Sending salawat upon the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) is from the greater deeds of ‘ibadah; and making it in abundance is among the reasons to attain immense goodness and invite blessings to oneself, as well as deterrence against evil and calamities. Sending salutations upon the Prophet (ﷺ) is to invoke Allah alone (as praying to anyone other than Allah is polytheism) to bless and raise the rank of the Prophet (ﷺ) even further.
‘The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: “Who recites blessings upon me ten times in the morning and ten times in the evening will obtain my intercession on the day of resurrection.”’ [Tabarani]
”Ali b. Abi Talib and ‘Umar b. al-Khattab said: “The dua of a person remains suspended between the heavens and the earth as long as prayers are not invoked for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).”‘ [Tirmidhi, authenticated by Shaykh al-Albani]
Refutations regarding the so-called ‘incomplete salutation/prayer upon the Prophet’ known in Arabic as الصلاة البتراء (al-Salah al-Batra`) are scarcely available in the English language and it is one of those topics the enemies of Ahlul-Sunnah constantly repeat, believing to have the upper hand, not knowing that their accusations against Ahlul-Sunnah are based on ignorance and fabrications and not ‘Sunni narrations’ (i.e. authentic narrations).
The following research is based on a series of articles that I’ve contributed to gift2shias.com (a project by an Azeri brother and former Shia and convert to Ahlul-Sunnah) in the past with some additional arguments and refutations.
Allah sends salam and salawat upon His Prophet (ﷺ) without mentioning his Ahlul-Bayt (peace be upon them)
First of all, sending salutations upon the Apostle and Final Messenger of Allah (عليه الصلاة والسلام) without adding his family (and/or his companions) is a practice sanctified by the Qur’an:
{Surely Allah and His angels bless the Prophet; O you who believe! call for (Divine) blessings on him and salute him with a (becoming) salutation.}
The short form (without the Aal) is from the Divine command and the short form is what the Prophet (ﷺ) mostly used, and others used when addressing him, as narrated by so many Sahabah from him such as ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, Ibn ‘Umar, ‘A’ishah, Anas, Abu Talha al-Ansari, Usayd b. Hudayr, Fadala b. ‘Ubayd al-Ansari, Abu Barza al-Aslami, ‘Utban b. Malik and others, Allah be well-pleased with all of them.
‘But what about the Sunnah? Your own Sunnah explains how to say the salawat and that includes the Aal (the family)! Are you a hadith rejecters, Ya Vahabi?’
The Ahlul-Sunnah are the guardians of the Sunnah, they certainly don’t reject it. What they reject are fabrications that are presented as the Sunnah and/or distortions (like in the form of decontextualisation) of authentic reports. The Twelvers’ claim of being able to prove their sect based on the Qur’an and Sunni ahadith are based exactly on such deceptive methods.
And yes, the Sunnah, the very Sunnah that was narrated by the truthful Sahabah has taught the Ummah how to recite various forms of salutations upon the Prophet (ﷺ). We don’t reject the Sunnah and authentic reports (like the Ghadir incident), what we reject is the Shia interpretation (distortion) of these reports that oppose the understanding of the Sahabah (that includes the Ahlul-Bayt).
Allah‘s Apostle (ﷺ) taught various forms of salutations to his companions (may Allah be pleased with them)
Various versions salam and salawat (and even tashahhud) have been narrated (on the level of tawatur!) by the truthful Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them). The different wordings do not contradict each other, rather they complement each other and illustrate the beauty of the Sunnah that comes in various forms.
Salah al-Ibrahimiyyah (Arabic: صلاة الابراهيمية; The Prayer of Ibrahim), commonly known as Durood Ibrahim in Persianate societies (from modern-day Iran to South Asia) is a prayer upon the Prophet ﷺ that was revealed by the Prophet ﷺ himself. It has been related in various hadith books and it is regarded as the best and most complete form of salutation upon the Prophet ﷺ. It is usually recited in salah after reciting tashahhud (and in Friday prayer speeches). There are a number of different wordings of the prayer; here the three of the most common ones.
O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad just as You have sent prayers upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim, verily You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious. O Allah, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You have blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim, verily You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious.
