nine wives, and he used to divide his time among eight of them. As for the ninth, Sawdah, she gave her day to A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would divide two days for A'ishah: her day and Sawdah's day. And the remaining wives, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would divide his time among them with justice, dividing with justice as he was commanded to do (peace and blessings be upon him). So the result is that these three attributes mentioned by the author (may Allah have mercy on him) and transmitted from the three hadiths are close to each other, but they describe perfection in the attribute of sending blessings upon him. May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, and upon his family and his companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.