O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad just You as have sent prayers upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim, and bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad just as You have blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim in all the worlds, verily You are the Praiseworthy the Glorious.
O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad, Your servant, and Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, and send prayers upon the family of Muhammad and his wives and progeny, just as You have sent prayers upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim; and bless Muhammad the unlettered Prophet and the family of Muhammad and his wives and progeny, just as you have blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim in all the worlds, verily You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious.
Based on the narrations above, the Twelvers claim that Sunnis send uncomplete salutations upon the Prophet (ﷺ) whenever they mention him after all the narrations above include the term Aal which is usually translated as family.
Response:
The Prophet (ﷺ) taught different Sahabah different forms (all of them complement each other) of the Ibrahimic Prayer. Neither Sunnis nor Shi’ite claim that it is compulsory to recite the Ibrahimic Prayer whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) is mentioned.
A Nasibi could argue that Shi’ites are hypocrites as they don’t recite any of the Ibrahimic salutations (that are mentioned in their books with some slight changes) whenever they mention the Prophet (ﷺ). The Shia response is that it is not compulsory to recite the full and long Ibrahimic Prayer whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) is mentioned. Well, the same response will be given by Sunnis!
If the Shi’ites argue that the Aal must be mentioned though, as it is an integral part of any salutation, even if shortened: we ask them for their proof for this claim, and as you shall see, their proof is nothing but a spoof.
Aal (الآل) is different from Ahl (الأهل) and can include all believers
Who said that Aal only translates to family? Yes, ‘Aal’ (like in Aal al-Shaykh i.e. the family of the Shaykh) can definitely mean family, but it also carries a broader meaning. The meaning of Aal is not identical to Ahl. In its limited connotation, the Arabic word ‘Aal’ is used for the family of a person. However, in a wider connotation, the word is also used for the followers.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:
قال الشيخ ابن عثيمين رحمه الله : إذا ذُكِر ” الآل” وحده فالمرادُ جميعُ أتباعه على دينه ، ويدخلُ بالأولويَّة مَنْ على دينه من قرابته ؛ لأنهم آلٌ من وجهين : من جهة الاتِّباع ، ومن جهة القَرابة .
‘When Aal is mentioned alone, then it includes all his (ﷺ) followers who are upon his religion, even more so those amongst them who are his relatives because they are considered Aal from two angles: being followers of his (ﷺ) religion and being related to him.’
So Aal (آل) includes his relatives, companions and followers who are upon his religion. However, if it (i.e. آل) is followed by specific groups like wives, companions, etc. then it stands for his faithful relatives and needless to say that his faithful relatives include more than just ‘Ali b. Abi Talib’s descendants.
Shaykh Hafiz al-Hakami (may Allah have mercy upon him) beautifully broke this down in the following poem:
قال الشيخ حافظ حكمي رحمه الله
والآل أي آله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وهم أتباعه و أنصاره إلى يوم القيامة ، كما قيل :
آل النبي همـو أتباع ملته **** على الشريعة من عجم ومن عرب
لو لم يكن آلـه إلا قرابته **** صلى المصلى على الطاغي أبي لهب
And al-Aal (الآل) i.e. Aalihi (آله/’his Aal’) are his (ﷺ) followers and supporters until the Day of Judgement:
***The Aal of the Apostle (ﷺ) are his adherents, those who are upon the Shari’ah, whether they are Arabs or Ajams***
***If Aal was confined to his (ﷺ) relatives, the worshipper would include Abu Lahab in his prayer***
For more information on this topic, refer to the excellent research by my brother and colleague, Ustadh Ibn al-Hindi (may Allah reward him and preserve him) here>>.
The neglection of the al-Salah al-Ibrahimiyyah in Shi’ism
The scholars differ concerning the ruling on sending blessings upon the Prophet (ﷺ) in the tashahhud in prayer. There are several opinions, one of which is that it is a pillar or essential part of the prayer, without which the prayer is not valid. Others said that it is obligatory, and the third view is that it is Sunnah and greatly recommended, but not obligatory (wajib).
However, all scholars agree that one of the authentically narrated Ibrahimic salutations must be read and not just the one-liner ‘Allahumma salli ‘ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad‘ that is usually recited by Twelvers in their tashahhud.
There is a great emphasis on following the Sunnah amongst Sunnis, thus you will hardly find a Sunni who does not recite one of the Ibrahimic Prayers The irony is that most Shia ‘Ayatollahs’ often don’t even mention the Ibrahimic prayer and advise their followers to recite an incomplete (the irony…) version of it that doesn’t even mention Ibrahim (peace be upon him).
The commonly and practiced meager Rafidi salawat in their daily prayers consists of a single sentence:
Yes, unlike Ahlul-Sunnah, who recite one of the authentically narrated Ibrahimic prayers in salah, the Twelvers often do not read any version of the Ibrahimic salutation. Worse, their salam and salawat in prayer is no different from the one they recite outside of prayer (i.e. very short) which means that they are the ones who in reality recite a defective and incomplete Ibrahimic Prayer, on a daily basis!
The Twelvers’ actual defective and incomplete salutation
The Twelvers accuse Ahlul-Sunnah of having neglected the Ahlul-Bayt and reciting ‘incomplete salutations‘, yet the irony is that Twelvers themselves often recite a salutation where the salam is omitted:
صل الله عليه وآله
This is an actual defective (batra`/بتراء) and incomplete salutation as they often drop the ‘sallam‘ i.e. the part where salam is sent upon the Prophet (ﷺ). The Qur’an says:
{…O you who believe! call for (Divine) blessings on him and salute (i.e. send salam) him with a (becoming) salutation.}
The Ahlul-Sunnah on the other hand rarely omit the salam, as the most common short form of the salutation includes both, the salam and salah:
صل الله عليه وسلم
or
عليه الصلاة والسلام
As for some Sunnis – scholars and laymen alike – who recite the salawat hasty, sloppy, carelessly really (often sounding like ‘صعسلم’ instead of ‘صل الله عليه وسلم’): this is often done by Arabic speakers and is related colloquial Arabic from Morocco to Iraq and Ahwaz.
You don’t need to be an expert in the Arabic language to figure out that one of the differences between classical Arabic (Fus-hah) and colloquial Arabic is precisely the ‘eating’ of the vowels (Linguists refer to it as Elision, (Latin: ‘striking out). This is literally done in every Arabic dialect, in some more (the Maghrib) in some less (the Mashriq).
However, this shouldn’t be used as an excuse; the salawat should be read as clearly as possible as it is a sacred du’a to Allah, and du’a is worship and we have many examples of scholars (Shaykh al-Albani, Shaykh b. ‘Uthaymin, etc.) who are known for their beautiful and eloquent salawat.
Salawat variants that the Twelver don’t want you to see
The authentic narrations that Twelver propagandists misuse (and cherry-pick) come with various phrases, some of which you will never see them quoting in their propaganda works. The following are some good examples that are all in line with the Qur’an as we shall see:
The people said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! How may we send Salat on you?” He said, “‘O Allah, bless Muhammad and his wives and his descendants as You blessed the family of Ibrahim, and give baraka to Muhammad and his wives and his descendants as You blessed the family of Ibrahim. You are worthy of Praise and Glorious.'” [Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan Ibn Majah]
This is also mentioned in earlier sources like the Muwatta of Imam Malik:
Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazim from his father that Amr ibn Sulaym az-Zuraqi said, “Abu Humayd as-Saidi told me that they asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, how they were to ask for blessings upon him and he replied that they should say, ‘O Allah, bless Muhammad and his wives and his descendants as you blessed the family of Ibrahim, and give baraka to Muhammad and his wives and his descendants as You gave baraka to the family of Ibrahim. You are worthy of Praise and Glorious.'” [Muwatta, Book 9, Imam Malik ibn Anas]
‘It’s a bid’ah to send salutations on the Sahabah’
No, it is not. This article has already proven that the Prophet (ﷺ) taught various forms of salutations, many of them include his wives (that are part of a man’s household/Ahlul-Bayt according to the Qur’an, Arabic language, and Sunnah, but not according to the Rafidi religion that excludes a man’s wives but includes the descendants of his cousin).
Many Twelver propagandists are simply ignorant of the book of Allah otherwise their scholars (yes, their scholars make such claims) would never claim that sending salutations upon the Sahabah is a bid’ah, for Allah sent salutations on them (i.e. the Sahabah) and the believers in general:
{It is He who confers blessing upon you, and His angels [ask Him to do so] that He may bring you out from darknesses into the light. And ever is He, to the believers, Merciful.} [Quran 33:43]
And in another verse we read:
{Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke [Allah ‘s blessings] upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.} [9:103]
Of course, the Prophet (ﷺ) acted upon the aforementioned verses and invoked salawat upon his Sahabah:
Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa reported: When people came to the Prophet (ﷺ) to give charity, he would say, “O Allah, send blessings upon the household of these people.” My father came to him with charity and he said, “O Allah, send blessings upon the household of Abu Awfa.” [Sahih Bukhari, 1427].
And in another report we read:
And a woman asked the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), ‘O Messenger of Allah, invoke salah upon me and my husband’, at which he said, ‘may Allah send salah upon you and your husband’. [Abi Daw’ud, 1533. Al-Dhahabi said the chain was ‘upright and reconciled’ in ‘Al-Mahdhab’, 2/600; graded as hasan by Ibn al-Arabi in ‘Aaridatil Ahwadhi’, 1/147; and sahih by Al-Albani in his checking of Abi Daw’ud]
Imam Nawawi (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:
قال الإمام النووي
وقوله : اللهم صل على محمد وعلى آل محمد . احتج به من أجاز الصلاة على غير الأنبياء ، وهذا مما اختلف العلماء فيه ؛ فقال مالك والشافعي رحمهما الله تعالى والأكثرون : لا يُصلى على غير الأنبياء استقلالا ، فلا يُقال : اللهم صل على أبي بكر أو عمر أو علي أو غيرهم ، ولكن يصلى عليهم تبعا ، فيُقال : اللهم صل على محمد وآل محمد وأصحابه وأزواجه وذريته ، كما جاءت به الأحاديث ، وقال أحمد وجماعة : يُصلى على كل واحد من المؤمنين مستقلا ، واحتجوا بأحاديث الباب ، وبقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم : اللهم صل على آل أبي أوفي ، وكان إذا أتاه قوم بصدقتهم صلى عليهم . قالوا : وهو موافق لقول الله تعالى : ( هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَلائِكَتُهُ ) . اهـ
”His statement: “O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad” is used by those who view it permissible to invoke salah on non-Prophets, and this [i.e. matter] is differed upon amongst the scholars. Malik, Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy upon them), and the majority said: ‘One must not send salah upon non-Prophets by specifying them. So one must not say: “O Allah, send prayers upon Abu Bakr or ‘Umar or ‘Ali” or anybody else, however, it is permissible to send salam upon them as in the extended form. So one might say: “O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and the family, companions, wives, and descendants of Muhammad” as it has been mentioned in the ahadith. Ahmad and a group (i.e. scholars) said: “It is permissible to send individual salam on the believers.” [Imam Nawawi continues citing proofs from the Sunnah for the permissibility on sending salam and salah on non-Prophets]
And to the sorrow of the Twelvers, there a number of reliable narrations proving that ‘Ali b. Abi Talib either invoked Allah’s mercy or salawat upon his brother, ‘Umar b. al-Khattab:
The Sufi convert to Shi’ism, Muhammad al-Tijani al-Samawi, made also made the ignorant claim that sending salawat upon the Sahabah is impermissible, on live TV. He’s definately regretting it to this very day as a young, sharp-minded, witty, and extremely knowledgeable young Sunni (Athari) from Morocco wiped the floor with him. Enjoy:
Besides, the very same Twelvers have no issues with prayers such as the following fabrications (that were never taught and recited by the Prophet, thus are not Sunnah, at least not according to Islam):
Then recite a hundred times:
Peace be on you, O Abu Abdullah, and on those souls who came to your camp to put themselves at your disposal. So far I am alive and the days and nights follow each other, I invoke Allah to bless you forever and ever. May Allah not make my this pledge of close association, physical as well as spiritual, with you the last fulfillment. Peace be on Husain, and on Ali son of Husain, and on the children of Husain, and on the companions of Husain.
‘Peace be on the companions of Husain’ (from the Twelver supplication ‘the Ziyarah of Imam Husain on Ashura Day’). The issues have no problems for making such a du’a for the Sahabah of their Persianised Imams, but not in a millions years will you hear them making such a du’a for the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ).
So it is fine to invoke Allah and ask Him to bless the Sahabah/companions of Hussain (may Allah be pleased with him), but asking Allah to forgive and be pleased with the Sahabah of the final Messenger (ﷺ) is a crime? This all stems from the ghuluw and extremism of the Rawafid who honour the companions of their Imams more than the companions (except an insignificant number) of the Prophet (ﷺ).
And if the Rafidah (like the foolish al-Tijani) argue that Sunnis send salawat upon the hypocrites, especially when they add ‘ajma’in‘ (أجمعين i.e. all of them) then the reply is:
Imam Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy upon him) said,
‘The best definition of sahabi I found is as follows:
A sahabi is a person who believed in the Prophet (ﷺ), who came together with the Prophet and who died as a Muslim.’
So Ahlul-Sunnah do not include the hypocrites in their salah, just like according to the Twelvers they do not include the hypocrites and those who betrayed Hussain b. ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) whenever they make a general du’a like ‘Peace be on the companions of Husain.’ Simple.
Therefore, it is proven that including the Sahabah (and all believers really) in the salawat is permissible (as for the preference of Ahlul-Sunnah to keep salawat for the Prophet, and taradhi for the Sahabah, etc. then refer to in-depth scholarly works on this topic, here a summary>>).
‘But didn’t the Prophet say “Do not send an incomplete salutation on me”?’
حديث موضوع لا أصل له – لا تصلّوا عليّ الصلاة البتراء
Whether in Arabic, Persian, or any other language, you will even encounter the ‘learned’ amongst the Twelvers peddling an infamous narration that they believe seals the deal in their arguments against Sunnis. Little do they know (or probably they do, at least some) that they are parroting nothing but lies i.e. fabrications (not even weak narrations). baseless reports.
The following fatwa is from askthesheikh.com, a Twelver fatwa website that prides itself by stating:
[…] all answers provided on ATS are provided by highly-qualified and prominent religious scholars who come from various communities from around the world. The questions that are answered by more junior scholars, will definitely be reviewed and edited by a senior scholar before the answer is sent back to the questioner and/or published onto the website. The name of the more junior scholar aswell as the senior scholar who undertook the review will both appear below the answer during publication.
Jurisprudential (Fiqh) Answers:
Please note that only the opinions of the currently living, most famous Maraaje’ will be provided by the scholars at this point in time. That is, the opinions of:
– Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei (h.a.)
– Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Sistani (h.a.)
– Grand Ayatollah Makaarem Shirazi (h.a.)
Let us now analyze and dissect the Sunni reports that those Twelver experts use against Ahlul-Sunnah.
[…] the Holy Prophet (SAW) has warned the believers against excluding his holy household when sending Salawaat to him.
The famous Sunni scholar; Ibn Hajar al-Haytami narrated:
أنّ رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وآله قال: لا تُصلُّوا عَلَيّ الصلاةَ البَتراء، قالوا: وما الصلاةُ البَتراء ؟! قال: تقولون: اللّهمّ صلِّ على محمّدٍ، وتُمسِكون، بل قولوا: اللّهمّ صلِّ على محمّدٍ وعلى آلِ محمّد. (الصواعق المحرقۀ، ص 87)
“Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: Do not send an incomplete Salat on me. The Companions asked: What is the incomplete Salat? He explained: to say: “O Allah send Salat onto Mohammad”, and then you stop. Rather you should say: O Allah send Salat onto Mohammad and the Family of Mohammad.”
(al-Sawa’equl-Mohreqah, p. 87)
Response: Where to start with this calamity?
Firstly, the Sunni source cited is not a book of hadith, it is in fact a book in refutation of Shi’ism! Al-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqah is written by the Ibn Hajar al-Haytami. The book has been described as ‘one of the most devastating polemics ever written against the Shiite doctrine of the Imamah and in defence of the first three caliphs.’
As-Sawa’iq al-Muhriqah fi Radd ‘ala Ahl al-Bida’ wa az-Zandaqah – الصواعق المحرقة في رد على اهل البدع والزندقة
The foolish and/or deceptive Rafidi ‘scholars’ and those who follow their footsteps quote from a book where the Sunni scholar is refuting Rafidi claims, making it seem as if he agrees with them! Nowhere did al-Haytami claim that this narration is authentic. If this is not deception then there is no deception. No authentic chain of transmission exists for this hadith, it is a lie against the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
These failed arguments (based on fabrications) only confirm the words of the scholars of the past and today who regard the Rafidah as the most lying of all sects. Indeed, the أصل (default) with the Rafidah is that they are the most ignorant and lying of all creation. Exceptions only prove the rule:
بماذا امتاز الروافض ؟
ج7- إنهم من أجهل الناس بمعرفة المنقولات والأحاديث والآثار والتمييز بين صحيحها وضعيفها – منهاج السنة النبوية
Question: What distinguishes the Rafidah?
Answer: Truly, they (i.e. the Rafidah) are amongst the most ignorant of people regarding the transmitted reports, ahadith, and athar and the distinction between weak and strong amongst them (i.e. narrations). [Ibn Taymiyyah, Minhaj al-Sunnah]
And for those who think that the ‘Vahabi’ Shaykh al-Islam b. Taymiyyah was too harsh; you can find similar statements by a plethora of the imams of the Salaf:
‘I have not seen amongst those who follow their whims and desires more famous for falsehood than the Rafidah.’ [Adab al-Shafi’i wa Manaqibih by Ibn Abu Hatim al-Razi, p. 144]
Conclusion
There is no such thing as ‘incomplete or defective’ salutations upon the Prophet (ﷺ). This Shia slander and lie against Ahlul-Sunnah is based on a fabrication.
The best and most complete form of salutation upon the Prophet ﷺ is the Ibrahimic salutations; Sunnis read it in their daily Salah (and sometimes outside of it), the Twelvers often recite an incomplete version of it where they don’t even mention Ibrahim (عليه السلام)
Twelvers often omit the salam in the salutation, something Sunnis never do.
There are numerous sahih Sunni ahadith mentioning asking Allah for blessings on the Prophet (ﷺ) without mentioning his family. They don’t contradict the Ibrahimic Prayer as outside of salah it suffices to mention the Prophet (ﷺ) alone, exactly as Ahlul-Sunnah do.
Since there is no such a thing as an ‘incomplete salutations’ all variations are acceptable.
The ‘evil Nawasib Umayyads’ having removed the Ahlul-Bayt from salutations is nothing but a conspiracy and myth. Some Sunni scholars were fine with sending salam on ‘Ali, Fatimah (and ‘Aishah, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, something Shia propagandists don’t highlight) outside of the prayer, some prefer other supplications. الباب واسع i.e. there is a wide range of valid scholarly opinions on this matter. So peace be upon Ali b. Abi Talib and his brother ‘Umar b. al-Khattab and all Ahlul-Bayt and Sahabah.
I challenge the Twelvers to provide a single authentic version with an authentic chain of narrations in the books of the Sunnis where the Prophet (ﷺ) stated: ‘Do not send an incomplete Salat on me.‘
Finally, I ask you to ‘perfume your mouth’ as the Arabs say and invoke Allah’s salam and salah upon our beloved Prophet:
PS: Here two videos I made over a decade ago (a project with a Kuwaiti brother) and reuploaded, enjoy and keep me and my family in you prayers:
Sending salawat upon the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) is from the greater deeds of ‘ibadah; and making it in abundance is among the reasons to attain immense goodness and invite blessings to oneself, as well as deterrence against evil and calamities. Sending salutations upon the Prophet (ﷺ) is to invoke Allah alone (as praying to anyone other than Allah is polytheism) to bless and raise the rank of the Prophet (ﷺ) even further.
However, this shouldn’t be used as an excuse; the salawat should be read as clearly as possible as it is a sacred du’a to Allah, and du’a is worship and we have many examples of scholars (Shaykh al-Albani, Shaykh b. ‘Uthaymin, etc.) who are known for their beautiful and eloquent salawat.
{Take, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them and cause them increase, and invoke [Allah ‘s blessings] upon them. Indeed, your invocations are reassurance for them. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.} [9:103]
Response: Where to start with this calamity?
EBNHUSSEIN.COM 